Uplifting Tomorrow’s Leaders

While brainstorming an inclusive community for students at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, DANA STACHOWIAK, a WILMA Leadership Institute alum, thought of their experience in the program and how the model could be reflected and replicated. 

Stachowiak is director of the university’s Gender Studies & Research Center and coordinator of the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. They also hold a Ph.D. in Cultural Foundations in Education from UNC Greensboro. In partnership with Research & Gender Studies lecturer  JULIE KRUEGER, the two formed UPLfT (Unleashing Powerful Leaders for Tomorrow) Leadership Institute, which launched this past spring with an inaugural class of twenty-one students. 

“I identify as queer and nonbinary trans and hold a leadership position at the university,” says Stachowiak. “When you talk about mentorship and growing leaders, there’s no support in the area of people who identify as trans, and finding a mentor who has similar experiences. The lens of gender identity is difficult.” 

Stachowiak originally connected with WILMA after being nominated for a Women to Watch Award in education. They felt an immediate sense of welcome and resonated with the message that WILMA looked to broaden the understanding of what it means to be a woman. 

“I felt welcome and seen at WILMA, and immediately wanted to apply for the Leadership Institute,” Stachowiak says. “It solidified that I belonged everywhere. I learned to network better and gained a strong group of female friends I still hang out with to this day.” 

When they began to hear from their students of a desire for an inclusive leadership-type programming from the university, Stachowiak referenced the program that helped empower their growth as an educator and leader.  

After receiving  from the WILMA Leadership program to use the framework for its Institute as inspiration, UPLfT Leadership Institute was born, with its own twist to tailor to the interested students.

“There are a lot of leadership programs that are getting you ready for your career,” Stachowiak says. “My students were asking for something more social-justice based. Having those critical conversations over what it means to be a minoritized gender, and what it means to be successful as a woman or trans person.” 

Krueger and Stachowiak opened applications last fall, which included a questionnaire and essay. The kickoff meeting took place in December, and the group met once a month, each Friday, throughout the spring semester. They took bits and pieces from WILMA’s Leadership Institute but also created an original model fit for their students, including a “make and take” action-oriented peer group. 

Each meeting with the students featured a group session, a panel discussion from UNCW and Wilmington-area leaders, including several WILMA Leadership Institute alum, and a leadership training workshop. Topics the group touched on have been wide-ranging yet also deeply personal, including being a boss in a man’s world, leading with the community in mind, and the importance of health, well-being, and self-care as leaders. 

“We asked: Can you reflect on this? How would you bring this into your life once you step out of this room? At the start, the students were timid and didn’t know what questions to ask,” Stachowiak says. “As the program went on, they had built this close community where they were able to ask these hard questions in front of everyone. It was beautiful.” 

Stachowiak described the first year as more successful than they imagined. Lessons learned included budgeting for the program; they received a significant grant that will fully fund the program for the next three years. They are also looking at the size of the group and considering downsizing for a more intimate experience for future cohorts. Some 2025 alum are interested in returning as panelists, student ambassadors, or mentors. Stachowiak and Kreuger are eager to welcome a new batch of UPLfT participants for the spring 2026 semester and plan to start applications in October. Stachowiak is also seeking panelists for group meetings. 

Their biggest takeaway from the inaugural year is the students’ newfound confidence in leadership. Stachowiak recalls a student telling them, “If it wasn’t for you as an open trans person in leadership, I don’t think I would’ve seen a future for myself in leadership.” The program has also led Stachowiak to reflect on their own personal journey. 

“The support I’ve gotten in leadership has come with hardships and a price as someone in a minoritized body. I had an incident happen as a leader that finally I was like, in my heart, I can’t let this happen to anyone else,” they say. “Here I am at my age, as an adult, and I can navigate and move through it. But if I were nineteen to twenty years old … so many students are nonbinary, queer, or trans. They’re figuring life out. I was like, I want to be able to support these students now so that they’re not coming up in life later on and thinking, I need mentorship.”

To view more of photographer Aris Harding’s work, go to arisharding.com.

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