Tracey Gibson-Jackson honored with Shedd Award

For Tracey Gibson-Jackson, community is more than a credo or a tenet, it is a right of students, staff and faculty at Northwestern University, where she has devoted most of her professional life and seemingly endless energy to ensure all can access that experience.

Winner of the 2024 Jean E. Shedd University Citizenship Award, Gibson-Jackson is director of Student Organizations and Activities, founder of the Black Professionals Network (BPN) and former chair of the Northwestern University Staff Advisory Council (NUSAC). In these roles, with her unique ability to connect with people, and connect people with each other, she has had a profound impact on life at the University.

"Put me in a room full of people: Game on! I want to know everyone," said Gibson-Jackson, still buzzing from the surprise announcement made at an event two weeks earlier. "I'm an extrovert, so no, I have not felt alone at Northwestern, but people do. Nobody wants to go through being on this campus and not having a person, a community, something that excites them."

Gibson-Jackson has been on a steady assent in Student Affairs since 2007. In her current role as director, she oversees programs and activities for all undergraduate students, advising and advocating for almost 500 student organizations, including Associated Student Government and Dance Marathon.

The job is "100% student-facing," meaning while she has numerous administrative responsibilities, Gibson-Jackson's office door is always open to students. It's also open to almost anyone at Northwestern in search of an ear and an open heart.

Former University President Morton Schapiro found himself in Gibson-Jackson's office following a chance encounter at the Norris Starbucks instigated by Gibson-Jackson, who asked, "Aren't you the new sheriff in town?" and invited the new president on a tour of Student Affairs.

Schapiro, who remains a good friend of Gibson-Jackson, became one of her biggest supporters and backed important initiatives she pursued.

As NUSAC chair, Gibson-Jackson was behind the much-beloved Winter Recess and the first staff survey. That first survey, conducted in 2016, revealed widespread need among Northwestern's Black staff for support.

"The Tracey in me was just like, 'You can't hear these things and not respond in a way that's going to help the community," said Gibson-Jackson, who began organizing lunches for Black staff to learn about their needs. That was the inception of BPN, the University's first staff affinity group.

Before the creation of BPN, there were no affinity groups for staff at Northwestern, nor were there well-established models at other universities for creating them.

"While she could have been discouraged from pressing forward, she leaned into her many leadership strengths to make BPN possible, such as building bridges between staff and administrators, effectively communicating the need for this organization, being resourceful, and bringing colleagues along with her and tapping into their talents," said Vice President for Human Resources and CHRO Lorraine Goffe, who quoted from the nomination while presenting the award at the Division of Student Affairs Fall Breakfast in October.

Through its early days and the drafting of its charter, to the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial unrest of 2020, BPN has grown in terms of its impact and membership, with more than 350 members. Its annual Juneteenth celebration serves as an opportunity for all staff to be in community together.

Goffe added, again from statements of support provided by Gibson-Jackson's colleagues, "Through Tracey's leadership, BPN has become a lifeline for Black staff members, providing them with a sense of belonging and community. As we note her tremendous dedication to making Northwestern a more inclusive and safe space for Black staff, we must also recognize that her leadership has also contributed to creating a better Northwestern."

The annual citizenship award was created in honor of Jean Shedd, who retired in 2018 after serving Northwestern with distinction for more than 41 years. The award recognizes staff members with at least five years of service to the University, who have a record of sustained high performance, have made outstanding contributions to Northwestern, have demonstrated transformative leadership and exemplify the University's values, among other criteria.

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