Professional Development for Diversity Leaders
Overview
The Leading Anti-Racism Change in Education Collaborative is a small-group, cohort approach to building capacity to accelerate action and change towards racial equity and social justice in K-12 school districts.
It has 4 primary objectives:
1
Participants gain powerful new tool set for building capacity to forge change.
2
Participants develop individual action plans
3
Participants learn and share best practices for breaking down cultures of inequity
4
Participants receive ongoing coaching, encouragement and opportunities for networking
Program Components
Five-Day Institute
Group Coaching
Ongoing Support
Leadership Team
The Leadership Team represents top scholars from the College of Education and Human Ecology and the Fisher College of Business. Administrative leaders from Central Ohio school districts serve as community partners.
College of Education and Human Ecology:
Noelle Arnold, PhD
Senior Associate Dean
Noelle W. Arnold, PhD is the Senior Associate Dean in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. In addition to other units, she oversees the EHE Office of Equity, Diversity and Global Engagement. Dr. Arnold has written and presented extensively and has nine (9) books published or in press and over 70 publications. Her most recent book is the 2nd Edition of the Handbook for Urban Educational Leadership and Companion Guide for the Handbook of Urban Educational Leadership (forthcoming, 2021). Dr. Arnold work has received awards or subawards over $7 million. She has also served as a contractor on grants in excess of $5 million. A former administrator at the district and state level, Dr. Arnold also serves as a consultant throughout the US advising districts on crisis leadership, diversity and inclusion, and teaching and leading in urban and rural contexts. Dr. Arnold was the first African American female to serve as President for the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA). Dr. Arnold was named to the 2022 “Future 50” class, awarded by Columbus CEO for leaders and visionaries who advance the city of Columbus, OH.
Nicole Luthy, PhD
Chief of Staff and Director of Strategic Operations
Dr. Nicole Carter Luthy is the Chief of Staff and Director of Strategic Operations for the College of Education and Human Ecology. In this role, Dr. Luthy works closely with the Dean and other college leaders to set the strategic direction of the college and lead key initiatives.
Over the course of her 25 years in education—which began as a classroom teacher—Dr. Luthy has focused on building partnerships among higher education institutions, K-12 schools, and community-based organizations. She has led state and national projects, served as director of a digital learning center, and collaborated with schools and community organizations to support, serve, and improve outcomes for teachers, students, and families.
Dr. Luthy holds a PhD in Teaching and Learning from the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. She also holds a B.A. from Emory University and an M.A. from The Ohio State University.
Carlotta Penn, PhD
Senior Director of Partnerships and Engagement
Carlotta Penn oversees all partnership and engagement including campus, community, national and international. Dr. Penn develops strategic initiatives that advance the college commitment to diversity, engagement, and impact at the college and in schools and communities. These projects include: the Historically Underrepresented Ethnicities Success Center, the EDGE podcast, and the Service Learning and Community Engagement Grant, among others. Dr. Penn also oversees international and global affairs for the office. Carlotta spent several years as an English language educator in local and global contexts, and her research interests include Black women educators, Language and Literacy, and Multicultural Education. She holds a PhD in Education and an MA in Comparative Studies from The Ohio State University, and a BA in Mass Communication from Wright State University
John Rensink
Senior Director, The Bright Initiative
John Rensink has worked in higher education for nearly 2 decades building a career around preparing exceptional leaders and developing and guiding exceptional educational programs. Before his appointment to Bright, he led Fisher’s 9th ranked Executive MBA program and several custom executive leadership programs for Fortune 100 companies. John has a BA in the humanities from The Ohio State University, a Master’s in Higher Education Leadership from the University of South Carolina and is nearly finished with his PhD in Management from Case Western University. John has a profoundly curious and thoughtful nature, an instinct to lead and inspire others and a constant drive to seek improvement in himself and the world around him. He is a proud father and husband.
Fisher College of Business:
Ben Campbell, PhD
Associate Professor
Management and Human Resources
Benjamin Campbell is an Associate Professor of Management and Human Resources at the Max M. Fisher College of Business at the Ohio State University. He received a PhD in economics from UC-Berkeley and has an undergraduate degree in mathematics from the Ohio State University.
Dr. Campbell teaches the core Organizations, Markets, and Management course in the MBA program. For this course, he has been named the “Outstanding Full-Time MBA Core Professor” in 2010, 2012, and 2013 and the “Outstanding Working Professional MBA Core Professor” in 2011 and 2014. He was the recipient of the 2011Pace Setters Westerbeck Graduate Teaching Award and was nominated for the 2013 Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Dr. Campbell’s research explores the boundary conditions of mechanisms that limit the mobility of human capital to established and entrepreneurial firms and thus adds to the understanding of the role of human capital in creating and sustaining competitive advantage in dynamic environments. His research has appeared in outlets including Academy of Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, Management Science, Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, Industrial Relations, and Industrial and Labor Relations Review. His research has been named the runner-up for the 2014 INFORMS-Industry Studies Association Best Paper Prize and the runner-up for the 2009 Best Conference Paper at the Strategic Management Society.
He has served the community of scholars as the elected representative-at-large for the Strategic Management Society’s Strategic Human Capital Interest group, as a member of the Research Committee of the Business Policy and Strategy Division of the Academy of Management, and as a member of the editorial boards of Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, and Strategic Organizations. He has also co-organized multiple conferences on Human Capital, including the Strategic Human Capital Interest Group’s mini-conference on the Value Proposition of Human Capital.
Instructional Team
The interdisciplinary team of faculty instructors represent The College of Education and Human Ecology and The Fisher College of Business.
Tanya Menon, PhD
Professor
Department of Management and Human Resources
Tanya Menon is Professor of Management and Human Resources at Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University. She studies how people think about relationships, and how this affects the way they make decisions, collaborate, and lead at work. Her research has been cited in various media outlets including NPR, the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The Times of London (UK), and the Guardian (UK). She has won multiple teaching awards (at both Ohio State and as Associate Professor at the University of Chicago). She has conducted corporate trainings, keynotes, and consulting all over the world (including for US Intelligence Community, Discover Financial Services, CareerBuilder.com, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, McKinsey Academy, DHL, Cummins, Express, Scotts, Citibank (India), Tetrapak (Italy), Aetna, Sherwin Williams, Erie Insurance, McCormick, the Environmental Protection Agency, American Bar Association Chief Bar Executives, Ronald McDonald House Charities, and the Deloitte Women’s group).
Menon earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Harvard University in 1995 and her Ph.D. from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Prior to graduate school, Menon was a research assistant in INCAE Business School in Costa Rica and an intern in Morgan Stanley’s London office. She is currently Associate Editor at Management Science Journal. She wrote a book with Dr. Leigh Thompson, Stop Spending, Start Managing: Strategies to transform wasteful habits (2016, Harvard Business Review Press). Her Ted talk (go.ted.com/tanyamenon), originally presented at Tedx Ohio State University, has reached over 1.8 Million views and was named as one of the top 7 TED talks of 2018 (so far) by entrepreneur.com, and one of TED.com’s most popular talks of 2018. (www.ted.com/playlists/682/the_most_popular_ted_talks_of_2018).
Stephani Power-Carter, PhD
Professor
Department of Teaching and Learning Director
Center for Video Ethnography and Discourse Analysis
Stephanie Power-Carter is a professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning and the Director of the Center for Video Ethnography and Discourse analysis (CVEDA). Dr. Power-Carter is passionate scholar who in the words of one of her favorite poets Dr. Maya Angelou, “would like to be known as an intelligent woman, a courageous woman, a loving woman, a woman who teaches by being.” Her passion is to engage in research that helps us to see each other’s humanity more fully. She uses discourse analysis a way to see and examine how people use language to negotiate their identities and to better understand how Black youth, and youth from historically resilient communities navigate their educational experiences. Her scholarship examines the resilience, possibility, and potential of Black youth.
Dr. Power-Carter has presented her scholarship nationally and internationally and published in various journals such as Review of Research in Education, Theory into Practice, The Journal of Classroom Interactions, and Trabalhos em Linguística Aplicada. She has also published book chapters and co-authored two books: Discourse analysis and the study of classroom language and literacy events: A microethnographic perspective and an NCRLL project, On discourse analysis in classrooms: Approaches to language and literacy research. Additionally, she occasionally serves as an educational consultant and collaborates with school districts that view equity and inclusion as foundational pillars to teaching and learning and are committed to developing, facilitating, and sustaining socially just educational spaces. In her spare times, she enjoys creative writing, music, and community engagement.
Adam Shank
Executive Director
Ohio Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs
Appointed in 2018, Adam Shank serves as the Executive Director of the Ohio Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs. Overseeing the executive management of an Alliance that serves more than 40,000 Ohio youth each year, Mr. Shank is also responsible for the organization’s government relations and advocacy initiatives.
Since joining the Boys & Girls Clubs movement, Adam has helped the Alliance recognize a 325% increase in state funding.
Adam has served at top levels in both the public and private sectors and is active in education, legal, and political circles. He also routinely advises organizations on process improvement and development. He has been involved with numerous boards, is past-President of the Central Ohio Association of Corporate Counsel, and has received multiple appointments. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine named Mr. Shank to the Census 2020 Complete Count Commission in 2019 and appointed him to the Ohio Arts Council in 2020.
A licensed attorney, Adam holds degrees from Ohio Wesleyan University, the Franklin Thomas Backus School of Law at Case Western Reserve University, and the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University. Mr. Shank is also a certified mediator and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.
A native of Marion, Ohio, like many of our kids in Ohio Clubs Adam has experienced the impact caring and compassionate individuals can have on a community.
Tracy Owens
Associate Professor
Practice, Integrated Systems Engineering
Tracy Owens teaches Lean, Six Sigma, and innovation management in the Ohio State University’s College of Engineering and the Fisher College of Business. As a founding member of ASQ’s Innovation Division, Tracy has promoted a growing body of knowledge on innovation management and brought his audiences a strong message about innovation as a process and not just a creative spark. His latest book F-Notes: Facilitation for Quality was released in late 2020. Tracy holds a master’s degree in International Business from Seattle University and he was elected to the 2016 class of ASQ Fellows.
Toya Spencer
Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Worthington Schools
Toya Spencer is the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) for Worthington City School District in Worthington,Ohio. With a student population of 10,700 students, 32% of whom are students of color and also speak 58 different languages; the school district is rich in diversity.
In 2020, Toya joined Worthington City Schools as its first-ever DEI Director. As such, she is a member of the Superintendent’s cabinet and works closely with the Board of Education, district and building administrators to ensure the DEI strategic plan and goals are achievable, measurable, and sustainable.
Toya has deep experience in leading transformational change focused on promoting inclusive and equitable workplaces. Having worked at the corporate headquarters for Abercrombie & Fitch, Huntington National Bank and Danaher Corporation; Toya’s background in working in such vastly different industries provides the dexterity required to understand and serve a school district with needs across many aspects of diversity.
Her 16 year tenure at Abercrombie & Fitch, where she skillfully balanced promoting and building a culture of inclusion while facing continuous contradictions from leadership focused on exclusion, is the subject of the Netflix documentary White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch, in which she appears.
Upon leaving her corporate career in 2016 to enjoy being a mother to her son; Toya worked as a freelance DEI Consultant and Trainer with TAPO Institute and Strategic HR Advisors.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from Kent State University and a Master’s degree from Duquesne University in Corporate Communication.
Cynthia M. DeVese, M.Ed.
Diversity & Equity Practitioner
Cynthia DeVese is president and founder of Client Impact, LLC an education consulting service. She is a Diversity & Equity Practitioner who has established and led diversity offices for three universities and two school districts. Cynthia supports education leaders with DEI professional development, equity frameworks, and external reviews/equity audits. Cynthia created the “Equity Institute for Achieving Equity in Schools” and has facilitated it with over 20 districts. Cynthia offers college and career readiness support, and parent engagement opportunities. This year, Cynthia took on a new role as an instructor for The College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. Cynthia currently serves on the Westerville Public Library Board of Trustees, The Ohio Department of Education Equity
Co-Design Team, The City of Westerville Community Funding Committee, and the Central Ohio Diversity Collaborative. Cynthia is married to Dr. Larry DeVese and they have two young adult children.
Yenetta Harper
Director of Educator Effectiveness
Ohio Department of Education
Yenetta Harper is a graduate of Bennett College in Greensboro North Carolina where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Business administration with a minor in English. Yenetta worked in the corporate sector in marketing and sales before heeding the call to become a teacher. She attended graduate school to pursue her passion, teaching. She earned her master’s degree in Secondary teaching and later a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of Dayton. Her career in education began as an English teacher for the Hamilton City School District. After six years of teaching, she left Hamilton City schools and began her career in Administration with the Cincinnati Public School district. She began her administrative career as an Assistant Principal at the School of performing Arts, she then became the first Assistant Principal at Clark Montessori. After three years as an
Assistant Principal Yenetta was chosen by the Local School Decision Making Committee to be the Principal of Shroder Paideia High School, where she served for 8 years. Yenetta was asked to join the Superintends Senior Leadership team for Cincinnati Public Schools in the role of Director of the Office of Innovation and then later as the Director of teacher and principal evaluation and development. After an 18-year career with Cincinnati Public Schools in 2019 Yenetta was named the Director of the Office of Educator Effectiveness for the Ohio Department of Education. Her current role allows her to work in her passion supporting the students and Educators of Ohio.
Tanya Middleton, LPCC-S, LICDC, SAP, PhD
Director of Field Placement, Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program, Clinical Assistant Professor, Counselor Education
Dr. Tanya J. Middleton LPCC-S LICDC SAP is an alumnus of The Ohio State University (’03
BA in Communication/Criminology minor). Dr. Middleton obtained her MA from John Carroll University in Clinical and Mental Health Counseling and completed her doctorate in Counselor Education & Supervision at The University of Akron. In August 2020, she joined the College of Education and Human Ecology’s nationally ranked Counselor Education program as a Clinical Assistant Professor. Dr. Middleton also serves as the Director of Field Placement for the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program. Dr. Middleton’s research interests include Diversification, Equity, and Inclusion in Counselor Education, Higher Education, and Gifted and Talented Education; Clinical and Mental Health Counseling; Multicultural Counseling;
Social Justice; Advocacy; Clinical Supervision; Urban and African American Studies; and, Addiction Studies. Dr. Middleton has published referred journal articles, book chapters, and presentations on the above topics. Dr. Middleton is the proprietor and Clinical Director of a private counseling practice in Westlake, Ohio, and has more than 20 years of professional experience in the counseling and social services fields specializing in the treatment of individuals, families, couples, and groups in the areas of addiction (alcohol & drug, sexual, gambling, internet, etc.,) trauma, abuse, PTSD, legal issues, depression, anxiety, grief, anger management, domestic violence, and behavioral management.
Participating Districts 2022
The Collaborative is designed for K-12 district teams who are focused on leading anti-racism, equity and diversity initiatives in their school districts. Districts are encouraged to create teams representing diverse roles and perspectives. Teams may consist of chief diversity and equity officers and their associated teams, but other team structures are welcome.
