Major Strategic Changes to Senior Leadership Introducing Dr. Kortet Mensah, Warren Wilson College’s First Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Strategy Story and portrait by Mary Bates
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ollowing an extensive national search of more than 100 applicants, Warren Wilson College welcomed Dr. Kortet Mensah as the inaugural Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), and Strategy in June 2021. The newly created position is responsible for guiding efforts to conceptualize, design, assess, nurture, and cultivate inclusive and equitable diversity as an institutional and educational resource. It is a senior-level position reporting directly to the President of the College and sitting on the Cabinet leadership team. “Throughout the interview process, Dr. Mensah impressed us with her deep knowledge of DEI and extensive background in the work, as well as her warmth and ability to connect with everyone on campus,” said President Lynn Morton, Ph.D. “I truly enjoyed and learned from her thoughtful conversations with me throughout the search process, and the Cabinet appreciated her depth of insight, candor, and collegiality. We are very excited to welcome her to the team.” The position falls under Imperative #3 of Warren Wilson’s 2022 Strategic Plan. That imperative commits to a culture of educational access and ensuring that students and employees from a diverse range of identities and experiences will thrive in the Warren Wilson College community. In addition, the creation of a Cabinet-level DEI position was one of the 16 demands put forward in 2020 by the College’s Black Student Union. Mensah is responsible for leading the development of a unifying strategy for diversity, equity, and inclusion at the College in addition to playing a major role at the administrative level with strategic planning, implementation, reporting, and evaluation as the 2019–2022 Strategic Plan closes and the 2022–2025 Strategic Plan launches. Mensah came to Warren Wilson from Bastyr University in Washington state, where she served as the Associate Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion/Chief Diversity Officer. There, she was the inaugural person in the role as well—establishing the DEI department and infusing that work into all aspects of the institution. Mensah has spent more than 20 years in higher education and nearly a decade as a leader in DEI work. She earned her B.A. in Business Administration from Stephens College, her M.Ed. in Educational and Counseling Psychology, and her Ph.D. in Human
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Development and Family Studies at the University of Missouri. Mensah will work with every academic and administrative department across campus, including with the faculty Director of DEI Initiatives, the Wilson Inclusion Diversity and Equity (WIDE) Director, the DEI Advisory Committee, the Office of Human Resources, and the Director of Institutional Effectiveness at a strategic level to advance the College’s goals and objectives. She will also support students, faculty, and staff and work with them towards addressing the 2020 demands of the Black Student Union as well as the demands of the Indigenous Student Association. “I’m honored to be joining Warren Wilson’s effort to strategically infuse DEI into its operations and community climate,” Mensah said. “Often, organizations express DEI desires with limited emphasis on strategy, intentionality, and racial justice, which are the bedrocks of DEI/social justice work. Warren Wilson bypasses these downfalls as evidenced by the title of the position, the College’s emphasis on racial equity as the core of its DEI work, and the focus of the campus community (including senior leaders) on hiring a leader who can help them engage in substantive organizational and individual work rooted in social justice.”
