Jenn Wells '07 of the Marlborough School

Bruin Success

Jenn received her B.A. from UCLA in 2007 in American Literature and Culture and a minor in Education studies. While at UCLA, Jenn was an Orientation Leader, Resident Assistant, and a student leader in the Student Alumni Association. Jenn went on to receive her M.A. degree in Higher Education Administration from New York University and her Doctorate of Education in Organizational Change & Leadership at the University of Southern California. Her dissertation focuses on understanding the organizational influences on college chief diversity officers’ ability to impact institutional change. Jenn’s career in education administration focuses on student leadership with an emphasis on identity development and social justice education. Jenn developed a deep passion for the empowerment of girls, women, non-binary, transgender, and BIPOC students after her work at Mills College, Barnard College, and Scripps College.

Her experience in higher education included emergency response, new student orientation, student support services, student government and organizations advising, residential life, and honors programs. Jenn served as a national leader in the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) as a Communications Co-Chair for the Women in Student Affairs Knowledge Community and as a Co-Chair of the MultiRacial Knowledge Community. In the summer of 2020 Jenn transitioned away from higher education, and she currently works as the inaugural Director of Equity and Inclusion for the Marlborough School, a 7th-12th grade independent girls’ school in Los Angeles. In this position, Jenn serves as a chief diversity officer and member of the school’s senior leadership team directing campus-wide leadership, programming, and initiatives aimed at supporting the School’s commitment to inclusion, equity, and accountability.

In addition to her formal role at Marlborough, Jenn is an independent consultant providing diversity, equity, and inclusion workshops for higher education and non-profit organizations. Her workshops focus on implicit bias, racial justice, multiraciality, and gender/sexuality inclusion. As a national presenter at conferences such as NASPA and the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, Jenn’s presentations include topics such as surviving toxic workplace environments and multiracial identity in higher education. As an alum of UCLA, Jenn participated as a host for Dinner for 12 Strangers, attended events hosted by the Bay Area and NYC Alumni networks, and served as an Outreach Chair for the Lambda Alumni Association.