Lyndi Hewitt

Throughout her career, Lyndi has leveraged her data analysis and relationship cultivation skills to build and maintain equitable, inclusive systems in higher education and nonprofit organizations. At Summit, Lyndi leads searches and provides consultation to clients that supports best practices in search preparation, objective candidate assessment, search committee dynamics, and understanding and utilizing equity-based search practices. Prior to joining Summit, Lyndi spent more than 20 years in academic and administrative roles in both public and private institutions of higher education. In addition to serving as tenure-track/tenured Sociology faculty at Hofstra University and the University of North Carolina Asheville, Lyndi has held key leadership roles including Director of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, and Chief of Staff in the Chancellor’s Office. She also served two terms as a delegate of Sociologists for Women in Society to the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

As Chief of Staff at UNC Asheville, Lyndi supervised the work of the Chancellor’s Office, coordinated internal operations and external initiatives in collaboration with the Senior Staff and Board of Trustees, and managed the university’s COVID protocols in a rapidly changing context. While directing the Center for Teaching and Learning, Lyndi worked closely with Information Technology Services, the Instructional Design team, and Faculty Fellows to navigate pandemic-related challenges for faculty, staff, and students. She also developed and executed timely, relevant educational development opportunities to support faculty in remote and hybrid modalities, trauma-informed pedagogies, and practices related to inclusion and belonging.

An award-winning teacher and recognized expert in applied social research, Lyndi has published in the American Journal of Sociology, the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, and Mobilization, among other venues. Her collaborative research with the Global Fund for Women has also been cited in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Lyndi holds a PhD in Sociology and a graduate certificate in Gender and Sexuality from Vanderbilt University (2009), as well as a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University (2020).