Dr. Sumun L. Pendakur

Dr. Sumun L. Pendakur (Sumi; she/hers) is a seasoned, national expert and sought-after speaker on diversity, equity, and inclusion, who believes that we have infinite capability to imagine and enact a more just, equitable, and compassionate world. She has served as a thought partner, capacity-building trainer, and speaker for over 250 higher education institutions, associations, non-profits, and corporations. Sumi's work and research over the last two decades focus on helping organizations build capacity for social justice and racial equity by empowering individuals at all levels to be transformational agents of change in their spheres of influence.

Sumi has held roles as the Chief Learning Officer at the USC Race and Equity Center, dedicated to advancing scalable racial justice in multiple sectors; as the Assistant Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion at Harvey Mudd College, serving on the President’s Cabinet and directing the Office of Institutional Diversity; and as the Director for USC Asian Pacific American Student Services.

Sumi recently completed her second term on the Board of Directors for NADOHE, the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education. She is also an executive coach for faculty and administrators through the Kardia Group. She has served as Faculty Coach for the AAC&U’s multi-year TIDES (Teaching to Increase Diversity and Equity in STEM) Institute.  She is also the co-editor, with Dr. Shaun Harper and Dr. Stephen Quaye, of Student Engagement in Higher Education: Theoretical Perspectives and Practical Approaches for Diverse Populations (3rd edition) (2020).  In 2019, she was named one of the top 35 women in higher education by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine.

Sumi is the multilingual daughter of immigrants, was raised in the Midwest, and currently calls Los Angeles, CA, home.  She is the wife of actor Sunil Malhotra, and proud mommy to Shashi Veer and Shama Shakti.

Pendakur is a graduate of Northwestern University with a double major in Women’s Studies and History and a Minor in Spanish. She holds an M.A. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Michigan. She received her doctorate in Higher Education Leadership from the USC Rossier School of Education. Her study on institutional change agents received the Dissertation of the Year award.