{"id":118,"date":"2022-09-06T20:01:46","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T20:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/?p=118"},"modified":"2024-03-05T15:49:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T15:49:00","slug":"wheeler-healths-diversity-officer-monique-daley-developed-her-appetite-for-advocacy-at-wcsu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/2022\/09\/06\/wheeler-healths-diversity-officer-monique-daley-developed-her-appetite-for-advocacy-at-wcsu\/","title":{"rendered":"Wheeler Health\u2019s Diversity Officer Monique Daley developed her appetite for advocacy at WCSU"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Monique

Monique Daley<\/p><\/div>\n

Sometimes a spur-of-the-moment decision you make with your heart puts you on the path you were intended to follow. That was the case for Monique Daley when she was a senior at Weaver High School in Hartford in 1999.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it came time to look at colleges, I knew what major I wanted to pursue: communications because I worked at my high school radio station, or maybe even the sciences \u2014 but I didn\u2019t know where I wanted to go,\u201d Daley said. \u201cI applied to all of the Connecticut State University<\/a> schools and when the admissions packet from Western Connecticut State University<\/a> arrived, something about it resonated with me, and I knew that was where I would be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once on campus as a Communication & Media Arts<\/a> major, Daley hit the ground running. She undertook an internship at the campus radio station, WXCI; she participated on the WCSU Dance Team; she worked in the Student Government (SGA) office and in Student Affairs. Daley served as an EAP counselor and peer mentor, and was actively involved in student clubs serving Black and multicultural students. She also was one of a group of students that reignited the Delta Sigma Theta sorority on campus that had been dormant for some time. Daley was such a visible presence on campus because of her engagement in so many activities, that when the university\u2019s Centennial Homecoming approached, she was urged to run for Homecoming Queen. In another spur-of-the-moment decision, Daley agreed to run at the last minute and won.<\/p>\n

\"Centennial

Centennial Homecoming Queen Monique Daley in 2002<\/p><\/div>\n

Looking back 20 years later at her campus experiences, one thing that stands out to Daley is how many positive influences she found as a student of color. From the Assistant Director of Admissions to the Dean of Students, several department chairs and her Dance Team adviser, Daley was struck by the degree of inclusion and representation in the administration at WCSU.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had immigrated from Jamaica for high school and seeing so many people of color as administrators at a smaller university like WCSU really helped shape some and offset other situations,\u201d Daley said. \u201cI could see the years of work by people of color to activate change on campus, which gave me a strong background in advocacy right from the start.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a student leader, Daley expanded her interests in advocacy and activism to bring attention to diversity issues such as women\u2019s rights, the HIV\/AIDS epidemic, health care access and more by inviting speakers to address these topics on campus. She said she learned first-hand how to engage effectively with people across cultures and relay her points and message despite differences. \u201cI learned the basics of public speaking and leadership skills at WCSU.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduating in 2003, Daley pursued a master\u2019s in Communication at CCSU, working as a graduate assistant then as a program assistant in CCSU\u2019s Women\u2019s Center, where she further honed her advocacy skills. While at CCSU, she also received a Fulbright grant for a cultural immersion experience in Ghana. Following a stint as a council aide to the City Council of Hartford, Daley became the Training and Program Coordinator at Trinity College, where she implemented Title IX-related programming and worked with campus constituents to address campus culture and climate in relation to diversity, equity and inclusion.<\/p>\n

In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, the death of George Floyd brought racial and social injustices to the forefront of the public\u2019s attention. Wheeler Health<\/a>, a statewide leader in integrated primary and behavioral health care based in Plainville, responded to the news by creating its first Diversity Officer position. \u201cI knew I had the qualifications and a natural passion for diversity and inclusion, so I applied,\u201d Daley said.<\/p>\n

Now, entering her third year in this role, Daley finds herself helping to shape and define the culture at her workplace \u2014 looking at everything from \u201cwho we are\u201d to \u201cwhere we must go from here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daley said her biggest accomplishments have come from her efforts to develop Wheeler\u2019s Health Equity Plan, which will help guide strategy toward equitable care. She also cites the creation of a diversity, equity and inclusion webpage to amplify the work being done internally to diversify not only the workforce, but to build greater connections with those Wheeler serves and to foster new partnerships. Finally, Daley points to community engagement \u2014 especially with historically underserved populations such as immigrant communities of color \u2014 to provide equitable, barrier-free and just access to care.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been quite a journey from Daley\u2019s childhood in Jamaica to her introduction to advocacy at WCSU to where she is now: pursuing a doctorate in Educational Leadership at the University of Hartford and leading Wheeler Health to a more diverse and inclusive future. It\u2019s a path Daley is proud of and will continue to pursue as \u201ca champion and architect of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Western Connecticut State University changes lives by providing all students with a high-quality education that fosters their growth as individuals, scholars, professionals and leaders in a global society. Our vision: To be widely recognized as a premier public university with outstanding teachers and scholars who prepare students to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes a spur-of-the-moment decision you make with your heart puts you on the path you were intended to follow. That was the case for Monique Daley when she was a senior at Weaver High School in Hartford in 1999. \u201cWhen …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":120,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}