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Betty Fleurimond is a principal owner of Deloitte Consulting LLP, the largest professional services network in the world. A first-generation college graduate, she is one of two co-founders of Deloitte’s US Higher Education practice that currently serves over 300 accredited colleges and universities. Betty leads Deloitte’s Higher Education Cloud Technology and Student Systems Portfolio with responsibility for bringing together an integrated discipline around strategy, analytics, technology, cyber security, organizational change management and enterprise transformation capabilities across the portfolio.
Betty also Chairs the Deloitte Center for Higher Education Excellence, a dedicated research center and leadership institute that provides groundbreaking thought leadership and leadership development for college and university leaders.
With over 27 years of experience, Betty has a strong and proven track record of success, having led some of the most complex transformations in higher education. Betty also serves as a member of the prestigious Board of Trustees at Northeastern Illinois University. Prior to Deloitte, Betty served as an engineer for Intel Corp., designing motherboards and microprocessors. She is a proud McNair Scholar, an Intel Leadership Award recipient, and an Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Entrepreneur.
Tony Allen is Chief Executive Officer of the nation’s most diverse contemporary HBCU: Delaware State University.
A comprehensive research institution with a $140 million budget and a $27 million research portfolio, the 1890 Land-Grant institution is home to four academic colleges serving 6,200+ undergraduates, with graduate and adult programs across Delaware and in 23 countries.
Tony started his career as speechwriter for then-United States Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. In 2020, he was named Chief Executive Officer of the 59th Presidential Inaugural after having served on the President-elect’s Transition Team Advisory Board. In 2021, he was appointed as Chair to the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, a role in which he continues to serve.
Founding President of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League, Cofounder of Public Allies Delaware, Chair Emeritus of the National Urban Fellows, a Distinguished Fellow with the National Academy of Public Administration, a member of the Economic and Community Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Tony also serves on the Boards of Graham and Pepco Holdings.
Tony holds a B.A. in Political Science and a Ph.D. in Urban Affairs & Public Policy from the University of Delaware as well as a Master of Public Administration from Baruch College (City University of New York). He is the proud husband of Ms. Tara Allen and father of four fantastic children.
Zaldwaynaka (“Z”) Scott, J.D., unanimously appointed by the Board of Trustees to serve as the 12th permanent president of Chicago State University, assumed the role on July 1, 2018.
President Scott oversaw the development and advancement of the CSU Strategic Plan 2020-2025, ensuring that the institution will lead with the mission of transformation for students’ lives through innovation and excellence in ethical leadership. She also supervised the launch of a historic re brand of the University, putting into motion new brand assets and campaigns to revitalize the institution’s reputation and raise awareness among new stakeholders. President Scott is a well known advocate for equity in higher education, having formed and co-chaired the Equity Working Group, a body of leaders from across the education, public, private, philanthropic, and community development sectors to formulate an action plan for addressing Black student access and success in Illinois higher education.
President Scott currently serves on:
Prior to her current role, President Scott was an equity partner in a national law firm with an international practice that focused on corporate internal investigations, counseling clients on regulatory compliance and crisis management. She also spent more than 16 years as a federal criminal prosecutor in the position of Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois, where she served as Chief of the General Crimes Section. Upon leaving the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Illinois State Senate confirmed her appointment as Illinois’ first Executive Inspector General for the Agencies of the Governor and its Public Universities. In this role, she created an independent executive branch state agency from its inception, developed the United States’ first statewide ethics training platform for state government employees, and created a protocol for the investigation of claims of misconduct, waste, fraud, and abuse.
President Scott taught at some of the nation’s most competitive law schools, including Northwestern University School of Law, the University of Chicago Law School, and UIC John Marshall Law School. The Indiana University Maurer School of Law honored her with its Distinguished Service Award (2012) and selected her for induction into the Law School’s Alumni Hall of Fame (2019).
President Scott is a highly sought-after speaker and lecturer on topics related to leadership, crisis management, trial advocacy, ethics and compliance and equity in higher education. She has received numerous awards honoring her service from organizations including the American Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, the Cook County Bar Association, La Rabida Children’s Hospital, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, the American Constitution Society, and the Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Chicago. She was recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of the Most Powerful Women in Chicago Business (2018) and as one of Chicago’s Most Impactful Leaders in Education (2022). She is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and the Commercial Club of Chicago. President Scott’s peers rank her among the nation’s top lawyers, resulting in her inclusion in Chambers and Partners USA, U.S. News Best Lawyers, Women in Business Law Guide, the Best Lawyers in America, Leading Lawyers 2015, Top 10 Women in Criminal Defense, and Illinois Super Lawyers.
President Scott holds a Juris Doctor from Indiana University Maurer School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.
Thomas A. Parham, Ph.D., is a family man who resides in Southern California with his wife, Davida. Dr. Parham is the 11th president of California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), a highly diverse, metropolitan university primarily serving the South Central and South Bay areas of Los Angeles County. Established in 1960, CSUDH is one of the 23 campuses that comprise the California State University system, the largest system of public higher education in the nation. Dr. Parham previously served as vice chancellor of student affairs and an adjunct faculty member at the University of California, Irvine, where he had been since 1985. Before then, he held an appointment on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania. For the past 40-plus years, Dr. Parham has focused his research efforts in the area of psychological nigrescence and has authored or co-authored six books and 45-50 journal articles and book chapters. He has sustained a scholarly focus in the areas of racial identity development, African psychology, and multicultural counseling. Dr. Parham grew up in Southern California and received his bachelor’s degree in social ecology from the University of California, Irvine, his master’s degree in counseling psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, and received his Ph.D. in counseling psychology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He is licensed to practice psychology in California. In addition to his duties as president, Dr. Parham remains an active member of the community, contributing his talents in the areas of social advocacy, community uplift, and youth empowerment.
Honors & Awards
Lynn Mahoney is the 14th person and first woman to serve as president of San Francisco State University. President Mahoney is on the board of directors for both the Bay Area Council and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. She is a member of the Bay Area Higher Education Council, the San Francisco Workforce Investment Board and the CSU Graduation Initiative 2025 Advisory Committee. She was also appointed to serve on San Francisco’s COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force. Her scholarly work and teaching have focused on United States history, women’s history, feminism, race studies, and ethnicity.
