Published: Nov. 27, 2023

The following was adapted from a presentation by Sonia DeLuca Fernández,senior vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion at CU Boulder.

As a college, in alignment with campus, we would like to adopt the shared equity leadership model for all contributors to our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

The shared equity leadership modelwas developed byAdrianna Kezarand her colleagues at the University of Southern California and the American Council on Education. It is a framework for:

  • A critical mass of people who are committed to undertaking a personal journey toward critical consciousness
  • Who share equity-focused values and
  • Enact specific practices to promote more just and equitable outcomes.

To begin thinking about this concept, here are examples of how and why shared equity leadership works:

  • Makes equity and student success everyone’s work
  • Ties personal and organizational work
  • Changes culture; transformational, not transactional
  • Builds in structures and accountability
  • Builds authentic relationships, trust, and processes key to emotions that are part of racial equity work

Read CU Boulder's FAQs on shared equity leadership


All-College Meeting Breakout Session

As an introduction to this concept, we’d like to gather your thoughts on the meaning of this definition through an activity in our Dec. 6 All-College Meeting, where we will have break-out sessions that discuss the following:

  1. What makes a “critical mass” for DEI efforts to be effective?
  2. What is a “personal journey” and what does that look like?
  3. What are “equity-focused values”?
  4. What are examples of “specific practices” to promote more just and equitable outcomes in CEAS?

For more, please check out the visual at right, whichdemonstratesthe shift from "traditional accountability"to shared equity leadership expanded accountability, along with an explanation of the ultimate goal of "critical consciousness.”