Nerita Hughes

Nerita Hughes became the President of Bay de Noc Community College in July of 2023. Prior to joining Bay College, she was the Interim Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs & Workforce Innovation and the Dean for the School of Business, Careers, Education & Workforce Innovation at North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park, MN. She held the position of Organizational Effectiveness & Development Manager for Ramsey County, MN, where she also served as the Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Manager. Dr. Hughes holds a Bachelor of Science from National American University, a Masters of Business Administration, and a Doctorate of Education in Leadership both of which are from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.

Dr. Hughes acquired knowledge in the areas of training & staff development, leadership development, racial equity, and other multi-faceted activities in the business and governmental realm. She has a special interest in Strengths-based development, Cultural competency development, Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) Qualifying Administrator and Entrepreneurship, where she assists individuals with leveraging and maximizing their innate talents in order to develop their strengths. In addition, within her roles she has been instrumental in working with public and private sector leadership teams in order to embed and develop racial equity practices.

Dr. Hughes currently serves on the Board of Directors for and as a member of: UP Michigan Works! Workforce Development Board (Board Member-Higher Education representative), Delta County Economic Development Alliance (Board Member), Hannahville Legislative Taskforce (Member), American Association of Community Colleges Commission of Structured Pathways (Commissioner), President’s Roundtable Team (Member), and Thomas A. Lakin Institute for Mentored Leadership (Faculty Member).

Lastly, Dr. Hughes is a 2015 James P. Shannon Leadership Institute Fellow, 2019 Lakin Fellow, 2019 Young American Leaders Program (YALP) cohort, 2022 AACC Future Presidents Institute Fellow and continues to serve on other informal community networks.