In late February, 2021, the Academic Leadership Institute (ALI) held its second webinar, "Budget: Foe or Friend When Advancing a Diversity Agenda." The event, which featured breakout rooms for small-group discussion, drew national higher education leaders to talk about how institutions balance an economic downturn with diversity goals. Panelists included Dr. Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, chancellor of CUNY, Dr. Robert Sellers, Chief Diversity Officer and vice provost for equity and inclusion at the University of Michigan, and Dr. Mariko Silver, president and CEO of the Henry Luce Foundation. The panel and Q&A were moderated by Drs. Jonathan Holloway, president of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and Dwight A. McBride, president of The New School, the Center for Social Solutions's co-founding ALI partner. 

"Budget is really all about planning. When I think about it from a university administrator's planning perspective, it is our job to think three, five, and ten years down the road," commented Dr. Holloway. "This [ALI] institute is built on the awareness that the demography of the country is changing, the importance of diversity as a strategic factor in the success of institution is becoming more and more evident to people." 

Watch the full talk here.