Episode 8: Featuring Dr. Yvette Alex-Assensoh

‍As the Chief Strategy Officer for Noodle, Lee Bradshaw meets – you guessed it – a lot of interesting people in higher ed. In Noodle’s debut podcast, Bradshaw speaks with leaders from every facet of higher education to tease out their stories and learn about how they’re moving and shaking an industry that notoriously values tradition.

For the eighth installment of The Most Interesting People in Higher Education we interviewed Dr. Yvette Alex-Assensoh, the Vice President for Equity & Inclusion at the University of Oregon.

Dr. Alex-Assensoh begins by defining some key terms and examining why colleges have moved to add equity and inclusion to diversity. She goes into detail about specific strategies for improving DEI in higher education including curriculum, cultural humility, and inclusive space for faculty. Her discussion with Noodle’s Chief Strategy Officer, Lee Bradshaw, touches on critical race theory, how to measure institutional success, and how we can move the questions of DEI from “what” to “how.”

We learned so much from talking with Dr. Alex-Assensoh. She shared some of her brilliant and creative ways of thinking about equity and inclusion in higher education. We are grateful that she took the time to chat with us and are excited to share her insight with you. Thanks for listening.

Dr. Yvette M. Alex-Assensoh is an award-winning researcher, university professor, equity strategist as well as a member of the Oregon and Indiana State Bar Associations, Leadership Consultant, Certified Coach, Workshop Facilitator and Keynote Speaker. She has, over the last 25 years, delivered results in higher education, with non-profits and faith-based organizations as well as for individuals across America, in Africa, Asia and Europe. Her life-long belief in the power of unconditional love, as actualized in L.A.C.E., is the driving force behind how she conducts research, teaches, leads and coaches. Read her full bio here.