Associate Professor Meets Leader of National Inclusive Excellence Leadership Academy

Evelyn Parrish, PhD, APRN-BC, associate professor, director of Accreditation & Strategic Outcomes and DNP Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Track co-coordinator, met Dr. Damon A. Williams, author of the best-selling books “Strategic Diversity Leadership: Activating Change and Transformation in Higher Education” and “The Chief Diversity Officer: Strategy, Structure and Change Management” as well as the monograph “The Role of the Chief Diversity Officers in Academic Medicine" on June 11.

Formerly vice president and chief diversity officer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Williams now leads the National Inclusive Excellence Leadership Academy and is recognized as a national expert in strategic diversity leadership. He launched the National Inclusive Excellence Tour in 2017 with the stated objective to engage universities and corporations in conversations about diversity, equity, inclusion and change.

“Dr. Williams is a committed visionary, an inspirational leader and a recognized national expert in strategic diversity leadership, youth development, corporate responsibility, educational achievement, social impact and organizational change,” said UK Vice President for Institutional Diversity Sonja Feist-Price.

Among other issues, Williams “helps empower diversity leadership to build strong, robust diversity change agendas, while addressing the inherent and recurrent challenges that confront ongoing diversity efforts. He also helps to establish evidence-based diversity and inclusion strategies, while engaging students digitally,” Feist-Price said. The UK Office for Institutional Diversity is sponsoring Williams’ visit.

Williams earned his doctoral degree at the University of Michigan Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, specializing in organizational behavior and management. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Miami University.

In a recent interview with Insight Into Diversity magazine, Williams said, “I think we have to continue not just establishing chief diversity officer roles, doing campus climate studies, and writing diversity plans, but also doing these things with a real focus on changing our systems and the ways in which we work. We need to focus on becoming more evidence-based in our approach.”