Marsha Ross-Jackson, Esq.

Lecturer & Assistant Dean for Student Professional Development & Diversity and Executive Director, Institute for Law and the Workplace, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law(Chicago, Illinois)

Marsha Ross-Jackson is an experienced leader, attorney, educator and consultant. With more than 20 years of professional experience in a variety of roles, industries and sectors, Marsha’s breadth of knowledge and experience enable her to add value to any organization. Marsha’s expertise in managing operations, finance, communications, employee and labor relations, human resources and law in diverse, large, multi-state offices has helped her to become well-versed in cross-cultural communication and leadership, as well as to become extremely effective in directing across interdisciplinary settings. Marsha has served as an HR/legal business partner and adviser to senior leaders, boards of directors and operational leaders. She has also represented multi-billion dollar clients in insurance, employment and commercial litigation matters.

Marsha has a B.A. in biology, a master’s degree in public administration, and a juris doctor degree with honors from DePaul University College of Law, where she was an editor of the law review and was elected to the Order of the Coif.

Prior to joining IIT Chicago-Kent, Marsha led labor and employee relations for the Cook County Health and Hospitals System, which included negotiating, interpreting and administering 24 different collective bargaining agreements, as well as ongoing labor-management work with 16 different labor unions. She also spent several years as the director of workforce engagement for Health Care Service Corporation, directing labor and employee relations and employee engagement activities for 17,000 employees across four states. Over the past seven years, Marsha has worked as an adjunct professor at Morris Graduate School of Business and the University of Phoenix, teaching courses in employment law, leadership, ethics, communication, organizational and group behavior, HR management, and managing diverse organizations. Marsha has also developed and delivered several workplace trainings, including Anti-Discrimination/Harassment, Managing FMLA, Discipline and Documentation, Performance Management, Feedback, Building Effective Teams, and Managing Diverse Organizations.

Having served as the interim executive director of the Asian Health Coalition of Illinois for several months and as a former board member of the Marcy Newberry Association, Marsha understands the benefits and challenges associated with sustaining and managing not-for-profit organizations. As a leader, educator and academic dean, she also understands the importance of leadership development. This insight, coupled with her experience as an attorney and HR/labor leader, make her uniquely qualified to advise on a variety of topics.