This spring semester, I had the privilege of organizing a student-led speaker series at the Syracuse University - Maxwell School, bringing together DEI leaders from the public, private, and non-profit sectors for informal discussions with MPA/MAIR students. Our goal was to explore how to effectively integrate Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) into management training.
We hosted six insightful sessions between February and April, attended by about 15 engaged students. As future public managers and policy analysts, it’s crucial to embed DEIA principles into our everyday practices, organizational policies, and cultures. These sessions provided actionable, real-world strategies for race equity work, especially during a time of widespread DEIA rollbacks.
Personally, my pursuit of an MPA at Maxwell stems from my decade-long experience in the field, where I recognized that even the most ambitious DEI strategies need robust management frameworks to be successful. I am deeply grateful to the speakers who shared their expertise, helping to fill crucial training gaps in our program.
With the spring semester behind us and summer capstones nearly complete, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who made this series possible:
Joanna Ostroot and Cristina Diaz-Mateo: Your advice and support from inception to conclusion were invaluable.
Professors Zach Huitink and Todd Dickey: Your assistance in aligning the series with management topics and coordinating logistics was essential.
Professors Colleen Heflin and Gladys McCormick: Your early advice was critical to the series' success.
Special thanks to our distinguished speakers:
Rosey L. Rhyne from DDI World, Milo Primeaux, Esq., from @Just Roots Consulting, Kavita Ramakrishnan, J.D., from The Diversity Lab, Michael Hughes from ODEIA at U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Merf Ehman from Columbia Legal Services and Professor Leonard Lopoo from the Maxwell X Lab.
Thank you to the students who co-organized and attended, and to the Maxwell faculty for your support. I look forward to seeing how this initiative will enhance the DEIA focus within the Maxwell MPA curriculum in the years to come.
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Business Dean--Helping people and organizations create a different future
2moLook at you, Kyle! I’m so proud. 🥳