The Brown Model: Pathways to Inclusion and Belonging National Tour

Dr. Alyssia Coates is the senior director of development, inclusive philanthropic engagement at Brown. She oversees the Advancement DEI strategic plan and is responsible for the coordination and collaboration across various units within the division and with University campus partners. She is the academic advancement liaison to administrative and faculty leadership for the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity (OIED), the Centers for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America, and the Ruth J. Simmons Study of Slavery and Justice to advance the University’s campaign priorities.

Coates formerly served for 24 years at the University of Notre Dame in several leadership roles, including the regional director of development, senior leader for the enrollment management team, and professor for the College of First Year of Studies. Coates started a national early outreach recruitment model and established a Notre Dame presence across the United States to identify and recruit seventh through tenth grade students to cultivate a pipeline of highly talented students for selective colleges and universities. Coates’s administrative experience includes success in fundraising, strategic planning, staff development, grant management, organizational leadership, event planning, and stewardship.

Mary Jo Callan serves as the vice president for community engagement for Brown University and executive director of the Swearer Center for Public Service. In this dual role, she leads efforts to deepen mutuality in Brown’s community-engaged teaching, learning, and research, with a particular focus on growing positive place-based engagement with communities throughout Providence and Rhode Island.

Prior to her roles at Brown University and the University of Michigan, Callan served in K-12 schools, local government, and youth-serving nonprofits, where she experienced the promise and peril of engaging with academic institutions. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Michigan and her doctorate at the College of William and Mary. Her scholarly work and practice has focused on partnerships between universities and social and public sector organizations, with a particular emphasis on equity and reciprocity in these partnerships.

As the assistant dean for equity initiatives and university K-12 engagement, Joi-Danelle Whitehead steers equity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives in the Division of Pre-College and Undergraduate Programs and oversees strategic local, community-based, and national partnerships that center the college readiness of low-income, first-generation-to-college and other historically marginalized student populations. As a member of the University’s community engagement team, Whitehead provides strategic guidance, consultation, coordination, and professional development that helps strengthen the University’s collective ability to engage in impactful, reciprocal, and sustainable partnerships with K-12 schools, districts, and youth-serving organizations.

Born and raised in Rhode Island, Whitehead holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Tufts University, and a master’s in urban education from Mercy College, as well as certifications in leadership and diversity and inclusion from Brown University and Cornell University, respectively. An ardent advocate for college readiness, access, and success, Whitehead has served in the K-12, nonprofit, and higher education sectors, and her background spans teaching, curriculum development, student affairs, program management, partnership development, and community engagement.