“We Are Giving Ourselves a True Gift”
Meet Dr. Markisha Webster
“Many times in life we get so caught up in the juggle of work and life that we forget to invest in ourselves,” says Dr. Markisha Webster. In addition to serving as a faculty member in the Master of Arts in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, Workforce Development Leadership (WDL) program offered by Sac State’s College of Continuing Education (CCE), Dr. Webster is the Director of DEIB, Learning, and Sustainable Communities at SMUD.
Dr. Webster came to SMUD after a three-year tenure as the Director for the Office of Equity and Human Rights at the City of Portland and Special Advisor to the Mayor on issues of racial justice. She previously served as Director for the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the Oregon Department of Education. Her work is specifically focused on anti-racism, equity, diversity and inclusion, culturally responsive practice, intersectionality, eradicating anti-Black racism, and working to eliminate systems of oppression. Her previous experience includes working as the Director of Undergraduate Teacher Education at Warner Pacific College, as an Assistant Professor at Western Oregon University and Northern Michigan University, and as a high school English teacher in Houston, Texas for nine years. She is a proud mother of two beautiful children, Cadence and Bryson.
The Workforce Development Leadership (WDL) program aims to develop leaders from diverse backgrounds with the skills and dispositions to successfully organize and manage workforce development programming. The program focuses on cultivating leaders who promote learning, equity, social justice, opportunity and achievement for all students.
“Students can expect a warm reception into the program,” says Dr. Webster. “They can expect to build lifelong relationships with their fellow cohort members. Most importantly, while students will be challenged in the program, they will also have opportunities to demonstrate their gifts and talents.”
Workforce Development has emerged as a vibrant field in professional education and training. In educational settings, workforce development unites the activities of many units, blending academic, career and technical studies, and advising and counseling.
The WDL program prepares leaders for an industry that is currently expanding rapidly as an important area of focus, in response to national attention to poverty and welfare reform alternatives.
In the program, graduates learn how to:
- Be visionary leaders and change agents
- Influence political, social, economic, legal and cultural contexts and affect the improvement of education policies and practices
- Lead for equity in schools and communities
- Apply ethical and collaborative leadership skills to education issues
As a relatively new faculty member — Dr. Webster started teaching in the WDL program in August of 2024 — she is quick to credit the innovation of CCE in developing and providing an impactful program. She says, “The College of Continuing Education at Sacramento State reminds folks that when we focus on advancing our dreams and goals, we are giving ourselves a true gift.”