Over 10 years of hands-on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging education, training, onboarding, development, and research. This is an exciting time to see DEI everywhere, but we must be sure to fill spaces appropriately and equitably, not check boxes, and proceed with intention, keeping up the momentum while allowing the purpose to be clear and evident in the whole process. I was a non-traditional undergrad student at Rutgers, returning to school years after graduating high school, and just in 2014 when I received my bachelors, I was questioned, “why Africana Studies?”, my response “why and how not!?” Today, people seem to “get it.” While others were moving along business as usual, I was gaining more insight on the Black experience in America, the history of systemic racism, and ...