Leadership Team
Dr. Alisha Davis
Leadership Team Member (She, Her, Hers)
Alisha Davis Ph.D.
Dr. Davis is the Assistant Vice President for the Social Justice Centers and the Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, and is also an Associate Professor in the College of Health Professions. She started as an adjunct at Grand Valley in 2008 while working in clinical quality improvement in the healthcare sector, and in 2009, began working as a full-time faculty position in Allied Health Sciences. Dr. Davis is a tenured faculty member and has been both a program director and department chair. In 2023, she moved into her new role in the Social Justice Centers where she works with talented staff who provided services and support for marginalized and historically excluded students. Dr. Davis is very passionate about equity, justice, and inclusion work and serves on several inclusion and equity groups across the university, as well as facilitates trainings on implicit bias, microaggressions, and health equity.
Takeelia L. Garrett, MEd
Leadership Team Member (She, Her, Hers)
Takeelia Garrett
Takeelia is the Student Ombuds for the University. Her office is located in suite 200 in the Arend and Nancy Lubbers Student Services Building. She has been blessed to be able to share space with the Trio Programs, Student Academic Success, and Career Services. Originally from Taylor, Michigan, Takeelia is a Laker for a Lifetime, having received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from GVSU. She has worked at GVSU from 1997-2000 and from 2005 until present where she began her career in Housing & Residence Life. In 2015, Takeelia began her new role as a part time Student Ombuds and in 2016, she became the first Student Ombuds at GVSU. She shares a passion for social justice work and volunteers whenever she can to facilitate discussions on inclusion, equity, and belonging. Takeelia presents on such topics such as self-care, mindfulness, microaggressions, and many more. She is always willing to work with individuals and groups to present on what they need. Always willing to learn more, she is involved in many committees dedicated to these topics throughout the GVSU community. In her spare time, she is a mom to a son who loves movies, music, and hanging with his friends. Takeelia has been a member of the leadership team of the Black Faculty Staff Association since its inception in 2014 and was one of the original co-chairs to the organization along with MarcQus Wright, Tara Bivens, and Dr. D.J. Mitchell.
Dr. Michael Scantlebury
Leadership Team
Michael Scantlebury
Michael Scantlebury was born in Barbados, in the Eastern Caribbean and is an Associate Professor in the Hospitality and Tourism Management Program in the College of Education and Community Innovation (CECI) – School of Community Leadership and Development at Grand Valley State University’s (GVSU). He joined GVSU from the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida in 2010. Prior to this, Michael taught at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and as a sessional lecturer at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
He has experience teaching a wide variety of Hospitality and Tourism courses at undergraduate level in Barbados, Canada, Aruba and the USA.
Prior to his academic career, Michael spent a number of years working for the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA) both on-island and in the marketplace. His most recent position with the BTA was as Vice President Marketing and Sales responsible for global destination marketing. As manager for consulting with Coopers & Lybrand (Caribbean) Consultants Inc. (now PriceWaterhouse Coopers) and as a consultant at Ernst & Young, Michael’s consulting project experience took him to every English-speaking Caribbean country.
Michael holds a B.A. (Hons) and M. Phil. in Geography from the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica; a Certificate in Tourism Studies from the University of Surrey, Guildford, England; and a Ph.D. and Certificate in University Teaching from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. He recently completed a Certificate from the University of Glasgow-University of the West Indies in the History of Slavery in the British Caribbean.
His research interests include the management of heritage and cultural attractions, the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), Geotourism, Climate Change, and Caribbean tourism.
Jaedah Pickens
Leadership Team
Jaedah Pickens
Jaedah, LMSW-Clinical currently serves as the Coordinator of Coordinator of Black Student Mental Health through the University Counseling Center (UCC) at Grand Valley State University (GVSU). In her current role, Jaedah provides individual therapy, group therapy, and presentations/outreach to the GVSU students and community. Jaedah enjoys collaboratively working with faculty and staff and community partners on projects. Jaedah received her Bachelor's of Science degree in Psychology with a double minor of African/American Studies and Sociology from Grand Valley State University. She then went on to receive her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Michigan. Jaedah is also a member of Sigma Gamma Rho, Inc. Jaedah is passionate about education, advocacy, and social justice.