The NCAA office of inclusion leads, educates, and supports student-athletes, administrators, and coaches to foster well-being and belonging across college sports and beyond. The membership drives this work through the Committee on Access, Opportunity, and Impact, with the office of inclusion facilitating and supporting these efforts.
Office of Inclusion Staff
Amy Wilson (she/her),
Managing Director of Inclusion
Dr. Amy Wilson serves as the NCAA’s Managing Director of Inclusion where she drives inclusive excellence throughout college athletics by supporting member institutions’ commitment to cultures of belonging and well-being among its student-athletes, coaches, and administrators. Wilson leads the NCAA Office of Inclusion’s efforts to provide resources, education, and support for the NCAA membership. Wilson’s entire career has been in higher education where she has won multiple awards for teaching excellence and served as a tenured associate professor at Illinois College until 2015. A former collegiate student-athlete and head coach for basketball, softball, and golf, she was inducted into the Illinois College Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996. Wilson has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English and earned a Ph.D. in Health and Sport Studies with a concentration in Athletic Administration at the University of Iowa. Beginning in 2005, she worked closely with nationally recognized Title IX expert Dr. Christine Grant on equity issues in intercollegiate athletics and has given numerous presentations on Title IX, gender equity, and inclusion on both the national and international levels. In 2018, Women Leaders in College Sports (formerly NACWAA) honored Wilson with the Nell Jackson Award. She has served on the Board of the Collegiate Women’s Sports Awards since 2015 and was appointed to the Board’s executive committee in 2024. In 2025, Wilson accepted an invitation to join the Illinois College Board of Trustees.
Niya Blair Hackworth (she/her),
Director of Curriculum and Internal Engagement
Dr. Niya Blair Hackworth is the Director of Curriculum and Internal Engagement in the Office of Inclusion, where she leads, develops and collaborates with the team on curriculum initiatives and programs for the NCAA membership. She also plays a key role in overseeing internal strategic engagement efforts for the national office staff. Blair Hackworth joined the NCAA Office of Inclusion in August 2019. With over a decade of experience working at institutions of higher education, Blair Hackworth has provided strategic vision, leadership, and support for belonging, community, and access-focused initiatives, as well as student development programs.
Blair Hackworth holds a doctoral degree in organizational leadership from Abilene Christian University, a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Central Arkansas, and a master's degree in higher education from the University of Arkansas.
Jean Merrill (she/her),
Director of Education and Governance
Jean Merrill returned to the NCAA as a director in June 2022. In this role, Merrill supports issues of well-being, with a principal focus on governance, regulatory affairs and assessment. Merrill is also a subject-matter expert on disability and LGBTQ inclusion. Before leaving the NCAA to complete her doctoral dissertation in 2021, Merrill spent 13 years at the NCAA in academic and membership affairs and, most recently, in the office of inclusion.
Merrill holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Hanover College, where she was a softball student-athlete. She also holds a master’s degree and a doctoral degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Indiana University. Merrill’s dissertation explores how professionally “out” lesbian, gay, and bisexual head college coaches construct their professional identities, and how those professional identities influence their coaching roles. In 2018, Indiana University honored Merrill with the LGBTQ+AA Distinguished Alumni Award. In 2025, she was named the NCAA Disability Employee Engagement Group’s Friend of the Year.
Gretchen Miron (she/her),
Director of Education and External Engagement
Gretchen Miron joined the office of inclusion staff in November 2021 as a director. In this role she has primary responsibilities supporting both the membership and national office in initiatives to advance women’s sport opportunities and provide welcoming championships for student-athletes. Before her time in inclusion, she worked in the executive office, overseeing presidential correspondence and assisting with broader Association-wide initiatives and policies. Miron oversaw efforts related to the Association-wide policy on campus sexual violence, including the annual attestation process, supporting the Policy Implementation Task Force, and leading an update of the NCAA Sexual Violence Prevention Tool Kit. She also previously worked in the NCAA Eligibility Center and as an NCAA postgraduate intern.
Miron graduated from Wisconsin with a degree in history and journalism. She was a four-year member of the varsity lightweight women’s rowing team while at Wisconsin. She earned a law degree from Indiana’s McKinney School of Law.
Leah Kareti,
Associate Director of Program Performance and Global Engagement
Leah Nilsson Kareti is the Associate Director of Program Performance and Global Engagement in the Office of Inclusion, where she oversees department operations, monitors program performance, and leads international engagement efforts. Kareti returned to the national office in August 2025, having previously served as Director of Division III until February 2012. Between roles at the national office, Kareti founded 3 Fold Group, a consulting firm specializing in strategic planning, program review and meeting facilitation for intercollegiate athletics and other higher education strategic initiatives. As a consultant, Kareti collaborated with several NCAA departments, including the Office of Inclusion, to produce educational materials for the membership, advise on programming, and facilitate meetings and events.
Kareti holds an MBA from Indiana University and a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University where she was a Track and Field and Cross-Country Student-Athlete and a member of the Big Ten and NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committees.
Ashlesha Lokhande (she/her),
Assistant Director of Education and Opportunity
Dr. Ashlesha Lokhande serves as the Assistant Director of Education and Opportunity where she supports the membership and national office in initiatives to advance women’s sports opportunities and student-athlete engagement. With over a decade of experience in academics and student-athlete support, she has been instrumental in developing strategic plans for athletic departments and campuses to enhance student-athlete and staff’s belonging and wellbeing. As a panelist and speaker at national events, she shares practical strategies for fostering cultures of belonging in intercollegiate athletics, drawing from her professional and personal experiences as a former international student-athlete and staff member.
Lokhande holds a bachelor’s degree in Sports Management from Arkansas State University, where she was a tennis student-athlete. She also holds a master’s degree from Marshall University in Sports Administration. In 2019, she received her doctorate in Leadership and Policy Studies with a concentration in Educational Leadership from the University of Memphis. In 2024, she was honored with the Women Leaders in Sports Rising Executive "Sports Commitment" award for her outstanding contributions in intercollegiate athletics.
Tyler Noragon (he/they),
Assistant Director of Education and Communication
Tyler Noragon serves as the Assistant Director of Education and Communication for the Office of Inclusion, creating intentional and impactful programming for membership institutions and assisting as a communications liaison for the department. Prior to arriving at the national office, Noragon served as the Program Coordinator and Big Ten Fellow at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
Noragon holds a bachelor’s degree in Sport Administration from Ball State University, a master’s degree in College Student Personnel from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and a master’s degree in Sports Law and Business from Arizona State University. He strongly believes in the power of education to enhance belonging and well-being.
Debbie Brown (she/her),
Assistant Coordinator of Operations and Administration
Debbie Brown, assistant coordinator, has been a member of the NCAA staff since 2000, serving 12 years in Academic & Membership Affairs and nine years in Division III governance. Throughout more than two decades at the national office, Brown had worked with a myriad of NCAA committees and working groups, managed programs and events, and provided meticulous executive and administrative assistance to senior leaders.
In her current role, starting in April 2024, Brown supports inclusion initiatives through operational and logistical functions, including playing key roles in budgeting, contract negotiations, monitoring data collection, and measuring impact.
In addition, Debbie leads all administrative functions for the NCAA membership diversity, equity, and inclusion committees, subcommittees, and working groups, as well as employee engagement groups, where she coordinates meetings, orientations, correspondence, material provision, and more.
Kat Lin (she/her),
Post Graduate Intern
Kat Lin started at the National Office in June of 2025 as the Postgraduate Intern for Inclusion. As an intern, Lin supports the Office of Inclusion in their mission of developing more welcoming environments for those at NCAA member institutions and the national office. She assists in all aspects of the office’s programming and education.
Kat received her bachelor’s degree in media studies with a minor in Asian American studies from Pitzer College in Claremont, California. During her collegiate career, Kat was a member of the Pomona-Pitzer lacrosse team, Pitzer’s Queer, Trans, Plus Alliance, and the Intercollegiate Media Studies Production Center.
