Anti-Racist Leadership in Practice

Jordan Shelby West, PhD (she/her) is currently the Associate Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement at The George Washington University (GW). Prior to serving in this capacity, Dr. West was the Inaugural Director of University Diversity & Inclusion Programs at GW. In her university-wide role, Dr. West is responsible for creating and implementing strategy, vision, and educational opportunities across the institution that inform people, policies, and practices in order to continue shifting the campus towards a more positive and just climate. In her work, Dr. West leads boldly and with an imagination rooted in the audacity to hope. Dr. West prioritizes truth-telling, amplifying voices and experiences often excluded, and leading from an intersectional framework. After working with Dr. West, most people express a deep sense of urgency and responsibility to do what they can from where they are in order to create sustainable change. In addition to her university leadership role, Dr. West has a faculty appointment in Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on Black Feminist Theory.

Dr. West identifies as a scholar-activist and is a formally trained social justice and anti-racist educator and facilitator. Prior to joining GW, Dr. West was the Inaugural Senior Diversity & Inclusion Training Specialist at Princeton University, where she created an 18-month Certificate Program called the Inclusion & Diversity Certificate Program (I&DCP) for cohorts of staff and faculty, in addition to leading, designing, and facilitating several opportunities for various departments across the campus. Before joining Princeton, Dr. West worked in the Division of Student Affairs at Syracuse University and directed a dialogue program entitled Conversations About Race & Ethnicity (C.A.R.E.). Dr. West’s experience in higher education also includes working at institutions such as the University of California Berkeley and Pennsylvania State University and in areas such as Residence Life, Greek Life, Multicultural Affairs, Admissions, Athletics, and more.

On a national level, Dr. West serves as a consultant to institutions of higher education and organizations committed to equity and anti-racism. Dr. West works with leaders to develop strategy and long-term efforts grounded in values of diversity, inclusion, equity, justice, and anti-racism at all points. As a consultant, Dr. West works with organizations to develop and facilitate educational opportunities that engage individuals in meaningful, critical, and urgent work about identity, systems of power, privilege, and oppression, and our individual and collective roles in taking action to disrupt inequitable structures. Dr. West is also works with institutions of higher education across the United States to conduct campus climate assessments and has been doing so since 2010. Dr. West is actively involved with higher education organizations, including the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE), NASPA, and the American College Personnel Association (ACPA). Within ACPA, Dr. West serves as an Equity & Inclusion Advisory Board member, Past Chair for the Pan African Network (PAN), and the former Assembly Coordinator for Coalitions & Networks on the Association’s Governing Board.

Dr. West completed her PhD in Cultural Foundations of Education and received her Certificate of Advanced Studies in Women and Gender Studies at Syracuse University. Dr. West earned her Master’s degree in College Student Affairs, emphasizing social justice in higher education at The Pennsylvania State University. Dr. West received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Maryland College Park and is a proud Terp! Dr. West’s experience and continued research interests focus on campus climate, narrative and storytelling as a method, restoration and healing, sister circles, and how People of Color and individuals from historically marginalized identities work towards liberation while in higher education through the lens of Black Feminist Theory and Critical Race Theory.