HIGHER EDUCATION ADVISORY SERVICES
Your Institution Is Navigating A Future It Was Not Built For.
The demographics are shifting. The student body is changing. The stakes are rising. And most institutions are responding with programs when what’s needed is a transformation in conditions.
Dr. Ame Lambert, Ph.D. partners with colleges and universities to align strategy, strengthen leadership capacity, build conditions for student success, and prepare institutions for the majority-BIPOC future that is already arriving — as a fractional executive, strategic advisor, or convener.
IS THIS YOU?
Who This Is For
This work is designed for presidents, provosts, VPs, CDOs, and board members at institutions navigating:
The transition to a majority or near-majority BIPOC student population
Gaps between institutional aspirations and actual student and employee outcomes
Culture and climate challenges that programs alone haven’t been able to resolve
A need for senior equity and inclusion expertise without a full-time executive hire
Strategic planning cycles that need equity embedded, not bolted on
Accreditation, compliance, or accountability frameworks requiring equity leadership
Board-level governance development around inclusion and demographic change
THE INCOMING MAJORITY
A Forward-Thinking Hook for Adaptive Leadership.
Most higher education institutions are reacting to demographic change. A few are getting ahead of it. The difference is not just the programs they offer. It is whether the culture, the systems, the faculty development infrastructure, and the leadership capacity are genuinely designed for the students and communities who are already here — and those who are coming.
Dr. Lambert was inside one of those transitions at Portland State University, which during her tenure as VP for Global Diversity and Inclusion completed its transition to a majority BIPOC undergraduate student body.
That experience — the strategy, the conflict, the design choices, the accountability systems, and the work of keeping people engaged through discomfort — is the work she now brings to partner institutions.
“Between potential and reality is us. We are the bridge between what can be and what will be.”
— DR. AME LAMBERT, PH.D.
FRACTIONAL CDO SERVICES
What a Fractional CDO Actually Is
A Fractional CDO is not a diversity training or a one-time assessment. It is executive-level strategic partnership on a flexible engagement model — senior expertise without a permanent hire. Engagements are customized. Most include some combination of:
Engagement Area 1
Serving as senior equity and inclusion advisor to the president and cabinet
Engagement Area 2
Developing or strengthening institutional equity frameworks and accountability systems
Engagement Area 3
Designing and facilitating culture and climate assessments
Engagement Area 4
Guiding strategic planning processes that center equity and belonging
Engagement Area 5
Faculty and staff development strategy and inclusive pedagogy design
Engagement Area 6
Student success and retention system design — especially for first-generation, BIPOC, and historically underserved
Engagement Area 7
Board governance development and trustee education around diversity and demographic change
Engagement Area 8
Policy modernization, compliance review, and institutional readiness planning
Engagement Area 9
Accreditation support, HEED Award readiness, and MSI designation strategy
"Engagement models range from project-based partnerships to ongoing retainer arrangements. All engagements begin with a strategy conversation."
WHAT THIS WORK HAS PRODUCED
Proven Outcomes & Results
93%
Of a three-year institutional equity action roadmap completed, with 94% of year-one goals achieved, despite institutional hiring and investment freezes.
100%
Retention among students enrolled in targeted success initiatives at one institution, with participants earning higher GPAs than comparable peers.
33%
Increase in faculty and staff diversity hires, and 36% expansion in the entering class — at one institution, in three years.
$3M+
In new grants and federal funding secured across institutions, including a $2M federal AANAPISI grant and a $1.9M Department of Justice award.
4
Consecutive Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Awards won at Portland State University.
600+
Participants convened at a university-wide summit that generated a strategic framework adopted across five implementation task forces.
TOPICS FOR COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES
Speaking for Higher Education
In addition to advisory and fractional CDO services, Dr. Lambert speaks and facilitates for higher education audiences on:
01.
Designing institutions that work for a majority-BIPOC student body
02.
AI readiness in higher education: what it means for students, faculty, and institutional systems
03.
Leadership and culture change in moments of demographic transformation
04.
Equity-centered accreditation and accountability frameworks
05.
Student success as a systems design problem, not a student problem
06.
Building the adaptive capacity of higher education leaders
Higher Education Is At An Inflection Point. So Is The Work Of Equity And Belonging.
If you are a president, provost, cabinet leader, or board member who is ready to move from intention to conditions — let’s start a conversation.