University of Phoenix Leadership Selected to Serve on NCORE® National Advisory Council
By Sharla Hooper
Tondra Richardson, MBA, also joins committee on student affairs and affiliated professionals
University of Phoenix is pleased to share that Tondra Richardson, MBA, director, Student Diversity & Inclusion, with the Office of Educational Equity, has been selected as to serve as a new member of the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE®) National Advisory Council. A major program of the Southwest Center for Human Relations Studies (SWCHRS) based at the University of Oklahoma Outreach / College of Continuing Education, NCORE® is held annually and serves as the leading national forum of its kind, attracting national and international attendees representing more than 1,200 institutions of higher education, non-profits and other educational organizations.
“I am honored to have been selected as a member of the National Advisory Council for NCORE. I have followed this conference since I began doing this work. The council is comprised of several individuals who I have great admiration for and some who have influenced the work I do at the University of Phoenix,” states Richardson. “I look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with other educators in our efforts to bring greater awareness to the challenges and needs of our underserved students and communities as a whole.”
SWCHRS is devoted to the study, understanding, and resolution of human conflict and to promoting understanding and cooperation among people of different racial, ethnic, religious, and economic backgrounds. As a member of the Council, Richardson joins NCORE’s Student Affairs and Affiliated Professionals Committee to help provide recommendations to the SWCHRS, and the SWCHRS Executive Committee, as well as to NCORE staff, for the planning and programming of the annual NCORE® conference.
“Tondra is an outstanding leader and student advocate,” states Kelly Hermann, vice president, Accessibility, Equity & Inclusion. “Her contributions to NCORE will be invaluable given her knowledge and dedication to the important work fostering community discussion and action on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.”
Richardson provides leadership, training, and management for the University’s Office of Educational Equity focused to serve the University’s students, alumni, community and alliances. She was integrally involved with the planning and success of the University’s first annual Inclusive Leadership Summit in April 2022.
Richardson has over 20 years of experience in higher education and is certified by the National Diversity Council as a Diversity and Inclusion Practitioner and completed Cornell University's Diversity and Inclusion certificate program. In addition to being a diversity and inclusion practitioner, her areas of expertise include conflict resolution and risk management with over 15 years of experience in the Office of Dispute Management at University of Phoenix where she was also certified by the Association of Title IX Administrators as a Title IX Coordinator.
Richardson currently serves on the Board for the Diversity Leadership Alliance and chairs the Education Committee for the Diversity Leadership Alliance. She is a member of the Arizona Multicultural Education Conference Planning Committee and the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce DATOS Research Committee. Richardson was awarded the Diversity Leadership Alliance & Arizona Society for Human Resource Management Volunteer of the Year Award, and most recently was selected as an honoree of the 2022 class of leading women in higher education by the publication, Diverse: Issues In Higher Education.
Richardson has been an employee with the University of Phoenix since 2001 and earned her Master’s of Business Administration from the University in 2008.
About University of Phoenix
University of Phoenix is continually innovating to help working adults enhance their careers in a rapidly changing world. Flexible schedules, relevant courses, interactive learning, and Career Services for Life® help students more effectively pursue career and personal aspirations while balancing their busy lives. For more information, visit phoenix.edu.
