Director, Strategy & James L. Knight Research Fellow | FIU Center for Leadership

Dr. Beers is Director of Strategy and John S. and James L. Knight Research Fellow for the Center for Leadership at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami. She holds MA and Ph.D. degrees from FIU and her work has been recognized with the James R. Scobie Memorial Award, the Jay I. Kislak Foundation Prize, and a Mellon Foundation Fellowship, among others. Dr. Beers has participated in leadership development programs at institutions such as Harvard Business School, Wharton, Columbia, the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, and the Center for Creative Leadership. She holds graduate certificates in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and in African New World Studies.

A founding member of the Center for Leadership, Dr. Beers has been instrumental in the development and implementation of numerous executive leadership development programs and workshops including the Senior Executive Leadership Program, The Women Leaders Program, The High Potential Leader and the Principals Leadership Development Program, where she now serves as Program Chair. She developed and was primary facilitator for the Center’s first leadership development program offered in a foreign country in Spanish, presented to Wal-Mart executives in Puerto Rico. In collaboration with Dr. Joyce Elam, at the time Executive Dean of the College of Business, Dr. Beers worked on the “Florida’s Woman-Led Businesses Study,” (2006-2011), a five year report on the challenges and successes of women who lead major organizations in Florida. Dr. Beers’ work has been published in Cuban Studies, and she is a contributing author to The Fragmented University (Jossie-Bass).

Dr. Beers previously served as Chief of Staff for FIU President Modesto A. Maidique and as Director of Operations and Founding Associate Corporate Secretary for the FIU Board of Trustees from 2001 until 2009. Prior to her work in the Office of the President, she was a Research Associate for the University President and Provost.

Dr. Beers is an active lifelong volunteer for numerous causes and especially in education-related activities. She was born in Havana, Cuba and currently resides in Miami. She and her husband Randy have two sons.