Dr. Barbara Mink Delivers Keynote Speech at the graduation of over 3700 graduates from the Austin Community College District

Fielding’s EdD in Leadership for Change Program Director Dr. Barbara Mink was chosen to be the Graduation Speaker at the graduation of over 3,700 graduates from the Austin Community College District (ACC). The ACC has over 100,000 credit and non-credit students and 11 campuses. After Dr. Mink’s remarks, she was called back to the podium by Chancellor Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart and she was awarded a plaque with an honorary Associate of Arts Degree from the college. In addition, Chancellor Lowery-Hart announced that the college was establishing a $25,000 scholarship in Dr. Mink’s name.  The honorary plaque was hung in the Dr. Barbara Mink Welcome Center building on the large Round Rock Campus of the Austin Community College District.

Watch Dr. Mink’s speech below.

About Dr. Barbara Mink

Barbara Mink, Ed.D.

Dr. Barbara P. Mink is a founding member of the Austin Community College District and today serves the college as chair of the ACC District Board of Trustees. Mink was the subject of a chapter in “Indelible Austin: Selected Histories” by Michael Barnes titled ‘Behind Austin Community College from Day 1.’

Mink was first elected to the Board of Trustees in 2000. She was re-elected in 2006, 2012, and 2018. She served on the Board as: Vice-Chair, 2002-2004; Chair, 2004-2006; Secretary, 2008-2010; Chair, 2010-2012; Secretary, 2015-2017; and Chair, 2017-2019. She also served two terms on the Board of Directors of the ACC Foundation (2009-2011 and 2002-2004).

Mink is a program director and graduate professor in the School of Leadership Studies at Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara, California, where she supervises doctoral students. Her teaching areas include organizational change, leadership, team development, and adult learning and motivation. Mink has served twice on the Board of Trustees of Fielding where she was a member of the Board Executive Committee and Chair of the Board Committee on Diversity and Social Justice.

Mink has been a clinical professor with the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Texas-Austin. She also developed the Innovation and Service Management graduate program for the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia.

Mink has more than 45 years of international consulting experience in the areas of leadership development and the design and implementation of organizational change. She has worked with clients in manufacturing, health care, education, government, communications technology, and finance. Barbara is the author or co-author of 10 books on leadership and organizational effectiveness and has won poetry and creative writing awards in Texas writing competitions.

Mink has also served on the boards of the Human Resource Planning Society, the ARC of the Capital Area, and the Texas Association of Community College Trustees and Administrators. She is a lifetime member of the Austin Area Urban League and the Austin Rodeo Association. As co-founder of the group, Elected Women of Central Texas, she brought together elected women to address issues facing Central Texas. As a volunteer with Global Austin, Mink hosts State Department visitors studying educational and human rights issues. In collaboration with the Navajo Nation, she convenes yearly conferences of educators to advance educational sovereignty of the Navajo Nation.

Mink’s children (John, Babata, and Amanda), their spouses and children, and her large extended family (of eight step-children and their families) bring her immense joy.