J. Renay Loper

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Service

Contact Details

Bio
Courses

J. Renay Loper centers people as an impact strategist driven by catalyzing change and leveraging the power of strategic partnerships across sectors to shift systems that address complex social problems and injustice in communities, globally. Currently, Renay is the Vice President of Program Innovation at PYXERA Global where she serves on the Executive Leadership Team and is the Head of a signature initiative, TIE Global Artisans. During her years with PYXERA Global, Renay has led five country offices, co-lead the organization's work on inclusive circular cities, and advised Fortune 100 corporate clients on their social impact strategies. Renay has led the development and implementation of initiatives across Southeast Asia, Europe, Western Africa, and the US. In addition, Renay leads the organization’s ARC (Antiracist Collective) initiatives that includes internal and external efforts toward dismantling unjust systems. To this end, she created Rhetoric to Action, a series of conversations to bridge sectors toward collective action around social and racial justice. Prior to joining PYXERA Global, Renay managed the Grassroots Exchange and Education grant portfolio for the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership; managed partnerships for Big Brothers Big Sisters, Southeastern PA; led the Greece-immersive undergraduate program for Northeastern University; among others. Renay is also an adjunct professor at Bard College in the MBA in Sustainability program where she teaches Personal Leadership Development. In addition, Renay is an avid speaker and writer who has facilitated sessions at the United Nations and the US Department of State, and has authored and edited numerous publications, including a resource journal, Student Affairs Professionals Cultivating Campus Climates Inclusive of International Students, and a chapter, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in People Economics: Defining and Measuring the True Value of Human Capital. Renay serves on the board of directors of nonprofits including Community Change, Harpswell Foundation, Girl Rising, HATCH, and is a member of the BMW Foundation Responsible Leaders Network. Renay holds a MS in Higher Education/Post-Secondary Counseling and a BS in Business Management/International Business, both from West Chester University in Pennsylvania

Courses

Spring 2024

EXEC-GP.3190.: EMPA Seminar: Leadership Confronted

Restricted to students in the Executive MPA Program.

This course is designed to create an “action learning” community in which students will integrate their professional experiences, and other graduate course work, with a final exploration of leadership concepts, theory and applied practice.

The course is designed to strengthen students’ abilities to lead, as a colleague who can support leadership behavior in peers, and as one who can promote leadership behavior in supervisors and subordinates. Specifically, as a result of their work in this course, students are expected to become:

• conversant with a broad survey of theoretical concepts and assumptions about leadership and leadership behavior;
• better navigators of the internal and external factors influencing successful leading;
• demonstrably more expert in using a variety of skills such as appreciative inquiry, positive deviance, narrative inquiry and action research, to frame and describe personal leadership challenges as a step towards increasing successful leading;
• deft in consulting with others, and receiving and providing constructive feedback; and,
• more insightful about personal leadership competencies, paradoxes and challenges. Growing out of this increased awareness, students will develop an action plan for continued development of personal leadership capabilities.

This course has been carefully designed to provide you with an opportunity to synthesize and apply leadership theory. This is an academic seminar with a significant component of experiential learning.