Lenaya Hezel

Lenaya Crandall Hezel is a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) organizational strategist. While pursuing her Ph.D. in Sociology at George Mason University, LeNaya founded NayceQuest LLC in 2020 to guide organizations as they explore, dive into a deeper understanding, and discover meaningful ways to shift our culture to be equitable and inclusive. Lenaya has over a decade of experience as a higher education professional supporting underrepresented student populations. Previous to George Mason University, she served as the inaugural Veterans Office Director at Georgetown University, a Certifying Official at The George Washington University.
She holds a Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration from George Washington University and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Growing up LeNaya had two nicknames, Nay and Ace, which evolved to Nayce. The movement of equity, moral and just organizations, and consistent practices of inclusion is not a one-and-done process, but rather a quest. Pulling from her experience as a bi-racial woman, military spouse, sociologist, and higher education advocate for underrepresented students, LeNaya founded NayceQuest LLC to be a part of the solution and partner with NGOs and educational institutions to inform, educate, and move towards DEI communities.