In order to provide strong, steady and focused leadership during the five-year implementation of the DEI Strategic Plan, the university appointed senior staff and faculty to key executive positions. New infrastructure was also put in place to provide ongoing administrative and operational support.
Year Five saw a continuation and, in some ways, intensified the prior year’s crises. Together, ODEI leaders navigated unprecedented challenges and national tragedies that included the global COVID-19 pandemic, a nationwide racial reckoning precipitated by police violence and the most divisive and violent political climate in recent memory. By employing DEI principles and considering the needs of all, they strengthened the university’s work in anti-racism on every front and introduced new or refreshed initiatives in disability-related services, sexual assault prevention and support for DEI leads campuswide.
Robert M Sellers, Chief Diversity Officer
Robert M. Sellers, Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion & Chief Diversity Officer (VPEI-CDO)
As VPEI-CDO, Robert M. Sellers continued to oversee the successful completion of DEI 1.0 and plans for a rigorous and assessment process that will inform DEI 2.0. Throughout Year Five, he maintained a strong focus on implementing services and programs to help students, faculty and staff meet the shifting, multifaceted challenges of COVID-19, including the disparate impact of the pandemic, and practical issues related to the rapid shift to remote learning and work. He also championed the implementation of new initiatives focused on anti-racism, sexual assault prevention and support services for those with disabilities.
Katrina Wade-Golden, Deputy Chief Diversity Officer
Katrina Wade-Golden, Deputy Chief Diversity Officer
In her role as Deputy Chief Diversity Officer, Katrina Wade-Golden continued to provide crucial administrative leadership, facilitated plan implementation in all 50 units and served as advisor to more than 100 DEI Implementation Leads across the university. In Year Five, she also collaborated with the Chief Diversity Officer and other campus leaders to design and develop a process for transitioning the university to the next DEI Strategic Plan initiative, DEI 2.0. This included sharing the plan and timeline with leadership and other stakeholder groups. In order to provide additional support for DEI Leads during this turbulent and uncertain time, she expanded communication channels through the use of virtual meetings and supervised the publication of resource guides.
Sonya Jacobs, Chief Organizational Learning Officer
Sonya Jacobs, Chief Organizational Learning Officer & Special Advisor to the President
As U-M’s first Chief Organizational Learning Officer (COLO), Sonya Jacobs continued to address DEI training needs campuswide, both as a senior director in University Human Resources and director of Faculty and Leadership Development for the University of Michigan Medical School and Michigan Medicine. During Year Five, she worked to develop the capabilities of staff, managers and leadership across the university through education, training, interventions and leadership programs on topics that included diversity, equity and inclusion, civility and wellness and sexual harassment and misconduct. As Special Advisor to the President, she assumed the role of co-leader in a major university change effort to prevent and address sexual misconduct, and to create an ethics- and values-based campus culture that fosters mutual respect and accountability.
David J. Brown, MD, Associate Vice President and Associate Dean for Health Equity and Inclusion
David J. Brown, MD, Associate Vice President and Associate Dean for Health Equity and Inclusion & Associate Professor Pediatric Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery
In Year Five, Associate Vice President and Associate Dean for Health Equity and Inclusion David J. Brown, MD, expanded the efforts of the Michigan Medicine Office for Health Equity and Inclusion—which seeks to create an environment in which all community members can thrive and know they are valued. Under his leadership, the office provided support in the form of a growing suite of tools for researching health disparities; training courses for employees and students on topics such as “Everyday Bias;” networking opportunities; and programs focused on exploring health disparities, including the differentiated impact related to COVID-19.