Next-Gen Perspectives on Leadership: Coalitional Strategies for Launching Careers, Renewing Curricula, and Defending Democracy

Rather than waiting for tenure, next-gen faculty are leading now. Through coalition-building, care work, and equity-driven initiatives, they are transforming institutions from the ground up. From labor organizing and culturally responsive curriculum design to the care work of academic parents and the programmatic leadership of writing program administrators, the contributors in this collection model the type of coalitional leadership needed in our institutions. Structured around intergenerational dialogues, the book brings together early-career scholars with mid-career leaders--Jennifer Sano-Franchini, Christina Cedillo, and Staci Perryman-Clark--who offer sharp, reflective responses to each section, and culminates in a powerful closing essay by Carmen Kynard. These voices trace a lineage of resistance and renewal, showing how the leadership strategies of today's emerging scholars echo and evolve the activist traditions that have long shaped writing studies. By subverting individualistic models of success and instead embracing collective, justice-oriented leadership practices, this collection invites scholars to study and teach forms of leadership that help faculty and students step into the challenging opportunities they face.

For graduate students and early-career faculty, this book offers a model of leadership that does not require waiting for tenure to make meaningful change. For mid-career and senior faculty, it provides a framework for recognizing and supporting the ground-level leadership already happening. This collection is for anyone committed to leading more inclusive and sustainable academic communities and encourages faculty across generations to reimagine how to mentor, collaborate, and lead in ways that reflect the values of equity, care, and coalition.

Contributors: Felicita Arzu-Carmichael, Amerdeep Bajwa, Christina Cedillo, Alexandra Chapa, Anicca Cox, Tom Do, Mena Hannakachl, Alice Hays, Charisse Iglesias, Brad Jacobson, Carmen Kynard, Adele Leon, Shaylyn Marks, Sean Moxley-Kelly, Abigail Oakley, Staci Perryman-Clark, Ana Milena Ribero, Jennifer Sano-Franchini