ACPA Leadership Council
The ACPA Leadership Council is charged with managing the property, business and affairs of the Association in accordance with the Bylaws and the purposes of the Association. The Leadership Council formulates and approves policies as are necessary to conduct the affairs of the Association, reviews, formulates, and promotes the mission, vision, core values, and strategic plans of the Association, and engages in advocacy and otherwise seeks to advance the interests of the Association.
Over time, the governance structure of ACPA has been called various names, most recently as the Executive Council, Governing Board (2007-2024), and is today known as the ACPA Leadership Council (2024-?). At the 2023 Annual Business Meeting, ACPA members approved a new governance model for the Association that was implemented in March 2024 (Phase 1) and will be fully in place as of February 2025. The intentions of the Leadership Council structure was put in place to:
- Expand leadership opportunities, while also strengthening clarity of roles and responsibilities for each position
- Reduce time commitments required of various leadership positions
- Redistribute and align workload among volunteer leader positions to support efficiencies, job responsibilities, role satisfaction, and opportunities for collaboration
- Increase flexibility in positioning leaders according to their roles and skill sets
- Intentionally focus roles on key association activities such as strategic initiatives, volunteer leadership, equity & inclusion, membership, racial justice, decolonization, and universal design
- Work toward further decolonizing association structures
- Align decision-making bodies in ways that support transparency, honor role-specific expertise, and clarify scope of work.
Meeting minutes of Leadership Council meetings/decisions are made publicly available to members on this webpage by clicking the button below.
Meet the Leadership Council
Rachel Aho
President
she/her
Jonathan McElderry
President-Elect
he/him
Heather Shea
Past President
she/her
Justin Schwendeman-Curtis
Leadership Council Administrator
he/him
Jasmine A. Lee
Vice President, Equity & Inclusion
she/her
Shetina M. Jones
Vice President-Elect, Equity & Inclusion
she/her
Gudrun Nyunt
Vice President, Membership
she/her
Kelvin Rutledge
Vice President, Strategic Initiatives
he/him
Alan Acosta
Vice President-Elect, Strategic Initiatives
he/him
Amanda Mollet
Vice President, Volunteer Leadership
she/her
Todd Snovel
ACPA25 Convention Chair
he/him
Jasmyne Channel
Chair, Awards & Recognition
she/her
Kellie M. Dixon
Chair, Assessment & innovation
she/her
George McClellan
Chair, Decolonization Strategies
he/him
Da'Shaun Scott
Chair, Member Recruitment
he/him
Bernie Liang
Chair, Member Retention
he/him
Ray Plaza
Chair, Public Policy & Governmental Affairs
he/him
Leonard Taylor Jr.
Chair, Research & Scholarship
he/him
Jeremy Brown
Coordinator, Chapters & Divisions
he/him
Christopher Ambrose
Coordinator-Elect, Chapters & Divisions
he/him
Monique Atherley
Coordinator, Coalitions & Networks
she/they
Olajiwon McCadney
Coordinator-Elect, Coalitions & Networks
he/they
Nikki Laird
Coordinator, Communities of Practice
she/her
Tye Wesley
Coordinator-Elect, Communities of Practice
she/her
Yuan Zhou
Coordinator, Commissions
she/her
Rachelle Brown
Member-at-Large
she/her
Mattea Carveiro
Member-at-Large
she/her
Jacqueline Huggins
Member-at-Large
she/her
Marc A. Lo
Member-at-Large
he/him
Rosemary J. Perez
Member-at-Large
she/her
Kendall K. Pete
Member-at-Large
he/him
Vacant
Member-at-Large
*Additional positions to be added as of February 2025 at full implementation of the Leadership Council model are: Chair of Nominations & Elections, Chair of Professional Development, Chair of Racial Justice Strategies, Chair of Universal Design Strategies, and 1 additional Member-at-Large position.
A brief summary of the ACPA Leadership Council
Understanding the Position Structure
To begin understanding the various positions, it is likely helpful to consider the roles by types:
Generally, the new Leadership Council model accounts for varying abilities to serve in a volunteer role across several years:
1-year positions:
- Leadership Council Administrator (appointed)
- Past President (appointed)
2-year positions:
- President/President-Elect (elected)
- Chairs (appointed; do not have an “elect” year before beginning role)
- Member-at-Large (elected; do not have an “elect” year before beginning role)
3-year positions:
- Vice-Presidents (elected; first year is an “elect” year, and last 2 years are in role)
- Coordinators (3 are elected, 1 is appointed; first year is an “elect” year, and last 2 years are in role)
Visual Representation
A graphic representation (draft) of the new Leadership Council model is available by clicking the image.
In this new model and graphic, the inner circle reflects all positions available on the Leadership Council, clustered by similarity of functions, areas of focus, and expertise, and the outer ring indicates the various working councils that will support and advance the authorities and work of the Association on behalf of the full Leadership Council. Leadership Council officers largely populate the various Working Councils, but some are open to general ACPA members seeking to be involved in these specific ways to support the work of the Association.
The various volunteer roles on the Leadership Council have different position responsibilities, term lengths, eligibility requirements, and selection processes and timelines. Not all Leadership Council positions will be available in each selection cycle to provide for continuity of leadership across years of service.
getting to know the structure in more detail
Why did the ACPA governance model change in 2023/2024?
Throughout our nearly 100 year history, ACPA College Student Educators International has constantly evolved its structure to meet the needs of our membership. Our previous governance model served us well for over a decade. While this recent change is substantial, as recently as 2019, we have added additional voting seats to the ACPA Governing Board. In light of recent changes in association involvement patterns after the pandemic, ACPA leadership charged a task force to address new needs and provide more sustainable opportunities for involvement. In addition, our new governance model more closely aligns with our desire to decolonize our structure.
How is the Leadership Council different from the previous Governing Board?
The Governing Board model included 17 voting positions and 1 non-voting, ex-officio position. The new Leadership Council model will include 33 voting positions and 3 non-voting, ex-officio positions. All position descriptions have been written or re-written to provide enhanced clarity of roles and responsibilities.
Previous Governing Board Model |
Current Leadership Council Model |
President |
President and President-Elect |
Vice President (President-Elect) |
4 Vice Presidents: Equity & Inclusion, Membership, Strategic Initiatives, and Volunteer Leadership |
Past President |
Past President |
5 Assembly Coordinators: Coalitions & Networks, Commissions, Communities of Practice, International Divisions & Members, State & Regional Chapters |
4 Coordinators: Coordinator of Chapters & Divisions, Coordinator of Coalitions & Networks, Coordinator of Commissions, Coordinator of Communities of Practice |
5 Directors: Equity & Inclusion, External Relations, Membership Development, Professional Development, Research & Scholarship |
13 Chairs: Annual Convention Chair, Assessment & Innovation Chair, Awards & Recognition Chair, Decolonization Strategies Chair, Member Recruitment Chair, Member Retention Chair, Nominations & Elections Chair, Professional Development Chair, Public Policy & Government Relations Chair, Publications Chair, Racial Justice Strategies Chair, Research & Scholarship Chair, Universal Design Strategies Chair |
4 Members-at-Large: Entry Level, Mid-Level, Senior Level, Faculty |
8 Members-at-Large, including at least one in each category: International, Entry-Level, Mid-Level, Senior-Level, and Faculty |
Executive Director (non-voting; ex-officio) |
Leadership Council Administrator (non-voting; ex-officio) |
Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director (non-voting; ex-officio) |
|
17 total voting officers |
33 total voting officers |
How does the Leadership Council model redistribute and align workload among volunteer leader positions?
The Leadership Council model creates an Administrative Council in place of the previous Presidential Trio to expand the number of positions making financial, personnel, and legal decisions beyond the three Presidents to include the 4 new Vice President roles. None of the 4 Vice President roles become the President, only the President-Elect does. The new model also creates a new non-voting position, the Leadership Council Administrator, to increase communication about decision-making amongst leaders and structures.
The new Leadership Council model increases the number of voting positions previously on the Governing Board from 17 to 33 voting positions. It also introduces 6 new Working Councils in place of 11 Governing Board Committees. Thus, the new model reduces the number of individual assignments by creating more leadership roles participating in a smaller number of Working Councils.
The new model reduces the overall number of meetings for Leadership Council members by reducing the frequency of most meetings from occurring every month to occurring every two months.
Councils | Members | Meeting Frequency |
Administrative Council |
President, President-Elect, 4 Vice Presidents, Past President, Leadership Council Administrator (non-voting), Executive Director (non-voting), Deputy Executive Director (non-voting) |
Monthly |
Leadership Council |
Administrative Council + 4 Coordinators, 13 Chairs, 8 Members-at-Large, Next Annual Convention Chair (non-voting) |
Every 2 months |
Working Councils | Working Council Lead | Meeting Frequency |
Awards & Recognition Council | Awards & Recognition Chair | Every 2 months |
Bylaws & Policies Council | President-Elect | |
Equity & Inclusion Council | VP Equity & Inclusion | |
Nominations & Elections Council | Nominations & Elections Chair | |
Strategic Initiatives Council | VP Strategic Initiatives | |
Training & Development Council | VP Volunteer Leadership |
How does the new Leadership Council model work toward further decolonizing association structures?
The Leadership Council model introduces three new Chair positions to guide the Association’s work and transformation: Chairs of Decolonization Strategies, Racial Justice Strategies, and Universal Design Strategies. The new model also articulates and distributes decision-making and other authorities across various sub-councils, emphasizes interdependence and collaboration, and invites a Past President of the President’s choosing to serve as a guide and mentor.
Where can I learn more about this model and Leadership Council involvement opportunities?
There are several ways to learn more about Leadership Council Involvement and interact with current leaders:
Latest News & UpdatES
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