First B. Olive Cole Leadership Lecture Delivered at the School of Pharmacy

National expert on leadership shares her views on inclusiveness, equality, and leadership

By Becky Ceraul
May 1, 2012

In recognition of the “first lady of Maryland pharmacy,” the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy hosted the inaugural B. Olive Cole Leadership Lecture on April 25 with guest speaker Maria Guajardo, PhD, a nationally-recognized expert in the areas of educational equity, inclusiveness excellence, leadership, and racial healing.

Guajardo is the former executive director of the Denver Mayor’s Office for Education and Children, where she championed educational advancement for children and youth. Her leadership initiated and launched the Denver Preschool Program, The 5 By 5 Project, after-school programs citywide, and summits on multiple pathways to graduation. She oversaw operations from Head Start to providing high school students an even start to post-secondary education. She is a published author, a community volunteer, and co-chair of the Kellogg Fellows Leadership Alliance Board.

Guajardo began her speech by defining the new “normal” that is the United States of America. “The new normal captures a country that is in the presence of great change – great economic upheaval, technology advances, and major demographic shifts.”

According to Guajardo, in 2042, the United States will be a “minority majority” nation. “The majority of people in this country in 30 years will be people of color,” she said. “In 2012, the majority of births in the U.S. are to mothers of color. In 2020, the majority of youth under the age of 18 will be children of color.

There is an interdependence that exists between all of us. Across race and ethnicity, we have a shared future, but in this country, we have become fearful of difference,” said Guajardo. “Leaders need to have strength of self, driven by the complexity of life and humanity that we now surround ourselves with. My hope is not to diminish or simplify the complexity of multiculturalism but to heighten and expand our sense of comfort with the complexity.”

She relayed the story of her own path to leadership, which she says she never would have imagined for herself. As the daughter of illiterate Mexican immigrants, Guajardo had plans to be a first-grade teacher. “That didn’t sound important enough, so on my Harvard application, I wrote down that I wanted to be a psychologist. I then begin to believe it because I wanted to make growing up easier for children who looked like me.”

She encouraged the audience to be courageous enough as leaders to ask the right questions because that is what the “new normal” demands. “As leaders, you will find yourself in positions where courage will be needed,” she said. “I’m certain that B. Olive Cole was courageous as was Martin Luther King, Jr., and now it is your turn. Where will you lend your voice? To fight for a cause or to right a wrong? Some days it takes courage just to show up.”

With support from the School of Pharmacy and the Lambda Kappa Sigma (LKS) Pharmacy Fraternity, the lecture was spearheaded by alum Dixie Leikach, BSP ‘92. “Our vision for this lecture is to follow in the footsteps of fellow LKS member and Maryland graduate, B. Olive Cole,” she said. “She was a leader in our profession and amongst women. It has been an honor to be a part of the leadership to bring this lecture to fruition and to work in her memory.”