Dr. Leland Harper is a Canadian philosopher and a professor of philosophy and race, justice, and equity studies at Siena Heights University in Michigan. He is also the founder of Leland Harper Consulting, a company that offers diversity, equity, and inclusion services to the Canadian hospitality industry. He has over 20 years of experience in the nightclub, restaurant, bar and hotel industries, and has received numerous awards and funding for his research on philosophy of religion and philosophy of race. He is the co-author of the book Racist, Not Racist, Antiracist: Language and the Dynamic Disaster of American Racism, and the editor of the Philosophy of Race book series at Vernon Press.
Leland’s greatest strength is his ability to see things from different perspectives and apply logical reasoning to various situations. He enjoys playing basketball in men’s leagues, reading books, and watching Netflix shows in his spare time. He keeps himself organized by using a series of dry erase boards and calendars to keep track of his tasks and deadlines. He is a little old school in this sense.
Leland is passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion, and has been involved in several initiatives to promote these values in his academic and professional settings. He recently secured a grant from the Endowment for Humanities to conduct a feasibility study on whether it would be possible to bring a humanities DEI certificate program to his university. He hopes to see more collaboration and community engagement on DEI issues in the next five years, and is eager to contribute his skills and expertise to this cause.
Dr. Harper is no longer a board member. J2DW thanks him for his amazing time with us.
