Michelle Dickerson, Aneesah Ali join campus leadership team
Indiana University Northwest has announced the appointment of two new leaders this academic year.
Michelle Dickerson, assumed the role of Executive Director of Finance in July.
In her role, Dickerson will oversee the Office of Fiscal Affairs, which is responsible for long-term financial and resource planning and analysis, budgetary development, establishing and analyzing financial policy, and providing financial services to campus constituents.
She will also oversee the Office of Human Resources.
Dickerson has served in financial leadership positions at the Gateway Foundation in Chicago since 1997, first as Controller, and, most recently, as Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer. Gateway Foundation is a national, not-for-profit healthcare organization, where she was involved in the full range of finance-related activities.
Dickerson also worked in finance, budget and audit roles at Building Better Futures (BBF) Family Services, Canteen Corporation and McDonald’s Corp. She is a Gary native, from the Glen Park neighborhood. Dickerson holds a B.S. in Accounting from Purdue University and the M.B.A. from Northwestern University.
The campus also appointed Aneesah Ali as Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Programs (formerly Affirmative Action, Employment Practices) and Deputy Title IX Coordinator, effective in July.
In her role, Ali will coordinate IU Northwest’s compliance with nondiscrimination and affirmative action in educational programs and employment, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in employment. As Affirmative Action Officer, she will coordinate IU Northwest’s affirmative action plans for women, minorities, protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.
During 1993-2014, Ali worked in administrative roles at The University of Chicago, serving for most of that time (1998-2014) as Associate Provost and Affirmative Action Officer.
She was a principal campus advocate for diversity and inclusion at Chicago and coordinated the extensive compliance and reporting requirements, conducted campus audits, guided annual affirmative action planning, worked with Human Resources and Legal Counsel on employee development programs and investigated complaints.
These experiences are directly pertinent to the Director’s role at IU Northwest. Since 2014, she has been an equity and inclusion strategy consultant. Ali holds a B.A. from Brown University and completed graduate coursework at Governors State University.
