Simmons College School of Management

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Education

Ph.D., University of Michigan

Specialization

Organizational Behavior, Mentoring, Diversity

Bio

Dr. Blake-Beard's research focuses on the challenges and opportunities offered by mentoring relationships, and on how these relationships may be changing as a result of increasing workforce diversity. She is particularly interested in the issues women face as they develop mentoring relationships. Her research led to a highly publicized study on the growing importance of women mentors, and she also studies the dynamics of formal mentoring programs in both corporate and educational settings.

Before coming to Simmons in 2002, Dr. Blake-Beard was Assistant Professor of Administration, Planning, and Social Policy at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, where she taught organizational behavior, cultural diversity in organizations, and mentoring relationships at work. She consults with a number of organizations on issues of diversity, implementing formal mentoring programs and team building for organizations such as Chase Manhattan Bank, The Compact for Faculty Diversity, and PepsiCo. She currently sits on the advisory boards of Essence magazine's Best Places for African American Women to Work, MentorNet, and the Harvard Project on Tenure.

Current Course(s)

• Gender & Leadership in Complex Organizations (MBA)
• Gender and Leadership - Indian School of Business (2007)
• Independent Study (MBA)
• Internship (MBA)
• Leading Individuals & Groups (MBA)
• Simmons Executive Education - Breakthrough Leadership - Time Warner (2005-present)
• Simmons Executive Education - Strategic Leadership for Women (2004-present)

Professional Memberships

• Academy of Management
• American Psychological Association
• National Association of Black MBAs

Presentations

• 2009: Second Annual Mentoring Conference "Making the Most of Mentoring in a World of Change, Challenging the Common Dogma: Does Mentoring Really Matter to Women and Underrepresented Students in the Sciences?, Albuquerque, New Mexico
• 2009: Second Annual Mentoring Conference "Making the Most of Mentoring in a World of Change," Qualitative Study of Mentoring Experiences of Female Indian MBA Students, Albuquerque, New Mexico
• 2009: Annual Summit on Diversity, Mentoring as a Catalyst for Leveraging the Strengths of a Diverse Community, Tampa, Florida (Regional).
• 2008: Harvard University Fall Ivy Plus Meeting, Unconscious Bias: Beliefs, Experiences and Their Impact, Cambridge, Massachusetts (National).
• 2008: The Compact for Faculty Diversity, Mentoring as an Antidote to Unconscious Bias, Tampa, Florida (National).
• 2008: National Center for Institutional Diversity's Leveraging the Power of Diversity lecture series, Crossing Borders:Mentoring Relationships in a Global Context, Ann Arbor, Michigan (Regional).
• 2008: University of Michigan Alumnae, The Changing Face of Mentoring in Diverse Organizations, Boston, Massachusetts (National).
• 2008: University of Utah, Making the Most of Mentoring, Salt Lake City, Utah (National).
• 2008: The Conference Board, Mentoring: a Recipe for Organizational and Individual Success, New York City, New York (National).
• 2008: IBM, Leveraging the Power of Diversity through Mentoring Relationships, Lexington, Massachusetts (Regional).

Invited Lecturer

• 2009: Presentation for Spanish Students in Women's Leadership Program, Prepared an interactive lecture for approximately 20 Spanish students participating in a women's leadership program, Boston, Massachusetts (Local).