Administrative Leadership for Equity and Inclusion: An Interview with Sharon J. Washington
By Kathryn Peltier Campbell, editor, On Campus with Women

Sharon J. Washington serves as executive director of the National Writing Project (NWP), a nationwide network of educators working to improve the teaching of writing in schools and other settings. Through more than two hundred university-based sites located in all fifty states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, NWP provides professional development to teachers in a variety of disciplines, from early childhood through university education. On Campus with Women recently had the opportunity to ask Sharon a series of questions about leadership for inclusion and equity in education.

Before joining NWP, you had a long career in higher education administration at a diverse range of institutions, from Kent State, Springfield College, and Spelman College to the University of California System. Throughout that career, you have dedicated your work to fostering equity and inclusion in education, both in the classroom and in the workplace. In the context of administrative leadership to create environments where everyone can flourish, could you describe what you mean by equity and inclusion?

SJW: For me, inclusion is about asking who is present, whose voices are at the table. People often think that inclusion is solely about race, ethnicity, and gender, without addressing the simultaneity of class, language, ability, religion, and sexual orientation. Inclusion also means involving people across positional differences within an organization. In a university or college setting, does the conversation include faculty, staff, and students? Asking who is present means trying to imagine a full range of identities as well as divisional locations within an organization. Equity is about treating people fairly, which sometimes means treating them differently. Providing opportunities for people with disabilities is an example. It is fair to recognize differences and offer accommodations based on an individual’s circumstances.

Having worked both in smaller private colleges and in the University of California System setting, do you find that different kinds of institutions need to adopt different strategies to achieve inclusion and equity as you described them?

SJW: I think there are similar strategies regardless of the type of institution. Communication is always necessary: it is important to communicate your vision, listen to your audience, and communicate the vision again. Delivering the message once, or even two or three times, is often not enough. Effective communication includes really listening to people’s concerns, fears, and dreams, and it means acknowledging their emotional responses. In addition, organizational policies are very important. You can’t tell people how to think. However, you can use policy to restrict or require certain behaviors, because that is a prerogative of the workplace. We restrict or require behaviors all the time, whether by designating the hours of the work day or instituting policies designed to restrict harassment. Policies govern behaviors, but they cannot dictate particular thoughts or beliefs.

You have been a key leader within Campus Women Lead, and you were instrumental in designing CWL’s interactive workshops to mobilize women’s leadership for inclusive excellence. Why did you think it was important to launch an effort like CWL’s? What kinds of dynamics across levels of leadership do you think it can help foster?

SJW: My sense that CWL’s work was important stemmed from feelings of isolation. As a faculty member, and later as an administrator, I often used to wonder, “Who is working for equity and inclusion at an institutional level?” When I attended leadership programs, the absence of meaningful conversations about these issues was stark. I wanted to engage deeply with others who were doing similar work, but I didn’t feel that there was space to do that. CWL has provided support for deepening the conversation, both for those within the group and for those who have attended our workshops. Building community with women who are trying to make a difference beyond the boundaries of individual campuses and within the campuses themselves is an essential component of the group. CWL provides interactive opportunities for people to come together across these boundaries and to acquire skills and knowledge that inform their work for greater inclusion. It offers face time where people can really engage in exciting and difficult conversations. CWL allows people to build relationships and knowledge, to share the most effective things they’ve done and the places where they haven’t made the same inroads.

As executive director of NWP, you are now leading an initiative with sites in all fifty states and a national staff. How did your commitment to equity and inclusion influence your decision to enter that position, and how has it influenced your leadership at NWP?

SJW: Literacy is absolutely essential to greater equity and access for all students. When I was considering this position, I found that NWP had been, and continues to be, involved in very clear social justice work, focusing on what it means to create equitable education settings in urban, rural, and suburban communities. Writing Project local sites provide meaningful and effective professional development for teachers, who then support the academic achievement of all students and encourage students to find their voices. The model of teachers teaching teachers is a revolutionary act of recognizing teacher knowledge, expertise, and leadership that resonates wonderfully with my belief that teaching and learning is a collaborative experience.

My leadership of NWP is possible because the board is able to see my experience, skills, and all of my identities as assets. Second, the senior staff and I operate in a partnership that is greater than the sum of us individually. Moreover, my tenure at NWP represents the first time that I have been able to bring all of who I am to the table, which in turn allows me to be the best leader I can be. I don’t have to waste energy wondering if I need to hide any part of who I am. I can draw from the full range of my experiences and bring my best self forward. And I am a stronger leader because of it.

As an administrator who has worked in higher education and now in a nonprofit setting, what are some of the things you do to support progress toward your vision of inclusivity? What are the greatest challenges currently obstructing progress toward that vision?

SJW: One challenge is the expectation that change toward greater inclusion and equity should happen quickly and that if it doesn’t, we should move on to other things. Frustration with the pace of change is real, but people shouldn’t get hung up on it: in social justice work, it’s worth staying the course. A second challenge occurs when an organization moves from discussing inclusion and equity as something that their students or clients need to understand to considering it as something that they themselves need to work on. It’s difficult but necessary for organizations to ask themselves, “How do we deal with conflict? Do people’s social identities have an impact on our disagreements? How can knowing about these dynamics help us reach alignment or agreement?” As a leader, I have invested in opportunities for staff across levels to engage in questions like these about what it means to have difficult dialogues within an organization. These are long-term investments. But I’m seeing the benefits in the organization’s effectiveness during a period with very serious funding challenges. The skills we are developing to strengthen our leadership and to extend our social justice work within the organization are having ripple effects in other areas.

To sum up, if you were to name three tenets of inclusive leadership, what would those be?

SJW:

1. A sense of urgency about facilitating inclusive leadership in the present, coupled with patience about the time it takes to effect change
2. Faith and belief in the ability to make a difference
3. A sense of honor for the knowledge, expertise, and perspectives of everyone.

Editor’s note: Sharon J. Washington is a member of the Campus Women Lead Project on Inclusive Excellence. If you want to raise questions at your institution about how women can advance inclusive leadership in higher education by building multicultural alliances, consider bringing a Campus Women Lead workshop to your campus. For more information, visit our website at www.aacu.org/campuswomenlead.