The Transformational Change Agent Equation

Abstract

As Native women professors, counselors, and administrators within higher education, the four authors will focus on transformational change within oppressive environments, addressing institutionalized racism stemming from a colonial history of education. The authors will discuss identified barriers including operating in an oppressive work environment which can sometimes render us invisible and silent for self-preservation, threats to our positions from taking a stand against racial or cultural inequity, and resisting assimilation strategies created by structural racism. It is important to share experiences with working in systematically oppressive environments and the covert ways in which Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) are transformational change agents, leaders against racial and cultural oppression.