Fisher passionate about helping multicultural students succeed

Jahmai Fisher

By Whitney Baxter

Jahmai Fisher’s goal is to make sure multicultural students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences feel connected and empowered at Iowa State University.

Fisher, director of multicultural student success, joined CALS last month after spending time working in the Dean of Students Office on campus. She will be working alongside Theressa Cooper, CALS assistant dean for diversity.

Having grown up on a family farm in Palmetto Point, Eleuthera, The Bahamas, Fisher loves that her new role combines her two passions – agriculture and serving multicultural students.

“I’m really excited to work with everyone in CALS because we all have a hand in multicultural students’ success,” Fisher said.

She explained that “multicultural” is more than just an individual’s race – it can refer to international students, women, LGBTQUIA+ students, veterans and so much more.

She plans to connect students to multicultural programs available at Iowa State or to professional organizations that align with their interests. One of those student organizations could be the Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) Chapter, which she advises.

She also wants to create programs to help all students gain cultural competencies that will be important in their future roles in the job market or as leaders, by increasing their appreciation and comfort level with topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion.

“I want to prepare students for life beyond college, and CALS has a lot of great partners to make this happen,” Fisher said.