Project for Pride in Living Hires New V.P. of Talent, Equity, and Culture
Dr. Maria Pabon joins PPL in July
Contact: Rick Fuentes
(612) 505-8109
rick.fuentes@ppl-inc.org
(Minneapolis) – June 27, 2022 – Project for Pride in Living is proud to announce that Dr. María Pabón Gautier will join the PPL team as its new Vice President of Talent, Equity and Culture. Dr. Pabón brings a wealth of leadership experience in the areas of diversity and inclusion as well as organizational learning and development.
“María brings a wonderful combination of skills and deeply rooted experience in the work of equity,” said Paul Williams, President and CEO of PPL. “We are excited to tap into those skills as we build on the solid foundation of racial equity work PPL has done as an organization and across this community.”
Pabón will lead PPL’s critical work in the areas of racial equity, human resources, and organizational development and serve on the Executive Team. Dr. Pabon joins PPL, a leader in the nonprofit field of race equity, which has been building an equitable culture with both internal hiring and with leading-edge equitable development work at sites such as the Wells Fargo, Lake and Nicollet branch and the new Black-owned First Independence Bank.
“This next step in my career gets me closer to my goals and dreams,” Pabón said. “This is a new opportunity to change systems and meaningfully address racial disparities in our community. I am excited to be joined by a talented team and an engaged organization that will work with me to continue to address racial equity at the organizational as well as community level.”
Pabón has most recently led diversity efforts as Vice President of Equity & Inclusion at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. She ensured that students, faculty, and staff of all identities belonged and thrived by developing and implementing new initiatives to strengthen individual and community capacity for equity, inclusion, and anti-racism.
Prior to her time at St. Olaf, Pabón earned her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota in Educational Psychology, where her work has focused in areas of ethnic/racial identity and equity, microaggressions, anti-racist education, organizational development, and issues of justice. She has taught at St. Catherine University and the University of Minnesota and worked with Latine families and children at Esperanza United in Saint Paul. Her deep ties to community include serving as co-chair of the board of directors at Hope Community in Minneapolis.
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