When Dr. Dakota Doman attended a Thurgood Marshall School Fund (TMCF) HBCU fly-in occasion in Washington, D.C. in 2023, he wasn’t planning to resurrect a defunct government search agency. However after conversations with greater than 30 HBCU presidents who all cited expertise recruitment and retention as their largest problem, Doman noticed a chance to fill a essential want within the HBCU communit
That likelihood encounter led to the rebirth of TM2, a subsidiary of TMCF targeted solely on government searches and expertise options for Traditionally Black Schools and Universities. The agency, which formally relaunched in January 2024, has already accomplished almost 50 searches in its first yr of operation – far exceeding its preliminary objective of 10.
The revival of TM2 displays TMCF’s broader dedication to strengthening HBCU management pipelines. “Realigning TM2 to boost the management initiatives for our member colleges on the government degree is crucial to the way forward for traditionally Black faculties and universities (HBCUs), traditionally Black group faculties (HBCCs) and predominantly Black establishments (PBIs) and the scholars they serve,” says Dr. Harry L. Williams, president & CEO of TMCF.
Williams factors to the distinctive challenges of HBCU management as a key driver behind the agency’s relaunch. “Greater schooling management is difficult on each campus and HBCUs can face distinctive circumstances, together with stabilization at each degree of management,” he explains. “TM2 is solely devoted to discovering the following technology of leaders outfitted to handle the ever-changing surroundings of HBCU government management.”
Dr. Dakota Doman
That mission has excited Doman, who serves as managing associate and government director of TM2.
“I really feel like I’m dwelling the dream,” says Doman. “It’s insane to me the place I look again 10 years in the past, saying ‘Hey, I’d love to do that factor,’ and the factor didn’t even exist, after which it existed, and it went away. And now it’s again.”
Seeing The Imaginative and prescient
The journey to this second started throughout Doman’s personal profession in greater schooling. Regardless of incomes a biochemistry diploma at Lamar College with parental expectations of medical faculty, Doman discovered his true calling in pupil affairs. Working within the pupil union as an undergraduate led to management roles, ultimately guiding him towards a profession in greater schooling administration.
Although he didn’t attend an HBCU himself – breaking household custom as most of his kin attended Texas Southern College – Doman developed a deep curiosity in these establishments via his analysis {and professional} expertise. His dissertation targeted on profession pathways for HBCU presidents, and he witnessed firsthand the challenges these establishments confronted find and retaining prime expertise.
The unique TM2 was based in 2016 by former HBCU presidents however later folded. The idea stayed with Doman, who had dreamed of making such a agency throughout his doctoral research. Now underneath TMCF’s umbrella and Doman’s management, the revived agency is taking a distinctly totally different method from conventional search companies by focusing solely on HBCUs and providing extra reasonably priced pricing.
“Had you all not been an choice we might have completed it ourselves,” Doman remembers leaders at Arkansas Baptist School telling him, noting that many HBCUs can’t afford the hefty $75,000 minimal charges charged by bigger search companies. The extra modest pricing construction of TM2, backed by TMCF assist, permits it to serve establishments with restricted sources.
The agency’s influence is clear within the testimonials from present shoppers. Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis, president of Benedict School in South Carolina, sees the TM2 method as aligned with the H.E.L.F. (Greater Schooling Management Basis) mannequin – a framework that emphasizes creating and interesting expertise from inside the HBCU group to handle institutional challenges.
“Consistent with the H.E.L.F. mannequin of partaking our personal group to unravel issues and deal with challenges, TM2 has emerged as a real associate within the expertise acquisition course of,” says Artis. “Their intimate data of the HBCU sector and the distinctive wants of our establishments make them a great associate to bridge our staffing wants.”
The H.E.L.F. mannequin, which focuses on cultivating management pipelines particularly for HBCUs, resonates with the TM2 mission of constructing capability inside the HBCU ecosystem. For Artis, whose establishment has efficiently labored with the agency on a current search, this alignment of values and understanding makes the partnership significantly efficient.
This sentiment is echoed by Dr. Michael J. Sorrell, president of Paul Quinn School, who has partnered with TM2 for a number of searches and praises their distinctive understanding of HBCU wants.
“The HBCU market is a special market. For the kind of people we’re on the lookout for to thrive on this surroundings, everybody isn’t ready for,” says Sorrell. “Everybody isn’t lower out to work in a student-focused and student-obsessed surroundings.”
After unsuccessful experiences with different search companies, Sorrell present in TM2 a associate who really understands these distinctions. Paul Quinn School has already accomplished two searches with the agency and has two extra scheduled. “They’re appropriately priced and efficient,” Sorrell notes.
The high-touch, versatile method significantly resonates with busy HBCU leaders like Artis and Sorrell.
“I can name Dakota within the early mornings, late at night time,” Sorrell says, including that he typically wants to include work whereas taking his children to basketball or fencing matches. This accessibility and understanding of leaders’ demanding schedules set TM2 other than the others. 
Dr. Amanda Washington Lockett, a associate at TM2 with Dr. Dakota Doman.
For Sorrell, the agency’s affiliation with TMCF provides one other layer of credibility. “TMCF is a extremely trusted model, and Dakota is somebody all of us really feel comfy with,” he explains. This mix of institutional backing and private belief has helped TM2 shortly set up itself as a go-to useful resource for HBCU expertise wants.
Extra Than Simply A Search Agency
Past affordability, Doman factors to their deep understanding of HBCU tradition and contexts as an important differentiator. “The companies didn’t preserve info from you – they didn’t know, they usually didn’t know to ask, as a result of they didn’t have that degree of intimate data of those areas,” he says of the mismatch expertise that some have encountered after they had been positioned at establishments and located that it wasn’t an excellent match.
This intimate data comes from years of direct expertise and analysis. When Arkansas Baptist School grew to become one among their first shoppers after the relaunch, Doman didn’t want a primer on the establishment’s historical past or challenges. Having labored at close by Philander Smith School, he already knew the context, the group, and most of the stakeholders.
The agency’s dedication runs deeper than simply conducting searches. Doman describes their work as offering “government expertise options” – together with management assessments, growth, board coaching, teaching and compensation research. They’re additionally constructing analysis capability to raised perceive management traits at HBCUs, monitoring metrics like presidential tenure and analyzing elements that contribute to profitable management transitions.
Their complete method is already exhibiting outcomes. At Arkansas Baptist School, all 4 presidential finalists particularly credited TM2 with having a radical understanding of the establishment. That data, they stated, piqued their curiosity within the function.
The agency has assembled a robust workforce to assist its mission. Past Doman’s management, they’ve recruited skilled professionals who share their dedication to HBCUs. Lately, they added one other heavyweight – Dr. Harold L. Martin Sr., the previous chancellor of North Carolina A&T State College, who joined the agency as an advisor. It’s a transfer that additional cements the agency’s credibility within the HBCU area.
Not like bigger companies the place HBCU searches would possibly signify a small fraction of their enterprise, your complete mission of TM2 facilities on strengthening these storied establishments. This focus permits them to construct deeper relationships and tackle difficult searches that different companies would possibly keep away from. “What we’re making an attempt to do are these laborious jobs,” Doman explains, referencing searches at establishments dealing with important challenges.
This dedication additionally means sustaining excessive requirements of accountability.
“We are able to’t fail them,” Doman emphasizes. “We’re not diving into the group having a dialog, leaving the group, and also you by no means must see us once more. I’m on this group.”
The stakes are significantly excessive given the essential function of management in institutional success. Doman factors to the significance of understanding board dynamics, noting what number of presidential tenures have ended as a result of difficult board relationships. His expertise as chief of workers at Texas Southern College gave him firsthand perception into these dynamics, informing his method to presidential searches.
The agency can be working to construct a stronger pipeline of HBCU management expertise. Whereas varied management growth packages exist, Doman sees a necessity for extra focused preparation particularly for HBCU contexts.
“It’s undoubtedly not a monolith similar to our HBCUs usually are not monolithic,” he notes, emphasizing the significance of understanding every establishment’s distinctive tradition and wishes.
Wanting forward, Doman envisions TM2 turning into a complete useful resource for HBCUs’ expertise wants. Whereas they’ve already exceeded their preliminary objectives, finishing a formidable 50 searches of their first yr, the main focus is on influence fairly than numbers.
“I don’t give a rattling what they want,” Doman says passionately of his dedication to HBCU leaders who’re in want of his help. “They’ll name me, and no matter they want, the reply goes to be ‘Sure. Let’s determine it out.’”
This dedication stems from a deep understanding of what’s at stake. “This can be the final president that they discover,” Doman notes, discussing the significance of getting searches proper. “I gotta make sure that it’s the suitable one in order that they will have a subsequent time… That is 140 years of an establishment right here that educated folks like my ancestors.”
For Doman, who began his greater schooling profession working in pupil affairs whereas pursuing a biochemistry diploma he by no means meant to make use of, main TM2 represents each a private {and professional} mission. At age 38, he sees this as his life’s work.
As extra HBCUs search to construct sturdy management pipelines whereas dealing with useful resource constraints, the revival of TM2 comes at a essential time. With its mixture of cultural competency, reasonably priced pricing, and complete expertise options, the agency is positioned to assist guarantee these very important establishments can recruit and retain the management expertise they should not solely survive, however to thrive.
