Cross cultural office under direction

The sixth floor of the William Pitt Union got a lot more than a face lift this summer. Now… The sixth floor of the William Pitt Union got a lot more than a face lift this summer. Now known as the Office of Cross Cultural Leadership and Development, the sixth floor is the new home for several university organizations and student groups. At the helm of this expansion is Linda Williams-Moore, the new director of the Office of Cross Cultural Leadership and Development.

Coming to Pitt by way of Manchester, Conn., Williams-Moore has never failed to be who she is no matter what adversity came her way. Born into a small middle-class family with extremely supportive parents, Williams-Moore spent all of her childhood in a predominantly white New England neighborhood. Her family was one of the first black families to move into her neighborhood in the mid 70s.

“I dealt with a lot of racism growing up. I feel like learning from those interactions formed who I am today,” Williams-Moore said. “I remember being in schools where teachers expected less of me, so I always worked to prove myself and show that I was worthy.”

And work hard she did. During her academic career, Williams-Moore’s drive to succeed led her to become the first black class officer of her high school in 1984.

In her years as an undergraduate at Southern Connecticut State University, Williams-Moore took on several leadership roles. She worked as a resident adviser, an officer with the student government, president of the Black Student Union and became a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She even won the title of Southern Connecticut State University’s first black homecoming queen.

After graduating from Southern Connecticut with a bachelor’s degree in communication, Williams-Moore was hired by her alma mater to be the assistant director for human resources. She went on to work for the University of Minneapolis where she held the titles of coordinator of diversity for student affairs and assistant director of resident life. She then went on to receive a master’s degree in educational leadership policy studies at Iowa State University.

Keeping with her passion for working with students and leadership, Williams-Moore continued on to Drake University and became both the director of student activities and director of resident life.

“After working at Drake, I got to a point in my life where I wanted something that would allow me to contribute and use all of me. The part of me that is a mother, a once-single mother on hard times, a minister, a wife and a woman who had been on public assistance,” she said.

Williams-Moore found a use for all her strengths when she began working at the YWCA in Des Moines, Iowa. She worked closely with women who had been abused, victims of domestic violence, children who had been abandoned and others in need of counseling and assistance. Williams-Moore spent two years at the YWCA.

“Working at YWCA allowed me to speak life back into people; women and children who felt hopeless. I wanted them to know that they could still find joy in the midst of misery.”

Pitt welcomed Williams-Moore as the director of the Office of Cross Cultural Leadership and Eevelopment late this summer. The transition to Pittsburgh was made easier by the outpouring of support that Williams-Moore said she has received since she and her family relocated to the Monroeville, Pa., area.

Beyond getting acclimated to the geographic location, Williams-Moore said she knows she must prepare for the challenges her new role demands. She said the excitement of the position and the opportunity to work with students in the area of leadership is what drew her to the position.

“My leadership experience in college prepared me for everything I have gone through to this point,” she said. “It gave me confidence and I got opportunities to do things that I would never have done. I wasn’t afraid to be a leader.”

Williams-Moore hopes to create an atmosphere where all the diverse organizations of the sixth floor can move past initial apprehensions and work together to gain a genuine appreciation for one another.

She said her goal at this point is primarily to work with the staff, students and community to collaborate and build relationships that will eventually foster a better understanding of leadership in all its various forms.

“I think there has been a lot of planning. Now we are in the executing phase,” Williams-Moore said. “We are going to get all the groups out of their corners and to the table to get the conversation going. There is a wealth of opportunity on this floor.”

Looking 10 years into the future, Williams-Moore said she believes that programs will develop outside the offices on the sixth floor that promote the vision of student and cultural leadership. These programs will prepare students to be able to work, live and communicate with individuals from all over the world.

“I want the students to celebrate people no matter their gender, class, race, culture, orientation or anything,” she said. “That is what my life’s journey has been about. It has been a long journey, but a good one. And it is not over. That’s the exciting part.”