Amber Gordon

I attribute my success to staying open to opportunities and embracing roles that align with both my professional goals and personal values. By being adaptable and focusing on empowering others, I’ve been able to foster innovation and meaningful impact in higher education.

The best advice I’ve received is to pursue opportunities even if I feel underqualified or uncertain. Taking calculated risks and advocating for myself has been pivotal in my career growth.

I have a couple of pieces of advice that I always give to women specifically. One is, if an opportunity lands in your lap and you're thinking 'I don't know if this is the right time' or 'I'm not quite sure if I'm qualified,' I always think it's important to go for it. The worst that will happen is they will say no, and you haven't lost anything. Most of the time, a man isn't going to think 'maybe, am I qualified?' They're always applying for things they are so underqualified for, and I know that from sitting on so many search committees. If you think that you might be qualified for something, go for it. I also give advice to not let the imposter syndrome overwhelm your experience and be the main voice. We sit at the table, we get the seat at the table that we're at because we deserve it, because we earned that seat at the table, especially as women. Don't let the imposter syndrome take over, and be confident in the skill set that you have. It's taken me a really long time to feel confident and comfortable to really be outwardly proud of the work that I do and the achievements that I have made. If you know something or you know that you're good at something, it's okay to be proud of that and to tell people that and to brag about yourself a little bit. Don't be afraid to advocate for yourself, brag about yourself, and make sure that people know that you know what you're good at. It sounds so simple, but it's taken me a really long time to get comfortable in that space.

I think one of the things that is really challenging, especially being in higher ed and in the state of Utah right now, is that the higher education landscape is constantly changing. It's shaped by the Utah State Legislature, and the legislature has been putting forth a lot of things in the last couple of years - the anti-DEI policies, and our university right now is facing over $20 million in budget cuts from the legislature, and all of these things about being politically neutral. That's been a really big thing for me, and actually part of the reason why I left Student Affairs a couple of years ago. The work that I was doing was very rooted within diversity, equity, and inclusion, and I was seeing the changes that were coming down from university leadership, and I was like, I'm not on board with some of these things. This is going to change my job in a way that I don't want to do this job anymore. So now it's very much like, how do we continue to provide a space and provide support for all of our students at the university and all of our staff, while not being able to use the words diversity, equity, inclusion? How do we still provide that support and have those equitable practices, knowing that technically the legislature doesn't want us to do that? That's been really challenging, and has been a conversation that my team is constantly engaged in - how are we ensuring accessible training materials, accessible trainings, how are we talking about all of these things, and also doing so in a way that is in alignment with state law, but then also in alignment with our values? That's been one of the things that's been really tricky for us to navigate, the political landscape of higher education, specifically in the state of Utah right now.

Integrity, empowerment, innovation, and work-life balance are central to my values. I prioritize supporting others, creating inclusive learning opportunities, and maintaining a presence both as a professional and in my personal life as a mother and partner.