Office Phone

313-577-6360

Biography

Latonia Garrett is a visionary leader with a knack for galvanizing her teams toward ambitious goals while maximizing their skill sets. She is skilled at establishing a vision for her teams and departments and seeing it through. She uproots outdated systems, creates strategies to reimagine them, and plans executes and takes ownership of their success and continuity. She has done this in every position she has held. She serves as the Senior Director of College Transition and Strategic Retention Initiatives at Wayne State University.

She started her career at Oakland University as an Academic Advisor in the School of Health of Sciences and returned to her hometown in Detroit to serve as a Resident Director at Wayne State and steadily increased her roles and responsibilities while with Housing and Residential Life. After five years with Housing and Residence Life, she was appointed as the inaugural Assistant Director for the Office of Multicultural Student Engagement (OMSE), offering workshops and delivering presentations centering on diversity, inclusion, and social justice. These experiences led to her appointment as the Director of the Student Service Center, the university’s one-stop supporting students as they navigated the admissions process, financial aid, and records and registration. Before serving as Senior Director for College Transition and Strategic Retention Initiatives, Latonia was the Director for Student Success Initiatives and Academic Partnerships, leading a holistic student support program committed to teaching and supporting college success strategies.

Her passion for ensuring the successful trajectory of at-risk communities through higher education begins with her own story. She is a third-generation college student but the first in her family to attain a master’s degree and the first to pursue a PhD. Having been educated in the Detroit Public School system, she quickly learned the meaning of education inequity. Her background fueled her determination to close these gaps and be an example for future generations.

In all, Latonia is devoted to servant leadership and finding innovative and creative ways to support students and advance the university's mission.

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