National vision, locally focused: Diversity in Leadership

The mission of the Diversity in Leadership Program is to serve as a catalyst for the advancement of ethnic minorities and women in central Indiana facilitated through the development of talent pipelines for higher education and industry. Founded in 2021, the program aims to grow the number of ethnic minorities and women in executive positions. While pursuing higher education, Dr. Leon Jackson noticed the lack of diversity in this space and in industry and decided to combat the issue. “My PhD is in workforce development and organizational leadership, so having that lens of workforce development pushed me to think, ‘How do we get more of us, ethnic minorities, and women in the position to take on executive level roles?’ That’s what the program focuses on,” said Jackson. According to a National Center for Education Statistics study completed during the 2020-21 academic school year, 47% of women obtain a bachelor’s degree in business. However, the number of women in MBA programs is significantly lower. Another factor that has taken many women out of the workforce is the pandemic, according to Jackson. “We know during covid that 2 million women left the workforce, and oftentimes women are challenged with raising the family,...