It’s official: Jeff Domagala will lead the Sanger Leadership Center as its next managing director.
Jeff, who holds a master’s degree in college student affairs leadership, has served as the Center’s interim director since August 2020, and prior to that served as associate director for over four years. Under his leadership, the Center expanded its Ross Leaders Academy program to include students from across the university while also redesigning its curriculum. He also worked to enhance the reach and the impact of numerous Sanger programs, including Crisis Challenge, Impact Challenge, LDRx, and more. Jeff hired the Center’s first marketing manager during his tenure as associate director and helped to expand the brand’s strategy and footprint.
“I am excited and honored to serve as Sanger’s next managing director,” Jeff said, reflecting on the new appointment. “In the past year, we’ve been able to keep our team engaged and productive during the pandemic. We’ve accelerated our performance across a variety of dimensions, including more students served, high program evaluations, increased social media reach, and the launch of new learning frameworks and programs.”
While serving in the interim capacity, Jeff showed immense humility and empathy for his team during the pandemic by hosting open listening meetings, monitoring team burnout, and helping to create remote social activities. Despite the pandemic, the Sanger team launched a new leadership model, the Sanger Leadership Journey, a new DEI program, Leading Inclusive Teams. The Center also continued to serve all students in its pre-pandemic capacity via remote teaching and learning. To improve himself during this time, Jeff completed his Certified Professional Co-Active Coach certification, and since then, has also earned his Associate Certified Coach credential.
Lindy Greer, the Center’s faculty director, led the search committee. “Jeff has been a phenomenal leader, keeping our team engaged and productive during the pandemic and remote work and leading our team to achieve new milestones in performance, innovation, and stakeholder engagement,” Lindy commented. “I’m thrilled to be working alongside him.”
Jeff is enthusiastic about the Center’s future. “I am eager to integrate leadership into the fabric of every academic program at Michigan Ross and develop a strong point of view on the kind of leader we develop at Ross,” he notes. “The clearer we become on that, the more distinguished our programs will be and the more well-known our students will become in the marketplace and to recruiters. I’m excited about expanding our internal team post-pandemic, launching the research arm of our center under our faculty director’s leadership, and building innovative programs that are inclusive and sustainable. To get there, we must remain novel in our teaching, bold with our ideas, as we seek to become the global authority for accelerating leadership development. I couldn’t be more thrilled for what’s to come!”
Jeff Domagala, Managing Director