Giving Opportunities 2021

Who we are

The Center for Studies in Higher Education promotes multidisciplinary and multicultural perspectives in higher education in part by training future generations of leaders.

As the student demographics at UC Berkeley and other universities are becoming increasingly diverse, there is a greater need for skilled and diverse senior administrators to effectively guide these growing student populations.

The Executive Leadership Academy (ELA) is designed for faculty and higher education administrators, from all backgrounds, who are interested in preparing themselves for academic leadership positions.

In the past 10 years, nearly 500 Fellows have gained skills and developed multicultural competencies to successfully serve as university leaders. ELA alumni have become deans, provosts, presidents and chancellors at colleges and universities, further expanding the diversity among higher education leaders.

How your gift will support

The ELA alumni network is diverse, however, only 2% of our alumni are represented by Native American/Alaskan Natives.  While there is great potential to train capable and interested individuals, they often come from colleges and universities that do not have the capacity to support professional development. Our goal is to raise $15,000 or 100% cost of tuition for two Native American ELA Fellows for our 2022 cohort and to continue to prepare them for leadership positions in higher education. 

"Talented and courageous indigenous leaders in higher education are in short supply in mainstream institutions. UC Berkeley and ELA will remove financial obstacles with this scholarship opportunity and guide indigenous ELA applicants to beautiful leadership destinations. It gives me tremendous hope that it can be done with generous giving!"

Cassandra Manuelito-Kerkvliet, Executive Leadership Academy Advisory Board Member and first Native American woman to ascend to the presidency of an accredited university outside the tribal colleges.