Yvette Upton

Background

About Yvette Upton

Yvette Upton, Ed.D, has more than 20 years of experience in higher education and non-profit organizations. From serving as a program coordinator to Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, Yvette has centered equity and inclusion in all her roles. Her favorite position by far was serving as the inaugural director of the Georgia Tech Women’s Resource Center. Through establishing community buy-in and collaborating with colleagues and students alike, she led the Center for more than a decade, creating a welcoming and supportive space on a predominately male campus. Yvette’s academic and professional experiences have focused on gender, racial and social justice – and strengthened with intentional strategies for inclusion. She has led campus-wide committees to address sexual violence, revised institute policies, reviewed and implemented online modules on consent, and served as an advocate for students who experienced sexual harassment and sexual assault. She also has experience creating and revising curriculum, evaluating programs, supervising and mentoring professional staff, creating community buy-in with key stakeholders, and managing budgets. Yvette holds a B.A. in Journalism and an M.A. in Women’s Studies from Georgia State University as well as an Ed.D. in Higher Education Management from UGA. Her dissertation is entitled “Gender, Power and Influence: Experiences of Mid-Level and Senior Administrators at a U.S. Research University.” She currently serves as a DEI consultant, providing interactive workshops on creating inclusive workplaces and addressing power dynamics/white privilege. She is also trained to facilitate Lean In’s Allyship and 50 Ways to Fight Bias workshops. Yvette is an online facilitator for Powerful Conversations on Race, and she teaches arts-integrated literacy workshops at local Title I schools where she is energized by our amazing next generation. Check out the 25th anniversary video for highlights of the impact of the WRC at Georgia Tech: & t=3s