Kim D. Kirkland, Director, Office of Equal Opportunity

Ms. Kirkland joined the Office of Equal Opportunity at IUPUI in June 2008. Prior to coming to IUPUI, she served for many years as a compliance practitioner – Affirmative Action Officer & Senior Investigator at Bowling Green State University; EEO & Diversity Program Manager at GE Aircraft Engines; Vice-President, Compliance Programming at the Meridian Group; and as an AAP Consultant in both manufacturing and service industries. Ms. Kirkland’s experience includes monitoring compliance with federal and state equal opportunity and nondiscrimination laws and regulations (best practices of a legal and affirmative search), as well as investigating and resolving discrimination and harassment complaints to determine if compliance or policy violations exist, to circumvent potential litigation, and propose corrective action(s) and/or interventions. In addition, she spearheaded business-wide diversity initiatives aimed at increasing the representation of women and minorities in leadership roles through recruitment, promotion (succession planning, training and development), retention programs (mentoring programs/network groups), and embedding accountability into performance goals.

Ms. Kirkland’s philosophy is that in order for organizations to build a foundation for success, they must provide the framework for fairness through the development and implementation of sound human resources policies and practices in collaboration with an effective Affirmative Action Program. An effective affirmative action program would provide for proactive planning, the development of positive outreach programs with regard to women and minorities, on-going monitoring of selection and placement decisions as they related to affirmative action goals, and accountability to ensure non-discrimination with regard to those policies and practices. With a strong foundation, valuing and managing cultural differences through inclusive initiatives and leadership commitment will result in productivity gains, highly productive work/support teams, and lower attrition rates.

Ms. Kirkland received her undergraduate degree from the University of Cincinnati; a Master of Education in the Executive Human Resource Development Program (Organizational Development) from Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio; is a graduate from the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education; and anticipates completing her Doctor of Education in Leadership Studies at Bowling Green State University in May 2009.