Diversity Abroad Learning & Development

Nic Sakurai (they/them pronouns) is a social justice and higher education leader, and the winner of a national award for Outstanding Social Justice Practice, presented by the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals and the National LGBTQ Task Force. Sakurai currently serves as the Director of Leadership Initiatives and Associate Director in the LGBT Equity Center at the University of Maryland, College Park; as a member of the School of Education faculty at American University; and as an independent consultant.Sakurai has traveled in over three dozen countries, including multiple trips in Japan, and has taken university students to Mexico and to Thailand. They have presented on topics of diversity, internationalism, and leadership for numerous organizations such as the U.S. Department of State, Pan American Development Foundation, American Bar Association, University Studies Abroad Consortium, World Learning, NAFSA: Association of International Educators, OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates, South Asian Americans Leading Together, and Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund. They have also spoken at dozens of universities including UCLA, University of Michigan, Cornell, Columbia, NYU, Yale, and Georgetown. Sakurai is a founder of the Somewhere Over the Rainbow Conference on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in International Education.Sakurai has an International MBA from IE Business School in Madrid, Spain; an MA in International Training and Education from American University in Washington, D.C.; and a BA in Sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. They are also a Certified Professional Coach by the University of Miami.