Dr. Brianna (Bree) Becker

DEI Strategist

As the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and daughter and granddaughter of refugees, Bree has been acutely aware of the need for inclusion, equity, and a more just society for as long as she can remember. Growing up in rural Maine as part of the only Jewish family in her small town, Bree became deeply familiar with being the other and occupying an insider-outsider status.

Bree’s career has largely been in college/university administration, Jewish communal work, and at their intersection. She holds a PhD in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education and an MA in Student Affairs Administration, both from Michigan State University, as well as a BA in Jewish Studies with a minor in Holocaust Studies from Scripps College. Her doctoral cognate was in Gender and Sexuality Studies; her dissertation explored the role of Christian privilege in the experiences of Muslim and Jewish undergraduates.

Bree has created and led workshops/trainings that celebrate diverse identities and address systems of oppression. She brings an international perspective from coordinating study abroad and a history of reshaping programs and organizations to be more equitable and inclusive. Bree is a scholar-practitioner and brings that orientation to her work with clients. For five years she was a Research Associate with the National Study on LGBTQ Student Success, publishing and presenting, and continues to publish and engage in academic research.

Bree sits on the Advisory Team for Fat Torah. Previously, she was an advisor to the Southeastern Ohio Rainbow Alliance and facilitated TRUE. As a recent transplant to the Capital Region, Bree looks forward to being similarly engaged in her new community.

Bree is justice minded—a big picture thinker and attendant to the small details that matter. She relishes being a thought partner to help organizations and individuals thrive and blossom. Bree is guided and inspired in her work by the Jewish value of tikkun olam (repairing the world) and the Jewish text, “It is not your obligation to finish the work, neither are you free to desist from it,” (Pirkei Avot 2:21) which you can see in Hebrew on the her daily-wear necklace.

When she isn’t fighting the good fight, Bree loves to travel, enjoys the beach and warm weather, can never read enough or have too many books, and is the human of a cat with a mustache named Pierre.