College of Education and Human Development

Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development

Systems Change

research expertise in OLPD

Studying the initiators, motives, timing, and outcomes of institutional and cultural change efforts, our faculty explores strategies for driving effective systems change. See below for profiles of faculty and their research related to systems change.

Faculty with expertise in this area

Heidi Barajas Heidi Barajas

Heidi Lasley Barajas is currently serving as the interim Associate Vice President for Public Engagement at the University of Minnesota and is an associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development.

Heidi Barajas
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Gresham Donald Collom Gresham Donald Collom

Dr. Gresham D. Collom is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education in the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities' Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development.

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Rashné R. Jehangir Rashné R. Jehangir

  • Professor; Robert Beck Chair of Ideas in Education; Founding Director, CEHD First Gen Institute
  • 612-625-3551
  • jehan001@umn.edu

My academic work is at the nexus of research and praxis shaped by my early career as a student affairs practitioner and advisor in federally funded TRIO programs.

Rashné Jehangir
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Darrius Stanley Darrius Stanley

  • Assistant Professor; Carmen Starkson Campbell Endowed Fellow for Innovation in Teacher Development
  • he, him, his
  • dstanley@umn.edu

My work centers the political, educational, and philosophical perspectives of Black people to unearth Black genius and possibility in education.

Darrius Stanley
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Aditi Rajendran Aditi Rajendran

My research explores how leadership shifts policies and practices towards more racially just schools and systems.

Aditi Rajendran
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Joan DeJaeghere Joan DeJaeghere

As the oldest daughter of parents who had to leave secondary school due to financial needs, I am committed to concerns related to educational equity and wellbeing.

Joan DeJaeghere
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Rebecca Ropers Rebecca Ropers

  • Professor; Interim Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, University of Minnesota-Duluth
  • 612-626-9545
  • ropers@umn.edu

My scholarship focuses on how educators create environments that are accessible to, nurturing of, and reliant upon people in our diverse communities.

Rebecca Ropers
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Katie Pekel Katie Pekel

  • Executive Director of Educational Leadership; Co-Coordinator, Graduate Programs in Education Policy and Leadership
  • 612-625-7002
  • kpekel@umn.edu

As the Executive Director of Educational Leadership, Dr. Pekel serves as the department’s direct connection between the fields of research and practice in PK-12 education.

Katie Pekel
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