Southwest Tennessee Community College’s LaDonna Young appointed to Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change Board of Directors

For more information, contact: Diana Fedinec, Director of Public Relations and Media
(901) 333-4247 
dfedinec@southwest.tn.edu

(Memphis, Tenn.) – Dr. LaDonna Young, Dean of Humanities, Social Sciences & Mathematics at Southwest Tennessee Community College, was selected to serve on The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change Board of Directors. Young’s one-year appointment began in May. 

Created in 1996 by the late Benjamin L. Hooks and the University of Memphis, the Hooks Institute’s mission is teaching, studying and promoting civil rights and social change through research, education, and direct intervention programs. They have addressed disparities related to race, education, diversity and inclusion, and economic mobility for over 20 years. 

As a member of the board, Young is uniquely positioned to bring her equity-centered work and higher education perspective toward empowering underserved and marginalized students and communities.  

Young has more than 20 years of teaching and administration experience in higher education. Her work has focused on developing successful programs for marginalized and underserved students and empowering the faculty who educate them. She was appointed to the Education Trust’s Higher Education Policy Council in 2021.  Young created the College’s Office of High Impact Practices and Innovation (HIPI) and the Gatekeeper Faculty Fellowship, a multi-year, faculty-driven initiative targeted at closing the achievement gaps in the College’s Top 20 Gatekeeper (Gateway) courses.