My name is Estee Hernández [she/ella], and I am an assistant professor in the Higher Education Leadership (HEL) program at National Louis University (NLU). At NLU, faculty and staff pride themselves in generating an educational experience that is accessible, affordable, and career-driven. If you are thinking about pursuing an EdD, I invite you to consider our program. Providing quality virtual education and graduating our students in a timely fashion are our top priorities. And if you’re living in a state where the threat of CRT censure is heavy, know that our institution is not encumbered by such threats.

I earned my PhD in Higher Education at Florida State University. Through my research, I aim to uncover the systems of oppression (e.g., racism, sexism) that are deeply embedded in higher education policies and practices. More specifically, I care deeply about the graduate student experience, particularly among women of color. My dissertation focused on the ways in which Chicana doctoral students, who aspire to the professoriate, embody a scholar-activist identity. A second prong of this research is how this identity is (dis)embodied on social media.

Prior to joining HEL, I served as a CLAVE postdoctoral research fellow with Centro de Excelencia, also at NLU. CLAVE is an acronym for Comunidades Latinas Académicas con Visión de Éxito. Members of CLAVE are charged with identifying pathways for increased Latinx faculty and staff in U.S. higher education. Concurrently, I was an adjunct faculty member with the Honors College and with Comparative Race & Ethnic Studies (CRES) at Texas Christian University, and I was also a faculty affiliate with Women & Gender Studies. Too, I have fifteen years of higher education practitioner experience in areas like teaching and learning, scholarship and recognition programs, leadership development, service learning, residence life, diversity and inclusion, and TRIO programs.

Outside of my institutional role, I serve on the advisory board for First & Goal, Inc., a non-profit organization that works specifically with college-going first-generation students enrolled in Houston ISDs. I am a facilitator with LeaderShape®, an organization that engages in transformational leadership experiences with and for college students and staff. Finally, I serve as the National President for Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Incorporated, a Latina-founded hermandad, focused on community service and higher education degree attainment, with 10,000+ members across the United States.