HERS Leadership Retreat for Presidents & Chancellors

Maya Ranchod Kirkhope is an Academic Search Senior Consultant, Vice President of the firm, and a Gallup-certified Senior Executive Coach whose career is dedicated to improving the inner workings of executive cabinets. Maya conducts executive searches both domestically and internationally. She has specialized in presidential searches at religiously affiliated institutions. Maya also serves as Vice President at Academic Search and leads the firms’ signature service of Transition and Onboarding support for new executives. Maya has been active in leadership development initiatives and has worked for many years on various projects that have supported women advancing to executive level positions.

Prior to joining Academic Search, Maya spent a decade working in university governance and worked extensively with presidents and boards of trustees across the country. She previously worked at the Association of Governing Boards, where she was responsible for the leadership, management, and marketing of its Board Education and Consulting Service. The portfolio of services offered included presidential search, transition, and assessment, as well as strategic planning and development. Maya also provided a workshop service for presidents and governing boards, sponsored by the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, which dealt with issues related to institutional governance, mission and identity. She conducted in- depth interviews with presidents and board chairs to develop specialized workshops that addressed specific institutional needs, recruited and trained facilitators, and evaluated the effectiveness of this service for Catholic institutions. As well, Maya worked for the Center for Higher Education Transformation in South Africa, where she was responsible for developing the first governance project in the country.

She earned her bachelor’s degree from Ohio Wesleyan University and a master’s degree in education from Columbia University.

Dr. Connie Gores retired after six years as President of Southwest Minnesota State University (the only woman to serve in this role), is a partner in the Success Associates, where she consults with college and universities and provides executive leadership coaching to individuals and organizations. She is also an adjunct faculty member at William Peace University in Raleigh, NC.

As a first-generation student and the first in her family to earn a doctorate, she knows firsthand the transformative power of higher education and the importance of making a difference. In her career spanning 42 years in higher education, she spent 25 years in private institutions, including Willamette University (OR); Cornish College of the Arts (Seattle, WA); Randolph-Macon Woman’s College (VA); and 17 years in public institutions, including Colorado State University (CO); Portland State University (OR); Winona State University (MN); and Southwest Minnesota State University (MN).
Connie served on the American Council of Education (ACE) national Women’s Network Executive Council (WNEC), where she is Chair Emerita. She is Chair Emerita of the Virginia ACE Women’s Network Board and of the Senior Leadership Seminar, and currently serves on the North Carolina ACE Women’s Network Board.

Dr. Gores was an invited speaker – the sole presenter from the United States – at the Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies (DIES) Conference in Bonn, Germany, where she spoke on gender equality in higher education leadership.
Drawing on her experience as a leader in crisis management, Dr. Gores wrote a chapter “Courage, Compassion, Communication” for the book Managing the Unthinkable: Crisis Preparation and Response for Campus Leaders. She also co-authored a case study on crisis leadership with the Harvard University Kennedy School and the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, and was a featured presenter at the inaugural institute on Crisis Leadership in Higher Education at Harvard University.

She is a graduate of the Institute of Educational Management (IEM) at Harvard University and participated in the American Academic Leadership Institute (AALI) Executive Leadership Program. She also participated in the Minnesota Partnership for Executive Leader Development Program.

She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Washington, her M.Ed. from Colorado State University, and her B.A. from North Dakota State University.

Connie resides in North Carolina, where she is delighted to be near her two adult daughters and their families, which include three delightful grandchildren and two grand dogs. Her favorite title is “Nana.”