Dr. Jennifer PeeksMease (also Mease) currently serves as the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Inclusive Leadership and Learning at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. In this role, she supports the development of programs, resources, networks, and relationships that pursue inclusive excellence for all. She earned her PhD in Communication Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her MA in Human Communication from Arizona State University. Her DEI experience spans research, consulting, pedagogy, programing, and strategy.
She came to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln from James Madison University where she served as an Associate Professor of Organizational and Cultural Communication. Additionally, she served on JMU’s co-chair team for the 150+ member Task Force for Racial Equity, the steering committee for the Intergroup Dialogue Program, and co-founded and coordinaedr the Wake Up program, the AAAD Accomplice Network, and the Community Engagement Liaison Program with the Office of Community Service-Learning. Prior to that she served as an executive coach and team development coach at The Center for Intentional Leadership in Charlotte, NC, and as an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University, in College Station, TX.
Her research addresses how social bias is built into organizational structures, and how individuals and groups cope with, challenge, and change those structures. In all aspects of her work, she is guided by her commitment to courageous humility and to creating the conditions under which all people can be the best versions of themselves.