Development and Guidance

Minnesota State is committed to collectively nurturing and enhancing a civically engaged, socially mobile, and economically productive Minnesota. Minnesota State has a long history of engagement in leading initiatives and grant-funded work around closing equity gaps. Equity 2030 builds from the recommendations of the statewide working groups convened under a strategic initiative, Charting the Future, and the community conversations convened during the year-long Reimagining Minnesota State process. 

In January 2020, Chancellor Malhotra appointed four Equity 2030 Chancellor’s Fellows from among Minnesota State faculty across the state to generate an essential knowledge base to lay the philosophical and practical groundwork for Equity 2030. The Fellows were appointed for six months and were appointed for six months and were appointed for six months and were each tasked with collecting information on best practices and forwarding recommendations for providing the Equity 2030 strategic plan with a solid, evidence-based underpinning. We thank the Fellows for their leadership and ongoing support for Equity 2030!

In October 2020, the system office convened an expanded Equity 2030 Working Group to help connect the work happening in the system office Divisions. The Working Group is charged with identifying opportunities for coordination within the system office and assisting with communication around Equity 2030. The Working Group will build on the recommendations forwarded by the Chancellor's Fellows and work to develop prioritization and planning to share with members of the Chancellor's Cabinet.

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Equity 2030 builds directly on the work of the Minnesota State Office of Equity and Inclusion (OEI). Under OEI’s leadership, teams from every Minnesota State college and university are engaged in work to review equity in the classroom using the Equity by Design methodology. Staff from OEI are also coordinating development of the Minnesota State Equity Scorecard, a statewide dashboard of key performance indicators. These key initiatives are directly aligned with and supportive of Equity 2030.

Strategic direction for Equity 2030 is provided by Chancellor Devinder Malhotra and the members of his Cabinet. Coordination for Equity 2030 is the responsibility of the Vice Chancellor of Equity and Inclusion, Andriel Dees, who is advised and assisted by the members of the Minnesota State Office of Equity and Inclusion, as well as other key stakeholders and constituent groups.

Coordination

Andriel Dees

Andriel Dees
Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion

As Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion, Andriel has oversight responsibilities for the system-wide strategy to support diversity, equity and inclusion. Prior to joining Minnesota State, Andriel served as the Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Capella University, Chief Diversity Officer at University of Wisconsin River-Falls, and Associate Dean of Multicultural Affairs at William Mitchell College of Law (now Mitchell Hamline).

Andriel holds a Juris Doctorate from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia.