During the 2012 Fall Address, President Tony Frank stated his charge to make Colorado State University the best place for women to work and learn. Under the leadership of Amy Parsons, former Vice-President of University Operations, the Ripple Effect was created.

In the summer of 2015, as Parsons transitioned to her current role as Executive Vice Chancellor of the Colorado State University System, Dr. Cori Wong assumed leadership as Director of the Women and Gender Initiative, and Frank demonstrated continued institutional support for his charge by moving the initiative into the President’s Office.

While keeping with the original mission to make CSU the best place for women to work and learn, the initiative is also now informed by Dr. Frank’s call in his 2015 Fall Address to re-envision, re-imagine, and re-invent CSU with a renewed sense of priority and commitment.

In this vein, the initiative was re-launched in Spring 2016 as the Women & Gender Collaborative with an emphasis on education and engagement. (Read this SOURCE story about the Collaborative’s launch here.)

As part of a large investment in the expansion of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at Colorado State University, the Women & Gender Collaborative was moved to the Office of the Vice President for Diversity in the summer of 2018. A new position for Assistant Vice President for Gender Equity was also created to oversee the initiative and other gender equity related campus efforts.