Elizabeth Jones Joins OIE as Assistant Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The Office for Institutional Equity is pleased to announce the arrival of Dr. Elizabeth A. Jones in the role of assistant director of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Elizabeth has over 20 years of experience as an educator, facilitator, trainer, and administrator in academic and community spaces around a variety of issues related to diversity and inclusion, critical pedagogy, interpersonal and organizational communication, gender and sexuality, and inclusive leadership. She looks forward to partnering with the OEI team and campus and health care partners to support vibrant equity and inclusion practices at Duke.

Elizabeth believes that we learn through our identities, bodies, and stories, and that justice emerges in community/ies of care. leadership style favors working collaboratively and in a way that builds sustainable and accountable community/ies. While and educator or facilitator may be the guide in DEI work, she knows that every member of a team or community must have the room to participate, learn, and co-create equity in their space(s). She believes in critical feminist, queer, and disability theories and methods as modes of inquiry and sites of possibility for justice making. As a creative and performer, she also believes that creative practices can help us all get more free. She strives to be competent, affirming, and liberating across identities including race, gender, sexuality, ability, body size, education, citizenship status, and socioeconomic status.

Elizabeth is very excited to join the dynamic OIE team at Duke. She is excited to support the OIE mission to provides education and support for the Duke University and Duke Health community to advance Duke's shared values of respect, trust, inclusion, discovery, and excellence. Elizabeth has spent the last decade as a faculty member at North Carolina State University in the Department of Communication and in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She served in numerous administrative roles including Director of Public Speaking, in various leadership roles in the WGS, and as the Director of the First Year Inquiry Program. Prior to her work at NCSU Elizabeth worked in the Office of Inclusive Excellence at Elon University. Elizabeth holds a B.A./B.A. in English and Communication Studies, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Communication Studies, all from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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