President Richard Feldman recently announced that he has engaged the support of the consulting firm DeEtta Jones and Associates to help guide key elements of the University’s equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts. The agency’s principal and founder DeEtta Jones and associate Jerome Offord will visit Rochester in late April to meet with various campus and community constituents. Jones brings twenty-five years of experience as a management consultant, diversity and inclusion educator, and organization development and training professional. Her work and track record of success have led to her being one of the most sought-after speakers and consultants in her field.
Vice provost and Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Dean of University of Rochester Libraries, Mary Ann Mavrinac worked with DeEtta Jones on the strategic planning process for River Campus Libraries and says she helped thread diversity and inclusion into the plan from its inception. “DeEtta is a luminary, and she earned that status from over 25 years of helping individuals and organizations integrate higher order values into the work they do to realize change that is sustainable, transformative, and compelling,” says Mavrinac. “She is intuitive, warm, intelligent, experienced, and insightful. I believe that she will leave an indelible mark on the University.”
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Jones and Offord are specifically charged with helping frame a new University-wide equity, diversity, and inclusion office. They will also help draft a position description for a person to lead that office. The diversity and inclusion experts will be in Rochester several times in April and May. During their many visits, Jones and Offord will meet with the President’s Cabinet, the University Diversity and Equity Council, and other members of the campus community who are engaged in the work of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Jones says she has plans for their first visit to Rochester. “We want to listen and come to a better understanding of Rochester’s current efforts and its aspirations for the future,” she says. “We also want to identify the organizational and any cultural attributes that will help inform our approach.”
For more information about DeEtta Jones and Associates visit their website.
