BD Wong is a celebrated actor and activist with over three decades of excellence on stage, on television, and in film. His experiences as an openly gay Asian-American actor in Hollywood have shaped his career and inform his ongoing advocacy work. Having faced rejection, typecasting, racism, and homophobia in his journeys through the entertainment industry, he has a sharp perspective on the importance and necessity of diversity and representation in the media and beyond. In his heartfelt, inspirational, and often amusing talks, he addresses issues like racial self-image, the “model minority myth,” moving beyond preconceptions and seeing everyone’s full humanity, the beauty and challenges of owning multiple identities, and the importance of passing the torch of all of the above to younger people.
BD made his Broadway debut in M. Butterfly in the leading role which earned him a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Clarence Derwent Award, and Theater World Award. To this day, he is the only actor to win all five major New York theater awards for a single role. In addition to performances on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in regional theatre, BD is also known for his roles in popular TV shows including Law & Order: SVU, Mr. Robot, Oz, and most recently, Awkwafina is Nora from Queens. Some of his most immediately recognizable work on the silver screen includes four films of the Jurassic Park franchise, Mulan, and Netflix’s Bird Box.
Following much success as an actor, BD is making a name for himself as a theater director. His directorial debut was The Yellow Wood at the 4th annual New York Musical Theatre Festival. In 2022, he co-authored and World Premiered the stage adaptation of the Oscar-nominated film Mr. Holland’s Opus at Ogunquit Playhouse and is currently directing Yes, I Can Say That!, starring actor-writer and stand-up comic Judy Gold at Primary Stages in New York City.
BD often speaks to the importance of mentorship and intergenerational collaboration in every stage of his life and career. Without the stewardship of his high school drama teacher who told him, “You must not waste this potential,” BD would not have so effectively connected to his calling. Mrs. Chanes steered his love for performing from a casual hobby into a legitimate career choice, and other mentors along the way helped develop him into the star he is today. As a veteran performer who has achieved great success, he sees mentoring future generations as a sworn duty. Originally involved as a guest teaching artist, he currently serves on the board of Rosie’s Theater Kids, an arts education organization providing free performing arts instruction, life skills development, and tutoring to underserved students in New York City’s public schools.
His support for and pride in being a member of the Asian-American and LGBTQ+ communities extend beyond fighting for respectful and nuanced representation in Hollywood. He used his celebrity to elevate the Stop Asian Hate movement, appearing in national PSAs and social media campaigns. He is an advocate for The Trevor Project and its “It Gets Better” campaign and has also received community service awards from GLAAD, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Empire State Pride Agenda, Marriage Equality NY, the Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund, and the Museum of Chinese in the Americas, among many others. In 2023, BD Wong was the opening general session speaker for the 108th AACRAO Annual Meeting in Aurora, Colorado.
Dr. Charas is the Founder and CEO of HC Moneyball, an Adjunct Professor, and a governance researcher and thought-leader.
Dr. Charas’ SaaS product – HCMetrix™ – delivers capabilities for subscribers to quantify the material impact of human capital on corporate performance and understand the effectiveness of human capital programs in generating HCROI. She is an expert in the area of human capital disclosures required a variety of ESG governance frameworks, the SEC and ISO 30414 and 30415.
She has served on public company boards and has held the Chairperson role for Audit and Compensation Committees. She has also served on private for-profit, non-profit and higher education boards.
Solange is an Adjunct Professor in the Master’s Programs of Human Capital Management at Columbia, USC and NYU. She also is a Distinguished Principal Research Fellow at The Conference Board, leads the Strategic Human Capital Institute in the Human Capital Center, and serves as a Board Advisor to the Center.
Solange held the CHRO position at three global public companies and was part of the leadership team (National Director) at EY and Arthur Andersen.
Dr. Charas earned a PhD in Management (focused on Board Governance) from Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management, an MBA in Accounting and Finance from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management, and a BA in International Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
She has been published or cited in more than 250 research and practitioner publications including 70+ academic citations. Some of her noteworthy publications includeHarvard Business Review, Forbes, Agenda Magazine, Financier Worldwide, NACD, Fast Company, USA Today, LA Times, Boston Globe, Entrepreneur Magazine. She has contributed chapters for all three editions of The Handbook for Board Governance and Coaching the Team at Work: Team Coaching Handbook. Her book, Humanizing Human Capital: Invest in Your People for Optimal Business Returns was published in September 2022. She is a frequent speaker at events addressing human capital governance issues.
Dr. Rubina F. Malik is a scholar, strategic advisor, thought leader and a mentor. As a champion of career sponsorship and leadership development, she is an expert in helping organizations enhance the engagement, retention, and promotion of diverse candidates.
Competitive edge-driving organizations from start-ups to Fortune 500 global brands depend on her support and expertise to propel programs such as mentoring, career sponsorship and leadership development. She is a Tedx speaker and a popular guest speaker at conferences and podcasts. She is frequently published in industry magazines, including highly respected academic and business journals such as The Harvard Business Review. To fulfill her passion and commitment to the community, she is on several non-profit boards that actively support education and equity-based incentives.
Dr. Lauren L. Griffeth is a triple dawg graduate of the University of Georgia with a Ph.D. in Adult Education and certificates in Human Resources and Organizational Development and Qualitative Research. After a 10-year career in fundraising while working through graduate school, Dr. Griffeth joined the Public Service Faculty of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of Georgia to direct leadership programs.
Today, Dr. Griffeth is an Extension Leadership Specialist where she facilitates internal and external leadership programs and serves as a graduate faculty member. Dr. Griffeth has authored more than 50 publications for peer review and popular press. She has been published in the Harvard Business Review for her research on women’s leadership. Dr. Griffeth’s interest areas include women’s leadership in agriculture, generational differences in communication, and organizational development.
Dr. Griffeth also works with teams across the US through her company, Focused Leadership Solutions, where she commits to helping people operate to their highest potential.
Lauren is married to Tim Griffeth, an agriculture education teacher at North Oconee High School. They have two children, Tanner (10) and Lilli (7).
AACRAO Bio
Sarah has spent her entire career in higher education in various leadership roles in student affairs and academic affairs and more than a third of her career as a law school registrar. She has served on numerous academic, curricular, diversity and inclusion, FERPA, and other policy and senate committees. Her experience as a PACRAO, NNLSO, and AACRAO member has been career-enriching; she enjoys learning from and presenting with her colleagues whenever possible.
Sarah has a keen interest in investigating the intersection of personal and professional lives. She looks forward to engaging with Doug McKenna as the fellow Co-Host of AACRAO's For the Record podcast.
Sarah lives in the California Bay Area with her husband and is happiest when she's learning and creating. She spends most of her free time sewing clothing, adores all things HGTV, secretly hopes to learn how to cook well, and is eager to get back into her first love—rowing
Dr. Kayla Charles is the Director of Enrollment Management at Hillsborough Community College (HCC) in Tampa, Florida. Since starting this role in 2017, she has managed the adoption of multiple technology systems to improve the student experience. She has also served in diverse roles at HCC and The University of Tampa in IT, Admissions, Financial Aid, and the Registrar's Office. Dr. Charles earned her MBA from The University of Tampa and her Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration from the University of Florida.
Tim Winders serves as the Vice Chancellor of Information Services (VCIS) at Purdue University Northwest. In his role, Winders provides leadership for the service delivery and integration of information technology across the institution. He provides strategic oversight of campus wide information technology activities and the sponsoring of IT committees. He works with IT service units across campus by delivering direction in preparing PNW in making appropriate choices in new and developing information technologies to foster high quality research learning services that meet curricular and scholarly needs of faculty, students, staff and community.
As VCIS, Winders has implemented IT strategic planning, zero-based budgeting, and IT governance. He established the IT Security department, implemented digital accessibility standards and training, established student employee standards and benchmarks, and hosted the first-ever Northwest Indiana CIO Roundtable at PNW. Winders is an executive sponsor of system-wide IT initiatives and was instrumental in the success of the Purdue System Cloud (PSC) resulting in a system-wide annual savings of over $4M.
Winders represents the University’s information technology interests by serving as a member of the PNW Senior Leadership Team, PNW Web Advisory Committee, PNW University Budget Committee, PNW HLC Resource, Planning and Institutional Effectiveness Committee, PNW Emergency Planning Committee, PNW Strategic Enrollment Management Committee, Purdue IT Operational Oversight Committee and Purdue System-wide Summit Task Force. He chairs both the Chancellor’s AccessAbility Committee and the PNW IT Governance Committee.
Winders has presented to the Association of College and University Telecommunications Administrators (ACUTA), Jenzabar Annual Meeting (JAM), South Central POISE Users Group (SCPUG), Purdue University Northwest Information Services Student Association, Fourth International Conference on Lean Six Sigma for Higher Education, Crowe Horwath Risk Consulting Summit, and RTM Higher Education Congress conferences.
Additionally, Vice Chancellor Winders’ community outreach includes the South Shore Arts Board of Directors, Northwest Indiana Symphony Committee, South Shore Arts Education Committee, and South Shore Arts Finance Committee. He is past president of Levelland Morning Rotary Club, founding member of Youth Orchestras of Lubbock in Lubbock, Texas, and served as President of the YOL Board of Directors.
Prior to PNW, Winders served as Associate Dean of Information Technology at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas. He has more than 30 years experience in technology and business and a successful, demonstrated background with over 25 years executive and hands-on experience in higher education technology management. The solution-oriented enterprise is a result of his visionary leadership.
Winders is a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) candidate in Technology, Leadership, and Innovation at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Indiana. He holds a Master of Science (M.S.) in Business, Information Technology Management and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), in Biology, both from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He may be contacted at winders@pnw.edu.
Keith Gehres serves as Registrar for Purdue University West Lafayette. He began in this role in September 2018. Keith provides leadership for a variety of responsibilities within the Office of the Registrar, including: records, registration and graduation; academic and classroom scheduling; academic services; residency and FERPA; academic operational support; and credit evaluation. Prior to joining Purdue, he served as director of outreach and recruitment for Undergraduate Admissions at The Ohio State University and in various other positions within this office for fifteen years.
During his time in Undergraduate Admissions, Keith directed and supported recruitment and yield initiatives focusing on new first year and transfer students, for both domestic and international students. He earned a BA in Integrated Social Studies and a MA in Public Administration, both from Ohio State.
Lee Westberry, Ph.D., serves as an Assistant Professor, Director of Program Development and Enhancement, and Program Coordinator for the Zucker Family School of Education at The Citadel. Dr. Westberry has served the last 21 years in Berkeley County Schools as a high school assistant principal, middle school principal, high school principal, Executive Director of Secondary Programs, and Executive Director of Accountability and Assessment. Higher Education's Role in Preparing School Counselors for College Admissions Counseling
Elayne Vaughn coordinates recruitment and admissions for the Master in Urban and Regional Planning program at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. Vaughn identifies as a Black first-generation college graduate from Detroit, MI. She earned her bachelor’s degree in communication studies from Grand Valley State University, where she worked in admissions as a student employee. Shortly after, she earned her master’s degree in organizational leadership from the University of Oklahoma. Prior to joining Taubman College, Vaughn began her admissions career at the University of Oklahoma in the admissions and recruitment department.
Review of: Inside Graduate Admissions: Merit, Diversity, and Faculty Gatekeeping
Trista Wdziekonski, a higher education administrator for 22 years, is currently Executive Director of Graduate Enrollment Management at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. She holds a master of arts in higher education from the University of Michigan and has previously worked at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Harvard School of Public Health, and Northwestern University.
Review of: A Problem of Fit: How the Complexity of College Pricing Hurts Students—and Universities
Neil W. Birt is the Assistant Director of Learning Skills and Assessment in the Office of Learning Enhancement and Academic Development (LEAD) at Western University of Health Sciences. Prior to his ten years with WesternU, he spent five years with an online sustainable MBA program at Bainbridge Graduate Institute. His long history in higher education began in Japan where he was an assistant professor for six years after working for ten years at various colleges and corporations there.
Bolstering Graduate Healthcare Student Success Through Emotional Intelligence
Diane VanDyke is the Director of Strategic Communications at Montgomery County Community College, where she has worked in the marketing and communications department since 2010. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Ursinus College and is completing a master’s degree in communications and digital media from Southern New Hampshire University.
A Tale of Two Community Colleges: A Dual Enrollment Recruitment Outreach Strategy
Eric Devlin is the Public Relations and Communications Coordinator at Montgomery County Community College. He brings with him more than ten years of experience in journalism and public relations. A graduate of La Salle University, he is currently pursuing a master’s degree in strategic communications from Penn State University.
Stepheni Anderson, Interim Executive Director of Admissions, for HACC, Central Pennsylvania's Community College, is an alumna of HACC. Her passion for helping future students to attend community college, comes from her personal experience. Stepheni graduated from Penn State York Campus in 2008 with an undergraduate degree in business administration and achieved her M.B.A from Walden University in 2015. She has worked in the admissions department at HACC for almost nine years.
Tiffany Webber, Director of High School Programs & Educational Partnerships, for Montgomery County Community College, is a first-generation graduate in her family with 20 years of higher education experience. Tiffany graduated from Temple University with a bachelor’s degree in speech communication. She continued her educational journey earning a master’s degree in organization management and is currently an Ed.D. candidate for Wilmington University’s Doctorate of Education (higher education administration). Born and raised in the very county that she currently services, it is her passion to promote accessible postsecondary education.