Dr. Jacqueline S.
Taylor

As an ATD coach, Dr. Jacqueline Taylor works intentionally with various ATD Network community colleges serving diverse students. She focuses on strategic and collaborative leadership, teaching and learning excellence, professional development/learning, and the justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) work that transforms students’ lives, the lives of their families, and the communities served.

Before joining ATD, Dr. Taylor served as associate vice president of retention and student success and Title III project director for the $2.18M “Inclusive Design for Equity in Academic Success (IDEAS)” DOE Grant at Southwest Tennessee Community College. She also designed a professional learning model for Equity & Inclusion Practitioners, co-chaired the Student Success Council, chaired the Equity & Inclusion Council, and served on the President’s Cabinet. This work helped to lead the college to ATD Leader College Status and the Bellwether Award, achieving transformational gains in holistic supports/success, access, retention, and completion. Before serving at Southwest, Dr. Taylor served on the President’s Council and as assistant dean of students at Union University for a decade with a strategic focus on retention, academic support, and holistic student success. With three decades of equity and justice-focused administrative leadership and experience supporting the work of the faculty, teaching college success courses, and implementing centers for promising student populations and faculty, Dr. Taylor continues to promote social, racial, and economic justice for students through a culture of academic excellence and caring.

How has education changed your life/your family?

As a first-generation college student, education has transformed my life and my family’s.  My foundation was an associate degree from a community college, and eventually, as an adult learner, I earned a doctor of education in Educational Leadership.  Higher education was the great equalizer for me; however, had it not been for the administrators, faculty, and staff I met along the way, who pursued equity and justice, my life would have emerged very differently.  As a result, my life calling and career has been about doing the same for students like me, who—against all odds—was able to be transformed.