|
I am pleased to announce that following a national search, Iyabo Oyewo-Hall has been appointed the director of the Center for Ethnic, Racial, and Religious Understanding effective January 6, 2025.
Iyabo comes to Queens College from the NYC Department of Housing Development and Preservation where she was the director of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) for the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion since April 2022. In that position, Iyabo conducted investigations into allegations of discrimination and/or harassment involving any protected class; managed requests for reasonable accommodations; and conducted live EEO and other relevant training sessions for all employees. Prior to that, Iyabo worked for the CUNY system as assistant director for International Student Engagement in Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC). There she facilitated and managed the BMCC Heritage Council (Black History Month, Asian History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Woman’s History Month, etc.), and collaborated with departments on the implementation of best practices to establish University standards. She developed learning and training resources for raising awareness, building capacity, and building skills for leaders in mitigating systemic unconscious bias, having difficult conversations, building trust, and leading and managing inclusively and equitably. She also worked as a senior diversity specialist at the Mount Sinai Medical Center.
Iyabo holds a DEI Certificate from Cornell University. She has a Master of Arts in International Education in Human Rights from New York University, a Master of Public Administration in Human Resource Management from John Jay College, and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Baruch College.
CERRU is a community building and programming entity that trains and educates the college community in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) matters. Under the auspices of the Office of Compliance and Diversity (C&D), CERRU works to create safe, vibrant, just, and equitable engagement spaces. CERRU supports students, faculty, and staff in becoming knowledgeable and equipped to navigate a diverse society. Reporting to the Chief Diversity Officer & Dean of Diversity, among other responsibilities the director of CERRU will manage and develop extensive educational programs geared towards developing DEI awareness and understanding and will facilitate community building initiatives that demonstrate the college’s commitment to fostering cultural transformation and sense a of belonging across the campus. The director will organize and facilitate delivery of workshops and educational programmatic events for all stakeholder group of Queens College as well as create and pilot interventions that identify and address systemic inequities.
I am excited to welcome Iyabo to Queens College and look forward to working with her. Her experience in providing effective programs for culturally, socially, and ethnically diverse groups that lead to the implementation of DEI strategies will be an asset to Queens College.
I would like to thank the search committee chair Francois Pierre-Louis (Political Science) and the search committee members for their service. I also extend our gratitude to search panel chair Assistant Vice President for External and Governmental Relations Jeffrey Rosenstock and the search panelists who participated in interviews with the finalists.
| 
