The Equity in Research Learning Collaborative series serves as an opportunity for our staff to learn how to make CCFP research more equitable with respect to race, ethnicity, and other forms of diversity at all stages from conceptualization to recruitment to data collection to analysis and reporting of findings. Join us for October’s session, “What is Going on with DEI in Higher Ed?” with guest speakers from the Office of Institutional Equity at Duke.
Guest Speakers:
Kimberly Hewitt, Vice President for Institutional Equity and Chief Diversity Officer
Kimberly Hewitt was appointed Vice President for Institutional Equity and Chief Diversity Officer at Duke in August 2019. Prior to coming to Duke, she served as the Vice Provost for Institutional Equity at Johns Hopkins University from March 2017 to July 2019. At Johns Hopkins Ms. Hewitt led the University’s efforts to comply with equal opportunity laws including Title IX and oversaw the ADA compliance function. Additionally, Ms. Hewitt leveraged her experience to make several improvements to the policy and practices at OIE at Johns Hopkins including building a strong team and improving collaboration across the institution.
Prior to her time at Johns Hopkins, Ms. Hewitt served as the Director of the Office for Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action (EOAA) from 2007 to 2017 and was Deputy Chief of Staff for the Office for Equity and Diversity from 2014 – 2017 at the University of Minnesota. As the Director of EOAA she led a team of investigators on issues of discrimination, harassment and sexual misconduct and oversaw the University’s Affirmative Action Program. In addition, she worked closely with the Director of Education for the University to develop a diversity leadership development program, a diversity certificate workshop series and unconscious bias training.
Ms. Hewitt started her career in higher education as assistant dean for students and multicultural affairs at Hamline University School of Law. She also has 14 years of experience practicing law in the areas of employment, labor, and education law. She was previously a partner in the law firm Rider Bennett, where she was the chair of the Education Law Practice and also served as an in-house attorney for the Minneapolis Public Schools. Ms. Hewitt holds an A.B. from Stanford University and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School.
Dr. Leigh-Anne Royster, Assistant Vice President for Strategy and Education Development
Dr. Leigh-Anne Royster is an educator, facilitator, and administrator focused on inclusion and equity development through policy, education and intervention. She comes to Duke from Elon University where she served in multiple roles including the Director of the Center for Equity and Inclusive Excellence and the Director of Health Services. Her work has largely focused on developing and facilitating educational opportunities around issues of diversity, equity and inclusion; climate assessment; and violence/bias prevention. She has also overseen response and compliance systems responding to violence, harassment, and bias. She has experience developing anti-bias and anti-oppression curriculum for students, staff and faculty and has spent years in faculty roles as well. Leigh-Anne has 25 years of experience working with violence response and prevention, and public health activities including time at UNC Chapel Hill’s Institute on Aging, Injury Prevention Research Center, and the North Carolina Institute of Public Health. She also has experience working in the criminal justice system and the non-profit sector. Leigh-Anne holds a B.A. from UNC Chapel Hill, an MPA from the University of Colorado, and a Ph.D. from UNC Greensboro.