AAAED Press Kit
AAAED PUBLIC RELATIONS CONTACT:
Executive Director
Shirley J. Wilcher
AAAED Executive Director
888 16th Street, NW
Suite 800
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 349-9855
(617) 298-4156
(240) 893-9475 (cell)
ASSOCIATION INFORMATION
Facts about AAAED
AAAED Leadership Biographies
Executive Biography
News Release on 2014 – 2016 Leadership
Additional Information
FACTS ABOUT AAAED
The American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity (AAAED) is the association of professionals managing affirmative action, equal opportunity, diversity and other human resources programs. Founded in 1974 as the American Association for Affirmation Action (AAAA), AAAED is a national not-for-profit association of professionals working in the areas of affirmative action, equal opportunity, and diversity.
AAAED has 40 years of leadership in providing professional training to members, enabling them to be more successful and productive in their careers. It also promotes understanding and advocacy of affirmative action and other equal opportunity and related compliance laws and regulations to enhance the diversity tenets of access, inclusion and equality in employment, economic and educational opportunities.
AAAED is a professional development, advocacy and educational organization. It provides classroom and onsite training through the Professional Development and Training Institute and Internet-based training through its webinar program. AAAED confers the Certified Affirmative Action Professional (CAAP) and Senior Certified Affirmative Action Professional (Sr. CAAP) credentials. AAAED members have represented the association on television, radio and the Internet and in print media. AAAED has an annual meeting as well as events sponsored by its nine regions.
SUMMARY
•Founded: 1974 as the American Association for Affirmative Action
•National, 501c6 non-profit membership association with 10 regions
•Membership: Equal employment opportunity, diversity and affirmative action professionals; students and retirees, consultants and lawyers
•Membership sectors: higher education, government and private industry
•Professional development association providing certified training and information
•Advocacy in support of civil rights, affirmative action, diversity and EEO laws affecting higher education, employment, and business
•Slogan: “Access, Equity and Diversity” was added to the association’s title in June, 2014.
AAAED LEADERSHIP BIOGRAPHIES 2014 – 2016
MARSHALL ROSE, AAAED President
Marshall Rose, M.S.W., has held senior responsibility for monitoring diversity and AA/EEO compliance at Bowling Green State University and Central Michigan University. He retired from BGSU in January 2011. He remains active in AAAED, serving on the board and as Region V Director. He is also on the board of United for Equality and Affirmative Action Legal Defense Fund (UEAA-LDF).In June 2014 he was sworn in as President of AAAA, now AAAED.
Marshall has done numerous presentations and speeches on diversity, affirmative action, EEO and associated topics. He has also done training for educational, nonprofit and private industry organizations. A few of these include Toledo American Red Cross, Henry Ford Community College, City of Toledo, National Basketball Development League, Lucas Metropolitan Housing Authority, Western Illinois University, University of Missouri at Rolla, The Saginaw News, the Monroe County Independent School District, and the Kiwanis Club of Fostoria, Ohio. He routinely speaks and/or participates in programs honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as celebrations and activities commemorating African American History.
Marshall has received a number of honors in recognition of his community and professional contributions. They include: Volunteer of the year from the Toledo chapter of the Association of Fund Raising Professionals, Impact Newsmaker Award from the Northwest Ohio Black Media Association, 2010 Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth Humanitarian Award from the State-of-the-State Conference, 2011 Drum Major for Peace Award from the Human Relations Commission of Bowling Green, Ohio, and the 2012 President's Award from the American Association for Affirmative Action.
Marshall holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in social work from Oklahoma Christian University in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and a Master of Social Work degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
GREGORY T. CHAMBERS, AAAED Immediate Past President
Gregory T. Chambers was elected president of AAAA (now AAAED) in 2010 and re-elected president in 2012. He was the EEO/AA Manager for the State of Delaware for 24 years. Gregory retired from his State of Delaware EEO position after being offered an EEO Manager position with the Delaware River and Bay Authority (DRBA). The Delaware River & Bay Authority (DRBA) was created by Compact in 1962. It is charged with providing vital transportation links between the two states as well as economic development in Delaware and the four southern counties of New Jersey. The DRBA Executive Director selected Gregory to use his proven skills and abilities to address the organization’s pressing EEO/AA needs and concerns. He has worked for DRBA since 2009.
He has been in public service for 39 years, having spent 13 of those years in a variety of capacities with the City of Wilmington, most notably director of community affairs in the Office of the Mayor. Gregory is a graduate of Wilmington University with a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Behavioral Science. He is a Certified Conflict Partnership Catalyst (CPC) trained in facilitating resolution to differences and preserving relationships at work and in the community. Gregory is a 24-year member of the American Association for Affirmative Action serving as state coordinator, regional director and president. He founded and formerly chaired the Delaware Work Force Diversity Group (DWFDG). Established in 1989, DWFDG is a mechanism for networking and sharing information on equal employment opportunity, affirmative action, and diversity in the workplace for public and private sector employers. In November 2011, he received the NAACP’s Lifetime Award for Affirmative Action and Diversity Work.
MYRON R. ANDERSON, PH.D. AAAED First Vice-President
Dr. Myron Anderson serves Metropolitan State University of Denver as the associate to the president for diversity. A member of the president’s cabinet, Anderson is the University’s chief diversity officer responsible for articulating and resolving current and future issues related to diversity. He is responsible for investigating complaints and mediating fair settlements between aggrieved faculty, staff and students throughout the institution. In addition, Anderson identifies campus climate trends that may assist in developing strategies to pro-actively promote “inclusive excellence.”
Since he assumed his position in 2007, MSU Denver has seen its enrollment of students of color increase by more than a third, making up 28 percent of the student body in fall 2010.
Dr. Anderson has worked in higher education for more than 20 years, in both administrative and academic positions. He also carries the rank of associate professor of education technology. Prior to his current position, he was the associate chair of the teacher education department at Metro State (now MSU Denver), and a faculty member and administrator at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). His areas of expertise are instructional technology, distance education and inclusive excellence.
He is the past co-advisor of the Student National Education Association Scholarship Committee and has been involved in national workshops to discuss and develop strategies and solve problems around diversity. He currently serves as a board member for the national organization, the American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity as First Vice President. Anderson earned a Ph.D. in instructional technology from Virginia Tech.
CARMEN SUAREZ, PH.D. AAAED Second Vice President
Carmen Suarez, Ph.D., is the Chief Diversity Officer and Associate Vice Provost for Student Affairs, University of Idaho. She develops and implements various diversity, bias prevention, sexual harassment and faculty/staff professional development training programs, initiates underrepresented faculty/staff strategic recruitment and retention plans, investigates and resolves complaints, monitors various dimensions of institutional equity and serves as Title IX and ADA Coordinator and Affirmative Action Officer for the institution.
Carmen has worked in AA/EEO compliance, university enrollment management, law school career services administration, private sector management and human resources and public services program implementation. She began her career in graduate admissions, worked for several years assisting migrant farm workers, directed a comprehensive university minority student recruitment and retention program, served as a university affirmative action officer, managed a private sector company’s human resources and developed and implemented the company’s minority-owned business certification, researched and submitted business proposals and pursued government procurement opportunities.
She has conducted numerous training programs on topics such as minority student higher education access, various diversity and managing diversity topics, sexual harassment, Latino and African American relations, bias prevention, gender communications, career development and employment hiring practices.
DEAN SPARLIN, ESQ., AAAED Treasurer
Dean Sparlin is a lawyer and affirmative action consultant based in Fairfax, Virginia. He represents and advises management on employment issues, specializing in affirmative action plans and other applications of sophisticated statistical techniques to the field of employment law. In doing so, he draws upon his legal education at the College of William and Mary, a master’s degree in statistics at George Mason University, and nearly 20 years of experience as a practicing attorney and affirmative action consultant.
Mr. Sparlin earned his J.D. in 1986 from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary. While at William and Mary, he served as Managing Editor of the William and Mary Law Review and became a member of the Order of the Coif, a national honor society for top law students at select member institutions. He is a member of the bars of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the District of Columbia, and various federal courts.
Immediately after his graduation, Mr. Sparlin became associated with the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, a leading national law firm, where he practiced law for 17 years. Drawing upon his experience, education, and aptitude in mathematics, Mr. Sparlin honed his expertise in the application of statistics and quantitative analysis in the field of employment law. In addition to acting as an affirmative action consultant for numerous clients, he analyzed salary structures, the race and gender impacts of proposed reductions in force, and patterns of alleged discrimination on the basis of race, gender, age, and disability in connection with litigated matters.
Mr. Sparlin also applied his quantitative expertise in other labor-related fields. For example, during a lawsuit seeking alleged unpaid overtime wages for a class of several thousand employees, Mr. Sparlin developed a computerized algorithm designed to isolate individual claims that were likely to be inaccurate or overstated. The algorithm was successfully applied in mediation to limit the client's total damages. Mr. Sparlin also prepared a comprehensive critique of the economic analysis supporting the Department of Labor's proposed ergonomics standard. This 206-page critique became part of formal submission by industry interests challenging the standard, which later was rescinded by a majority vote of Congress.
In 2003, Mr. Sparlin left Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP to establish an independent practice, offering his services as a lawyer and affirmative action consultant. This move also facilitated an opportunity to formalize and expand his qualifications as an affirmative action consultant through graduate study in statistics at George Mason University. Mr. Sparlin completed his M.S. in Statistical Science at George Mason in 2006.
Mr. Sparlin has spoken before numerous groups on labor-related issues, including the American Bar Association, American Association for Affirmative Action, the Industrial Relations Research Association, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Aerospace Industries Association. He appeared on the syndicated television series, “It's Your Business”, as an expert on the application of federal employment laws to the United States Congress. His writings have appeared in several publications including the Wall Street Journal and the National Law Journal. He also coauthored an analysis of ergonomics regulation for the March 2003 edition of Seminars in Spine Surgery, published by Elsevier Science. In 2012, Mr. Sparlin co-authored the AAAA amicus curiae brief in support of the University of Texas in the Supreme Court case of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin.
SHARRON GATLING, AAAED Board Secretary
Sharron Gatling, M.A. Ed., is Assistant Director of Equal Opportunity, Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA. Although she has been at the college for almost 13 years, her role shifted from educating parents and teachers on gifted education to educating faculty and staff on equal opportunity and affirmative action. She now monitors faculty and administrative recruitment for the College as well as areas in which affirmative action goals have been established. She conducts search committee meetings/training on best practices in recruitment, brings about awareness of implicit biases in the recruitment process, and ensures compliance with federal/state equal opportunity law. When issues are found in regard to recruitment and employment practices, she works with management to correct problem areas and propose procedures to remove barriers to achieving affirmative action goals. In addition to search committee training, she conducts training on preventing discrimination, harassment (sexual harassment), and retaliation in the workplace. She interprets federal and state laws to meet compliance mandates, oversees EEO reporting, responds to Federal audits and prepares the college’s Affirmative Action Plan. Sharron also reviews reasonable accommodation requests.
Sharron has earned her CAAP certification (Certified Affirmative Action Professional) and has a Master’s degree in education. Her degree with a specialization in teaching has proved to be beneficial in developing training programs and doing presentations for various stakeholders.
She continues to be involved in the college’s governance by serving (past and/or present) as President and Vice-President of the Professionals and Professional Faculty Assembly, Co-Chair of The Forum (Black Faculty and Staff Forum) and Co-Chair of the Equal Opportunity Committee -- all influencing policy and practices at the college. Nationally, she has recently been elected to the Executive Board for the American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity (formerly the American Association for Affirmative Action).
American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity Announces New Leadership for
2014 - 2016
Association’s Board of Directors reflects a wealth of experience in equal opportunity, diversity and affirmative action in higher education, government, private industry and law.
Washington, D.C. – July 7, 2014 - The American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity (AAAED), an association of equal employment opportunity (EEO), diversity and affirmative action professionals, announced the results of its recent election for the leadership whose terms began July 1, 2014 and end in 2016.
"We are delighted to have such outstanding leaders take the helm of this organization in the years to come," said AAAED President Marshall Rose. Founded in 1974 as the American Association for Affirmative Action (AAAA), AAAED is a national not-for-profit association of professionals working in the areas of compliance and diversity. AAAED has 40 years of leadership in providing professional training to members, enabling them to be more successful and productive in their careers. It also promotes understanding and advocacy of affirmative action and other equal opportunity and related compliance laws and regulations to enhance the diversity tenets of access, inclusion and equality in employment, economic and educational opportunities.
For President, the association’s membership elected Marshall Rose of Toledo, Ohio. Mr. Rose was a regional director of the association. His region covered states in the Mid-West, including Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. AAAED's new First Vice President, Myron Anderson, Ph.D., is the Associate to the President for Diversity and Assistant Professor, Education Technology at Metropolitan State University of Denver. The Immediate Past President of the association is Gregory T. Chambers, EEO/AA and Diversity Manager, Delaware River and Bay Authority. The AAAED Second Vice President is Carmen Suarez, Ph.D., who works for the University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, as the Chief Diversity Officer and Associate Vice Provost for Student Affairs . The AAAED Treasurer is Dean Sparlin, Esq., of Sparlin Law Office in Fairfax, VA, and the new AAAED Board Secretary is Sharron Gatling, Assistant Director of Equal Opportunity, Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, The College of William & Mary.
The new AAAED officers will join a board with a rich diversity of backgrounds in higher education, government, private industry and law. Among the members of the board are Charlie Williams, Director, Affirmative Action, Kean University, Union, NJ; Marilynn Schuyler, Esq., Schuyler Affirmative Action Practice, Washington, DC; Huda Melky, Director, Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/University ADA Services, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY; Cynthia D. Nichols, SPHR, Sr. CAAP, Director, Office of Civil Rights and Diversity, and Title IX Coordinator, Eastern Illinois University; Richard Anthony Baker, M.P.A., Ph.D., J.D., Assistant Vice Chancellor and Vice President, Office of Equal Opportunity Services, University of Houston System / University of Houston; Lenai Butterfield, Affirmative Action Manager and EEO Officer, Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, IA; Percy A. Morehouse, Jr, Ph.D., Executive Director, Equal Opportunity and Assistant to the President, Office of the President/Equal Opportunity Office, Metropolitan State University of Denver; Ahmed Younies, President and CEO, HR Unlimited, Inc., Santa Ana, CA.; John D. Gonzales, JDG Associates, San Antonio, TX.; Carla Pittman, Marketing Manager, Berkshire Associates Inc., Columbia, MD; Julian R. Williams, Esq., Director, Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, Vassar College; Tracey Hamilton, Assistant Director, Office of Equal Opportunity Compliance, Temple University; Karen E. Stanford, Manager, Talent Strategy & Workforce Planning, Affirmative Action Officer, Pepco Holdings, Inc.; Delia L. Johnson, Director, Civil Rights, Broadcasting Board of Governors, Washington, DC; Inderdeep Chatrath, Ph.D., Director of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity, Duke University, Durham, NC.; Niraj Kataria, Diversity Executive, Southington, CT; and Matthew J. Camardella, Esq., Partner, Jackson Lewis, PC, Long Island, NY.
For more information, go to www.aaaed.org.
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American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity
888 16th Street, NW, Suite 800 * Washington, D.C. 20006 * 202-349-9855 ex 1857 * Fax: 202-355-1399 * www.aaaed.org