Dinah Clottey, a rising leader with experience in social innovation, has been named the Program Manager of the Leadership & Society Initiative. In this role, Dinah will support LSI and aid in its mission to help senior executives in their quest to hone their skills for meaningful next chapters of impact.
“I’m really excited about LSI,” Clottey said, “because I believe that it taps into an under utilized resource of individuals who not only have immense knowledge and expertise in their field, but also possess the pure desire to use the remaining time in their lives to continue to make the world a better place. That speaks wonders to me.”
Clottey has always been infused with a passion for learning and social change. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology in 2022. As a student, she found herself heavily involved in the Organization of Black Students serving as Co-President and participating in the podcast, Kinda Sorta Brown, where she and the team discussed social and political issues affecting marginalized groups of color. Her participation in these roles earned her the distinguished Diversity & Leadership Award at the university and the chance to head to D.C. where she sat in conversation with Michelle Obama on the BET Network.
She has also served in many other social justice-oriented roles such as as an organizer for Kamala Harris’s Presidential campaign and the communications fellow for the non-profit, All in Together, that works to close the civic gap for women. In 2021, she and her business T’kor Couture were selected as one of the ventures to participate in the Accelerator Program under the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship. Clottey and her business were recently featured in the Chicago Tribune.
“It’s very exciting to be part of an initiative that helps people discover their next chapter as I embark on my own,” said Clottey. “I’m hoping that having been a student at the university before, I can use my experiences to spark intergenerational conversations, as I believe in the importance of bridging the excitement of UChicago grad and undergrad students with the expertise and knowledge of our LSI Fellows.”