Change Makers Update
Dear Change Makers Community,

Since 2013, the Women’s Center has sponsored Change Makers which allows staff and faculty members to engage in a personal journey of social identity exploration over the course of an academic year.  Primarily focusing on the social construct of race, the Change Makers curriculum is based on the Intergroup Dialogue (IGD) model developed by social scientists at the University of Michigan.  For more than 30 years, the Women’s Center has championed broad diversity, equity and inclusion efforts on behalf of women, men and gender and sexual minority staff, faculty and students. Change Makers is designed to supplement and share information around ongoing diversity, equity and inclusion work. Northwestern University is grateful to the Women’s Center and Change Makers for helping to achieve its mission of excellent teaching, innovative research and the personal and intellectual growth of its members in a diverse academic community.

Change Makers predates the establishment of the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, and its subsequent efforts to better align, communicate and coordinate University-wide diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and programming. Now in its sixth year, the program has outgrown the Women’s Center’s thematic scope and staff capacity. This will be the final year that the program functions in its current structure and resides in the Women’s Center.

During the next year, the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, and Human Resources will oversee a process to review Change Makers’ mission, operations and desired impact moving forward. In this assessment, we will draw upon the 300+ staff and faculty who have participated in the program as their experiences will inform a future effort that meets the needs of the increasingly diverse and evolving Northwestern community. Additionally, the two offices are working to follow up on recommendations made in the recent Staff Engagement Survey which advance diversity, equity and inclusion in hiring and advancement. Lastly, the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion is currently partnering with an outside consultant in the development of an institution-wide diversity and inclusion strategic plan which will help inform and align this effort with University priorities and resources.

The following Change Makers alumni have agreed to co-chair an exploratory committee to review the processes outlined above and make recommendations on a newly imagined education and training experience for staff and faculty:

Francesca Gaiba, PhD, CPRA
Research Associate Professor
Associate Director, Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing

Steven M. Adams, MLIS
Life Sciences Librarian
University Libraries

Together with a committee of Change Makers alumni and others, the co-chairs will lead this collaborative effort and address the following objectives:

·         To review current program components including application, selection, curriculum, facilitation, assessment, and ongoing engagement of participants and alumni; this would include an analysis and consideration of consultant, facilitator and participant demographics, and any impact on content and program delivery and efficacy both short- and long-term
·         To explore alternative program models which may include benchmarking among peers
·         To submit a report on findings and recommendations

Other Change Maker alumni and friends of the program will be consulted throughout this process as it spans the 2019 – 2020 academic year. During this time, we invite those who would like to remain engaged in institution-wide diversity, equity and inclusion activities to consider the following staff affinity groups and faculty resources:






Finally, please continue to support the leadership and programming of the Women’s Center. To learn more about their efforts as catalysts for change and championing the rights of women and gender minority faculty, staff and students at Northwestern, visit the website and join their mailing list. To subscribe to the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion’s quarterly e-communication Insights please contact Louie Lainez at louie.lainez@northwestern.edu.

Please contact us if you have any questions and thanks so much for your interest in and support of enhancing the experience of staff and faculty at Northwestern.

Jabbar R. Bennett, PhD
Associate Provost and Chief Diversity Officer

Dana Bradley
Associate Vice President, Human Resources

2000 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208