The North Dakota Network for Women in Higher Education state coordinator leads the efforts of the ACE Network (formerly the National Identification Program), a national grassroots network of state organizations for women in higher education. State coordinators organize state planning committees that sponsor programs to identify qualified women leaders, develop their leadership in a variety of ways, advance them into administrative positions in higher education, and assist them with staying power.
Kara Gravley-Stack currently serves as the State Coordinator and chairs the annual Fall Conference Committee. She works in the Office of Provost at North Dakota State University, providing support for Title IX policy and training, and diversity/inclusion efforts for faculty and staff. She also recently coordinated efforts to conduct the institution's third comprehensive Campus Climate for Diversity Assessment. With extensive experience in developing and conducting diversity-related training workshops at NDSU, Gravley-Stack has also developed and taught undergraduate courses related to civic engagement, LGBTQ studies, and cultural diversity. Her previous positions have been within the areas of multicultural student services, LGBTQ student services, service-learning, civic engagement, student activities, and residential life.
Gravley-Stack received her B.S. degree in English and Communication/Business from Augustana College (Sioux Falls, SD), her M.S. degree in Counseling and Student Affairs from Minnesota State University Moorhead, and her Ph.D. degree in Education, with an emphasis on Institutional Analysis, from NDSU. Her research focus has been on the means by which postsecondary educational leaders institutionalize diversity initiatives, including the ways in which institutional artifacts represent commitment to diversity and the role of the Chief Diversity Officer.
At the institution, Gravley-Stack has served on a number of institutional committees including the President's Diversity Council, the Anti-Racism Team, the President's Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs, the Council on Improving Retention, the Sexual Assault Prevention and Advocacy Advisory Committee, the Women and Gender Studies Advisory Committee, and the Faculty Senate Equity and Diversity Committee.
Gravley-Stack has been active in her community as a Girl Scout troop leader and, most recently, as an elected official on the West Fargo School Board. Previously, she has served on the YWCA of Cass (ND)-Clay (MN) Emergency Shelter's advisory board and on the board of directors for the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition, Nokomis Child Care Centers, and the North Dakota Women's Network.
