USC President Emeritus C. L. Max Nikias has joined the Board of Directors of Visions-inc.org, an organization dedicated to the education and training for diversity, equity and inclusion.
“Visions began in 1984 and has an amazing track record in education and training,” Nikias said. “I’ve been working with them in an advisory capacity for a year now and it is a great honor to be asked to join their board. They are strongly dedicated to creating a more equitable world and I will do everything in my power to help them.”
According to their website, Visions-inc.org started with a question: “How do we include people who have been historically excluded from white, mostly male institutions?” It offers workshops and training, organizational development, youth engagement and e-learning. They have offices in Dorchester, MA; Rocky Mount, NC; and Fresno, CA; and are supported by highly skilled and diverse team of consultants located throughout the United States and abroad.
The organization was founded by three African American women who grew up in legalized segregation and a white Jewish man who grew up in the civil rights movement. One of the founders, Dr. Valerie Batts, recently stepped down as executive director and the Board of Directors named Elika Dadsetan-Foley, formerly of Los Angeles, as her replacement. The Chairman of the Board is Louise Coggins, a renowned Clinical Social Worker based in North Carolina.