Dr. LaShonda Gurley is a higher education practitioner who possesses over 17 years of experience in the academy, gained in both Ohio and Texas. She has held positions in various capacities within higher education including academic advising, instructing, financial aid counseling, first-year experience, diversity and inclusion, Title IX, student success, and early college awareness. Currently, Dr. Gurley serves as the Director of the Center for Career and Vocation and Instructor with Bluffton University. Prior to her tenure with Bluffton University, she held the positions of the Director of Multicultural Development and Deputy IX Coordinator with Ohio Northern University. 

Dr. Gurley holds positions on multiple national and state-level advisory boards. She is a member of the National Executive Council for JDOTT (John D. O’Bryant National Think Tank for Black Professionals in Higher Education), and a past member of the National Advisors Caucus of SAAB (Student African American Brotherhood) and the OFIC (Ohio Federation of Independent Colleges) Statewide Diversity Forum Planning Committee. Dr. Gurley possesses her Doctor of Education in Leadership and Management with Capella University, and her dissertation topic pertained to minority student retention with consideration to financial aid literacy. She possesses a Bachelor of Science in Communication from Ohio University and a Master of Science in Education with a specialization in Leadership in Higher Education from Capella University.