Introducing Ebonie Jackson, Assistant Dean of Inclusion and Diversity
Ebonie Jackson, who will lead Yale SOM’s Office of Inclusion and Diversity, explores her aspirations for her new role.
In the early summer months, Evans Hall carries a quiet, calm energy. But the atmosphere changes as fall rolls around. When I arrived at the building for Orientation, the exuberant hustle and bustle reminded me of my first days on campus, just before Commencement. As I maneuvered through the building, greeting the vast sea of incoming students and enjoying the organized chaos, I realized we all had one thing in common: being brand-new members of the SOM community.
My tenure as assistant dean of inclusion and diversity here at Yale SOM began in April 2024. Before starting this role, my career was an eclectic one, with stints in corporate banking, entrepreneurship, small business ownership, and higher education. At my core, I have a firm belief in fairness and a deep commitment to transforming systems, policies, and practices to ensure they promote justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion. I believe that showing up as my authentic self every day gives me great power, and I work to make sure that everyone around me can do so as well. Professionally, my commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion has manifested in many ways. In private industry and public higher education, I have focused on outreach, empowerment, allyship, and advocacy.
Coming to SOM was a no-brainer for me. I knew that the school would allow me to marry my different passions and experiences, and I arrived excited to leverage the good work that already existed here and build a truly exceptional community. SOM’s diverse and inclusive community has the unique opportunity to lead us into the future of business and society, and I couldn’t wait to become a part of it!
Over the summer, the Office of Inclusion and Diversity (OID) has been hard at work strategizing ways to connect with the community. With the help of the whole team and our stakeholders, we have launched several new initiatives.
The first is our new Heritage & Awareness Calendar for the 2024–2025 academic year, a handy guide to our efforts to and honor a multitude of cultures, traditions, and experiences. Another new initiative is our lending library. The library is home to a plethora of books, all of which are available for anyone in the community to take. We also take book donations and recommendations.
To expand our social media presence, our office launched OID at SOM, an Instagram account devoted to updates, recaps, and information on our initiatives. The account will also feature glimpses of our current OID Student Ambassadors. We’re thrilled to work with Jasmine Marshall ’26, Tiffany Chiang ’26, Henry Lam ’25, Sanjana Nayak ’26, Cecil Ehirindu ’26, and Ramil Ibrahim ’25 throughout the academic year. Their different skill sets will help us advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at SOM.
I look forward to engaging with SOM further and hope everyone can join us at this year’s first SOM Community Table Talk, titled “The Importance of Pronouns,” on Monday, September 23. In the meantime, visit our website for more information, including how to contact our team.