Ranya Brooks Named Director of Rebranded Kennedy School Diversity Office

Ranya Brooks will serve as the inaugural director of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Office of Belonging, Community, and Connection, Dean Jeremy M. Weinstein announced Friday afternoon in an email to students, faculty, and staff.

Brooks, who most recently served as director of workforce engagement for Harvard University Campus Services, will begin her new role on Jan. 26.

The appointment follows a six-month search launched after the departure of Robbin Chapman, who previously led the school’s diversity office. Chapman left during the broader rebranding of the Kennedy School’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts into what is now the OBCC.

During the interim period, the office was led by Counselor to the Dean Sarah Wald and OBCC Associate Director Harrison Nekoroski.

In the email, Weinstein praised Brooks’ “wealth of experience” across public, private, and nonprofit education sectors.

Brooks — who earned a master’s at the Harvard Graduate School of Education — previously worked with Boston Plan for Excellence, a nonprofit that supports professional development within Boston Public Schools. She then moved to Harvard’s Campus Services, where she oversaw workforce engagement initiatives.

Weinstein wrote that Brooks will lead OBCC in “serving students, faculty, and staff and helping HKS continue to build a welcoming community in which all can thrive.” He outlined three core priorities for the office: promoting belonging, fostering community, and facilitating connection.

Under the first, Weinstein wrote, OBCC will work to ensure “that people of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives have access to and can participate fully in what HKS has to offer.”

He added that under the second and third pillars, the office will focus on “promoting shared values, including openness and pluralism” and on “building skills and supporting candid, meaningful, and productive engagement across difference, both on- and off-campus.”

Those goals mirror the framework Weinstein introduced in July 2025 when HKS replaced its diversity office with the OBCC, following similar moves across Harvard’s graduate schools.

The shift came amid political pressure from the Trump administration, which has argued that programs focused on DEI are illegal or unconstitutional. Although no formal agreement has been reached between Harvard and the federal government — and negotiation talks have only proceeded in fits and starts — Harvard has increasingly abandoned language on diversity.

Weinstein framed the OBCC in alignment with Harvard’s updated, campus-wide priorities. He stressed the importance of engaging with diverse perspectives, even when they are uncomfortable, as essential to intellectual and personal growth.

Despite its broad mandate, the OBCC’s role within HKS remains loosely defined. Since its inception, the office has developed slowly. Its webpage currently contains limited information, largely pointing to general Harvard resources and Weinstein’s original announcement.

—Staff writer Jen L. Phan can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X at @jenllphan.

—Staff writer Sophia E. Alcacer can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X at @sophiaalcacer and Signal at sophiaalcacer.88.