Advocate. Assistant Vice President. Consultant. Professor. Assistant Dean. Author. Strategy Officer. Lifetime Learner. Marcus Kolb brings more than 20 years of work in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and 30 years of experience in higher education that includes secondary education, community colleges, public research universities, private universities, and a national education foundation. Throughout these roles Marcus has consistently incorporated an entrepreneurial and equity-oriented approach with his leadership efforts.
At Motivate Lab, Marcus leads a partnership with the California community college system, working to integrate learning mindsets into curricular redesign as the system moves to a corequisite model for college-level mathematics and English courses. Marcus also serves on the Lab’s Equity Action Committee, furthering a decade of DEI consulting work.
As Assistant Vice President of Ivy Tech Community College, Marcus championed equity, quality student learning, corequisite implementation and authentic academic assessment throughout the state. He led the successful system-wide accreditation effort resulting in a ten-year renewal from the Higher Learning Commission. In an innovative collaboration with Martin University, Dr. Kolb worked to enhance pathways between the two institutions while focusing on student success and workforce preparation. Finally, he serves as the Systems Office Diversity Lead and was an appointed member of the President’s Strategic Planning Advisory Council. Marcus continues his commitment to equity and inclusion as an adjunct professor for a social justice learning community at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.
Marcus holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Higher Education from The University of Arizona, a Master of Education in Counseling and Guidance from Clemson University, and a Bachelor of Secondary Education in Mathematics from Kutztown University. He lives in Fishers with his wife, three children, dog, horse, and an undying love for Philadelphia sports teams.
Ivan A. Hernandez is an Assistant Professor at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Ivan is a Latinx first-generation college student who earned his B.A. in Psychological Science from California State University San Marcos and his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Northwestern University.
Ivan is passionate about mentoring and supporting students, especially students from historically marginalized and minoritized backgrounds. He strives to improve educational contexts for these students through teaching, academic service, community outreach, and scientific research. Ivan believes that students of color and students from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds have gained unique strengths, skills, and perspectives as a result of their lived experiences that make them an asset to educational spaces and to society broadly.
Ivan’s research examines the processes through which students’ identities and motivations are influenced by the messages they receive from the environments they navigate about their culture, background, and lived experiences. For example, Ivan conducts fundamental and applied research to study the environmental affordances that can either inhibit or support psychological experiences of identity integration, well-being, and motivation as students navigate academic institutions.
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