Sierra Austin-King

Dr. Sierra J. Austin-King serves as the ESC’s Regional School Improvement Coordinator for Equity and Diversity and as a lecturer for the Departments of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies and African American and African Studies at Ohio State and the Women’s and Gender Studies program at Denison University. Dr. Austin-King is a WGSS graduate, with a focus on race and social justice. She also graduated with an interdisciplinary specialization in Latino/a Studies. Dr. Austin-King’s research, activism and work focuses on education equity and prioritizes operationalizing intersectional approaches to social change.

Her most recent publication will appear in Films for the Feminist Classroom (2022), with others in Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society and Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s, Studies. Dr. Austin-King is the recipient of several grants awarded by the National Women’s Studies Association, OSU’s Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, the Office of Diversity & Inclusion, the University of Texas at San Antonio, Columbus College of Art & Design, and the ESC of Central Ohio. She has presented original research both domestically and abroad, including in Spain and various parts of the UK. She has also served as an adjunct faculty member at Columbus College of Art & Design, where she designed the institution’s first faculty DEI professional development course.

Dr. Austin-King has been recognized as a Leadership Ohio Ambassador (2021), a YWCA Columbus Sue Doody Alumni of the Year (2020), and a JPMorgan Chase & Deloitte Wise Women Rising Star (2019). She currently serves as board member and grants committee chair of the Women’s Fund of Central Ohio, as a member of the Franklin University School of Education Advisory Board, and a member of the YWCA Columbus Alumni Committee. She is also a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.