Unity Watts-Bailey, MSP, (she/her) has dedicated her career to ensuring that first-generation staff and students, along with those from underrepresented identities, are fully supported to thrive in higher education. With over 20 years of leadership across public, private, Jesuit, HBCU, and large university settings, her work spans residential education, leadership development, and advancing equity and belonging. She currently serves as the Director of Residential Education for Apartments, Suites & Southampton Campus at Stony Brook University, where she cultivates inclusive, learning-centered communities and empowers a broad team. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English Education from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore; a master’s in Professional Studies in Human Resource Management from Stony Brook University and is pursuing a doctorate at the University at Buffalo. Her research explores how employee resource groups and affinity spaces support retention, belonging, and culture for staff of color and their allies.

She is a former Chair of ACPA’s Pan African Network and co-directs the CHIME Affinity Group, advances the Black & Latino Student Initiative, and chairs the Women of Color in Higher Education High Tea and Conference at SBU. A proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Unity is also a devoted wife to Kevin and mother to Destin and August. For Unity, every success story is a reminder that her own journey is part of something larger, lasting, and full of hope.