Dr. Jean-Pierre Bongila, Ed.D, is the founding and current director of the International Leadership Program (MA, Certificate & Doctorate concentration) at the University of St. Thomas within the department of Leadership, Policy and Administration (LPA) which he joined in 2006. He also serves as a tenured member of the core doctoral faculty with expertise in educational and ethical leadership. Dr. Bongila pursues a quest for a leadership dialogue based upon a two-way symmetrical model of communication, which stands for a win-win situation between parties. The underlined conceptual framework of his scholarship borrows from Critical Theory in its social contexts as elaborated by authors Gadamer and Habermas, which helps to critique and participate in changing society as a whole.

The International Leadership program (ILP) has become an incredible platform that allows Dr. Bongila and his students to critically engage global inequalities between the Global South and the Global North and position themselves globally and locally. This process of exposing students to global realities and seeking practical responses through theories and hands-on experiences is what Dr. Bongila calls “Global Positioning Leadership”. His scholarly works fall into this framework, which analyzes and proposes how global-ethical leaders should position themselves in the ever-changing world. His primary field of research is Global Leadership Ethics, which underpins his most recent book Grounding Leadership Ethics in African Diaspora and Election Rights (Lexington Publisher: 2013).