MLK Peace Brunch

Northwest celebrates the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. throughout the third week of January. The 2024 celebration aims to represent the transformative power of social change.

The annual MLK Peace Brunch will feature a menu of soul food, including fried chicken and collard greens with a performance by the Northwest Jazz Quartet and a keynote address by Northwest alumna Dr. Leslie Doyle.

Doyle is the founder of Doyle Legacy Consulting and specializes in diversity strategy management, team and individual leadership development, and belonging and engagement. She works with organizations, teams and individuals on inclusive leadership practices and long-range access, belonging, diversity, equity and inclusion strategy planning.

With more than 20 years of leadership experience in diversity and inclusion efforts, Doyle previously served as the interim director of student diversity and social justice at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; as the inaugural chief inclusion officer at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri; as director of service, diversity and social justice at Fontbonne University in St. Louis; and multicultural student coordinator at Nebraska Wesleyan University. She began her career in 1997 at the University of Kansas, where she was a hall director and program coordinator, and has received multiple programming awards from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.

Outside of her work in higher education, Doyle has served as a consultant and presenter to various organizations with a focus on equity, including healthcare providers, not-for-profits and religious institutions. Among her community service roles, she served with the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis for 13 years and was a member of the KC Scholars’ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.

Doyle earned her Bachelor of Science degree in mass communication and media studies at Northwest in 1997. She also has a Master of Science degree in higher education from the University of Kansas, a Master of Management degree in business and leadership from Fontbonne University and an Ed.D. in higher education leadership from Maryville University in St. Louis.