Dr. Devean Owens is a scholar practitioner, author, and equity strategist whose work explores how organizations can move beyond performative commitments toward meaningful, systemic change. She currently serves as Associate Director of Research Insights at EAB, where she leads equity-centered research that helps companies translate data into action.
She holds a PhD in Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership with a concentration in Diversity and Equity in Education, along with a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and a bachelor’s degree in Advertising and Public Relations. Her training in both research and analytics informs her approach to studying organizations with rigor, clarity, and care.
Dr. Owens’ scholarship centers Black women, women of color, and historically marginalized communities, with particular attention to mentorship, resistance, and organizational transformation. Her work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals, edited volumes, and national policy reports, including Anti-racist change: A conceptual framework for educational institutions to take systemic action, Help a sista out: Black women doctoral students’ use of peer mentorship as an act of resistance, and SquadGoals: Intersectionality, mentorship, and women of color in the academy. Across her writing, she challenges institutions to confront power, culture, and accountability in equity work.
In addition to her scholarly contributions, Dr. Owens is an educator, advocate, and breast cancer survivor. She has served as an Adjunct Professor at Southern Methodist University and holds leadership and advocacy roles with the Tigerlily Foundation, the American Cancer Society GenNow, and For the Breast of Us, advancing health equity and survivorship for Black women.
An alumna of Southern Methodist University and the University of Illinois, she is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, and a frequent speaker on equity, leadership, and breast cancer. She is also a wife and the mother of three, a role that continues to shape her commitment to building a more just and affirming world.
My Breast Cancer Story
On April 23, 2025, my gynecologist called and told me I had grade three, triple negative breast cancer. I was in my car on a random street in my neighborhood. Some moments split your life into a before and an after, and that phone call was mine.
One month later, I was sitting in an infusion chair for the first of what would become sixteen rounds of chemotherapy. Over seven months, I also endured eight rounds of immunotherapy, a sentinel lymph node biopsy, and a bilateral mastectomy with tissue expander placement. Once I’d healed enough, I went through six more rounds of adjuvant immunotherapy before my DIEP flap reconstruction.
I share the clinical details because the numbers matter, and because so many women searching for answers at two in the morning need to see them written by someone who lived them. But treatment is only half the story. The other half happened in the quiet in between: learning to rest without guilt, grieving a body and a version of myself I didn’t choose to lose, and finding gratitude in places I never expected it to live. My faith didn’t spare me from the fire. It walked me through it, one appointment, one infusion, one hard morning at a time.
I’m still learning what it means to be on the other side of this. Some days that looks like strength. Other days it looks like sitting in the grief a little longer than feels comfortable, because I have learned that rushing past it doesn’t actually make it move any faster.
I don’t have it all figured out, but I’m willing to share my journey with the hope that you feel less alone in yours.
