Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Overcoming Identity-Based Stress

Resilience coaches provide identity-focused mentorship

Jessica Lambert Ward, director of the Carolina Collaborative for Resilience, talks with Tray Good, a CCR Resilience Coach and graduate coordinator. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Resilience coaches provide identity-focused mentorship

By Angela Harwood

Students who feel alone or who are coping with issues of race, identity and belonging can now readily find someone specially trained to help. The new Carolina Collaborative for Resilience, launched in fall 2021, appointed its first cohort of 20 coaches, who began working with students in January. The collaborative is housed in the University office for Diversity and Inclusion and promotes coping healing and resilience.

Jessica Ward, a Pogue Scholar and member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, is the collaborative’s director. Ward said that students overwhelmingly want a trusted mentor and safe space.

“Students and coaches know that this investment will have long-term benefits for campus, the state of North Carolina, and the world,” said Ward. “Carolina can be a home away from home, where we take care of each other in our community.

Read the Q&A with Ward and learn more about the collaborative…Opens in new window

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