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Dear Advocates Community,
We are thrilled to welcome Promise Mchenga to the Advocates community as the new fulltime Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer. Promise has more than 10 years of experience, much of it in an international setting. His professional career has included, but is not limited to strategic planning, recruitment, retention, success, budgeting, training, dialogues, health education/literacy, health and nutrition translation work, image branding, management, diversity, equity, and inclusion. He has held various distinct positions that have all operated within the community equity and inclusion framework.
Promises’ passion for a career in DEI came from his position as an Urban Promise Fellow in the inner-city of Camden, New Jersey from 2010 to 2011. Promise shared, “My work in Camden aligned perfectly with my own experience of the challenges that stood in the way of growing up in low-income communities.”
Most recently, Promise worked at an Assistant Director for Engineering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the College of Engineering at UMass Amherst. He shares that his strategic plan as DEI professional begins with the recruitment of a diverse composition that endeavors to reflect the diverse population of our nation and the community around us. He is equally skilled in the theoretical work of DEI, as well as developing and implementing strategic plans and both quantitative and qualitative metrics to track progress.
Promise earned his master’s degree in International Education from UMass Amherst in 2015. His master’s project paper was titled “Cultural Diversity and Non-formal Health Education in Dzaleka Refugee Camp.” He also holds an M.A. in Christian Leadership (2013) from the Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky; a B.A. (2009) in Biblical Studies from the African Bible College, Lilongwe Campus, in Malawi; and several valuable educational certificates from various institutions including a certificate in DEI in the workplace. He is expected to receive his MBA from Fitchburg state in December 2022.
