ODEI Welcomes Matt Amundson and Shanea Turner-Smith as Learning and Development Managers
Matt Amundson, MEd, and Shanea Turner-Smith, MSW, LGSW, are the new Learning & Development Managers (L&D) for the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI). They look forward to meeting with faculty and engaging faculty, researchers, learners, patients and community members in diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Among their first projects is designing training on understanding personal social identity and values, implicit bias and bystander interventions. Additionally, they intend to build a DEI curriculum, considering identified priorities here at the U of M and from the AAMC. Please contact amund636@umn.edu and sturners@umn.edu if you have interest in learning and training opportunities!
About Matt Amundson, MEd
Matt (he/him/his) identifies as a white cisgendered homosexual male and has 15 years of experience in K-12 education as a teacher, instructional coach and administrative advisor. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Communication Arts and Literature with a minor in Film Studies from St. Cloud State University, and he received his master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Minnesota State University, Moorhead.
Matt has various training certifications, including data-driven dialogue, specialized instructional practices, research-based learning models and a practical application of the Myers-Briggs personality inventory. His diversity and equity lenses have deepened through his work as a mentor for a Gay-Straight Alliance, a leader of Racial Equity Teams and a volunteer for various community organizations. Matt’s passion for personal and professional development led him to join ODEI. He believes our world is better when we listen to and empathize with those whose experiences do not match our own.
Matt lives in Golden Valley and has always lived in Minnesota–although he loves to travel so he can explore new places. You might find Matt walking his dogs, baking cakes for friends’ birthdays, or hosting a game night.
About Shanea Turner-Smith, MSW, LGSW
Shanea (she/her/hers) is a Black Multi-racial cisgendered heterosexual woman and received her bachelor’s degree in social work with a concentration in American culture and difference from the University of St. Thomas, and she earned her master of social work degree with a specialization in social and economic development and policy at Washington University in St. Louis.
Shanea is a Minnesota licensed graduate macro-level social worker with over eight years of lived and professional experience in diversity, equity and inclusion with an emphasis on housing instability and homelessness within the non-profit realm and student development and retention within higher education.
She brings an equitable lens to any work atmosphere utilizing a person-in-the-environment (P:E) framework to better understand individuals and families and how they interact with systems such as the healthcare system. Shanea is excited about bringing her breadth of experience to the learning and development role to help facilitate conversations on how housing, health and DEI issues are interconnected in more ways than as they contribute to barriers for achieving racial health equity.
