Emerging Leader
The AWHE Emerging Leader Award will be presented annually to a women in higher education in Arizona whose potential to achieve is evident. You may nominate yourself or someone else. The nominee must hold a position in a higher education institution and demonstrate a commitment to higher education, promise of future leadership at their institution, and commitment to AWHE’s goals and purpose.
Dr. Nika Gueci
2024 AWHE Emerging Leader
Dr. Nika Gueci is a born and bred New Yorker who moved to the desert to advance Arizona State University’s Charter of inclusion and belonging. She is the inaugural Executive Director of ASU’s Center for Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience, created as an institutional-priority initiative to build human capacity through an innovative whole-person approach. Here, she furthers individual and community resilience through translational research, customized curriculum and leadership trainings. Nika has presented over 1k speeches, workshops, and events; and has been invited to speak on media sources such as AZ3TV, NPR, ASU News, and keynote at national conferences. She serves as co-chair of the Mental Well-Being Committee, Arizona Department of Health Services and leads a state-wide strategy to reduce loneliness and social isolation.
In 2023, she was a Senior Fellow at ASU’s Learning Enterprise as venture design lead on Personal Development Solutions, created for learners to realize and develop their full potential as thriving human beings.
Nika has been recognized as one of the top 50 women leaders of Arizona. She is a registered yoga teacher and ardent advocate for animal rights. She serves on the Arizona Veterinary Medical Association Wellness Task Force and fosters dogs. She holds an EdD in leadership and innovation from Arizona State University, MA in communication from New Mexico State University and a BA in Russian from Columbia University in the City of New York.
Past Honorees
Dr. Ashley K. Randall
2023 AWHE Emerging Leader
Dr. Ashley K. Randall is an Associate Professor, Honors Faculty, and Senior Global Futures Scientist, at Arizona State University (ASU). She earned her BS in Psychology from Indiana University – Bloomington, her MS in Psychology from North Dakota State University, and her PhD in Family Studies and Human Development from the University of Arizona. Dr. Randall’s area of expertise is in how couples cope with stress in the context of their relationship, with a particular focus on elevating the voices of traditionally underrepresented couples. She has presented and published internationally on these topics. Dr. Randall is President-Elect of ASU’s Faculty Women’s Association and Editor-in-Chief of Personal Relationships, the flagship journal of the International Association for Relationship Research, among other service roles she holds. A Fulbright Alumna (Switzerland, 2007) and Specialist (Indonesia, 2023) she is dedicated to international educational exchange, which is evidenced by her Fellow status in the American Psychological Association’s Division 52 (International Psychology). Dr. Randall would like to dedicate this award to her mother, Ellen Karay Randall, who always instilled in her the value of education.
Nilsa Casas
2022 AWHE Emerging Leader
Nilsa Casas is a Fiscal Manager at GateWay Community College. She has
worked for the Maricopa Colleges for about two decades. Her hands-on experience
and understanding of the diverse students is what sets Nilsa aside from the rest and
assured her continued success in Business Services. Nilsa puts student success first and makes sure to take care of needs, to keep students enrolled, retained, and engaged.
Dava Newell
2022 AWHE Emerging Leader Honorable Mention
Dava Newell is currently a Program Coordinator at Arizona State University. She has held multiple roles in Higher Education since December 2016 and has excelled in her roles at working with staff, diagnosing issues, and figuring out solutions to provide support to academic partners, staff, and students.
Dr. Celeste Atkins
2021 AWHE Emerging Leader
Dr. Atkins serves as an Instructional Designer for Digital Learning where she combines her sociological training and over a decade of teaching at the college level to support online course design. She earned her BA in sociology at California State University San Bernardino with an emphasis on race and gender. She completed her MA in sociology at the University of Southern California. Dr. Atkins earned her doctorate at University of Arizona’s Center for the Study of Higher Education. Her doctoral research is focused on how sociology faculty from traditionally marginalized backgrounds teach about privilege and inequality. She successfully defended her doctoral dissertation on March 29th, 2021.
Before joining the Digital Learning team, Dr. Atkins taught sociology full-time at Cochise College in Sierra Vista, Arizona and was awarded the Pacific Sociological Association’s Early Career Award for Innovation in Teaching Sociology. Her interest in curriculum design and digital learning was sparked in her two years as the graduate assistant for UA’s Office of Instruction and Assessment. Since beginning her doctoral program, she contributed to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning with an original approach to teaching Introduction to Sociology and has published her dissertation research in two different texts. She is honored to be a 2020-21 recipient of the Dr. Maria Teresa Velez Diversity Leadership Scholarship and the 2020 Hans. O Mauksch Award for Distinguished Contributions to Undergraduate Sociology recipient.
In her free time, Dr. Atkins is a dedicated mother to her wonderful daughter, Cheyenne. She also enjoys crocheting, photography, music, game nights with friends, and dreaming up amazing birthday parties for her daughter each year.
Michelle Menninger
2021 AWHE Emerging Leader Honorable Mention
Michelle Menninger is a staunch advocate of student access and opportunity in higher education. She has an authentic desire to provide support, encouragement, and a sense of belonging for students, which is evident in the years she has committed to areas of equity, diversity and inclusion, leadership development, and community engagement. Michelle is currently the Director of Enrollment Management and Student Success for Distance Education at the University of Arizona, supporting statewide locations within the Near You Network. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Utah State University and a master’s degree from Northern Arizona University.
In her professional network, Michelle has presented her expertise and best practices with underrepresented students and distance learners at several statewide and nationwide conferences and seminars. She leads the Diversity & Inclusion efforts for Arizona Online, Distance, and Continuing & Professional Education (ODCE), and serves as an Institutional Representative for Arizona Women in Higher Education. She is active in her community serving on boards to support the local homeless shelter, the chamber of commerce, and her favorite, as a parent volunteer at her kids’ school. Michelle is also an active sister of Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority, Inc (TNX), of which she was a founding member of the Epsilon Chapter at Utah State University. As the organization’s fifth and first out-of-state chapter, Epsilon was the catalyst for TNX’s growth of nearly 40 undergraduate and 30 graduate, alumni, and professional chapters across the country. Michelle played an integral role in its foundation and continues to be actively involved with the organization today. Michelle is a single mother of two who looks for joy and beauty in everything. She loves to play, and is known to sometimes monopolize a karaoke mic.
2019 – Mary Venezia, M.A.
Mary Venezia currently serves as Director of Enrollment Initiatives and Special Events at University of Arizona. A first-generation college student, Ms. Venezia earned her undergraduate degree from NAU and a master’s degree in higher education from UA. She has worked in wide-ranging areas at UA including university housing, academic advising, and TriO and she has earned national recognition, as well as the University of Arizona Staff Excellence Award. She embodies a consistent commitment to higher education, support for women and underrepresented populations, and the mission of AWHE, writ large.