Dr. Julia Storberg-Walker

Associate Professor, Human and Organizational Learning

School: Graduate School of Education and Human Development

Department: Human and Organizational Learning, Cross-Disciplinary

Contact:

Email: Dr. Julia Storberg-Walker

Office Phone: (571) 553-3787

Julia Storberg-Walker is the Director of GSEHD's Human and Organizational Learning Doctoral Programs (Hybrid and PhD), and an Associate Professor. After serving in various leadership capacities at Deloitte & Touche and Deloitte Consulting (1985-1999), she shifted to the non-profit sector and received her PhD in Work, Community, and Family Education from the University of Minnesota in 2004.

Dr. Storberg-Walker’s scholarly focus has evolved over the years with each phase laying the groundwork for the next. The first phase focused primarily on human resource development (HRD) and theory-building. During this phase, Dr. Storberg-Walker was inducted into the Academy of Outstanding Faculty Engaged in Extension by North Carolina State University. During her tenure there, she was the recipient of over $1.2 million dollars in grants and submitted almost $7 million dollars in grant proposals. She was a Vice President and Board member of the Academy of Human Resource Development, and Editor-in-Chief of JCI and SCOPUS-ranked journal Human Resource Development Review. She was recognized for this early-career work by receiving the prestigious Early Career Scholar award from the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD) in 2010.

The second phase adopted a critical lens, focusing on power, privilege, gender, and race. Teaching, research (including theorizing), and service continue to be influenced by this lens. During this phase, Dr. Storberg-Walker was elected to the International Leadership Association’s (ILA) Executive Committee of the Women and Leadership Affinity Group and received the Outstanding Research Award from the International Leadership Association in 2015. Subsequently, she received the Laura Bierema Critical HRD Award from the Academy of Human Resource Development in 2017, and the R. Wayne Pace Book of the Year Award, also from the Academy of Human Resource Development, in 2019. This lens also generated forth a new scholar/activist identity. Dr. Storberg-Walker was Co-Director of the Human and Organizational Learning’s Anti-Racism Committee in 2020, co-designer of a critical revision to the doctoral leadership pillar course, co-lead of the Asilomar Declaration and Call to Action on Women and Leadership, and co-author of The Women and Leadership Theory Think Tank Report (2015).

The third and current phase emerged as a result of the global poly-crises facing humanity and the world. It expands on earlier work and breaks through ‘normal’ science beliefs to build new pathways for individual and system transformation. Theorizing and the critical lens are joined by Indigenous ways of knowing, consciousness development, transpersonal psychology, and wisdom traditions spanning diverse cultures and historical moments. In this phase, the inner development of leaders, researchers, and educators takes center stage. Contemplative science, neuroscience, decolonialism, and quantum theory intermingle with Indigenous sciences and philosophies. This work aims to develop deeply interconnected, equitable, and compassionate frameworks, models, policies, and processes for the purpose of catalyzing human and whole planet consciousness and flourishing. This work is transdisciplinary, it de-centers Western colonialism, and grounded in contemporary philosophical perspectives including Indic and Buddhist psychology, posthumanism, new materialism, quantum field theory, and collaborative autoethnography. Dr. Storberg-Walker has published scholarly articles, book chapters, and has been invited to speak at many global conferences, and recently as an invited speaker at a Institute of Noetic Sciences podcast.

Education

Ph.D., University of Minnesota

M.A., University of California

B.A., University of California

Programs

PhD in Education: Human and Organizational Learning Concentration

Doctorate (EdD) in Human and Organizational Learning

Master's in Organizational Leadership and Learning

Expertise

Conscious Leadership
Anti-racism/White Privilege
Sociology of Knowledge
Transdisciplinary Inquiry
Spirituality and Leadership
Transformative Collaborative Autoethnography (TCA)
Resilience, Trauma, and Inner Awareness Development
Sustainability Leadership

Publications

Dillard, N., Johnston, L.J., & Storberg-Walker, J. (Accepted, in preparation 2021). Transforming doctoral education through relational ontologies: Generating new connection and dis-connections for justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI). In E.S. Hauman, N.D. Martin, n. madyun, and P. Mataira (Eds) Reflections on graduate education: Equity, diversity, and justice in the neoliberal university.

Dillard, N. & Storberg-Walker, J. (Accepted, in preparation 2021). Co-conspirators: The journey of two educators to engage DEI within leadership education. In J. Marques & S. Dhiman (Eds.) Diversity, equity, and inclusion as a leadership strategy.

Storberg-Walker, J. (Accepted, in revision 2021). A window of our own: Towards a quantum research paradigm in Management, Religion, and Spirituality. Journal of Management Spirituality and Religion.

Storberg-Walker, J. & Yu, D. (Accepted, in press 2021). The quantum shift: Teaching sustainability leadership critically and mindfully. In E. Ivanova & I. Rimanoczy, Eds., How do you shift a mindset? Tools and transformative stories from students around the world. Palgrave McMillan Publishers.

Thompson, R.J. & Storberg-Walker, J. (Eds). (2018). Leadership and Power in International Development: Navigating the Intersections of Gender, Culture, Context and Sustainability.. Building Leadership Bridges Book Series. International Leadership Association and Emerald Publishers, Inc. (2019 Recipient of the R. Wayne Pace Award, see ‘Awards’ section above).

Storberg-Walker, J. & Haber-Curran, P. (Eds.) (2017). Theorizing Women & Leadership: New Insights & Contributions from Multiple Perspectives. Volume 5, Women and Leadership Book Series. International Leadership Association and Information Age Publishing, Inc.

Storberg-Walker, J. (2008). Wenger's communities of practice revisited: A (failed?) exercise in applied communities of practice theory-building research. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 10 (4), 555-577. doi:10.1177/1523422308319541

Storberg-Walker, J., & Gubbins, C. (2007). Social networks as a conceptual and empirical tool to understand and “Do” HRD. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 9 (3), 291-310. doi:10.1177/1523422306304071

Storberg-Walker, J. (2007). Borrowing from others: Appropriating social capital theories for “Doing” HRD. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 9 (3), 312-340. doi:10.1177/1523422306304097

Storberg-Walker, J. (2006). From imagination to application: Making the case for the general method of theory-building research in applied disciplines. Human Resource Development International, 9 (2), 227-259. doi:10.1080/13678860600616420

Storberg, J. (2002). The evolution of capital theory: A critique of a theory of social capital and implications for HRD. Human Resource Development Review, 1 (4), 468-499. doi:10.1177/1534484302238437

Presentations

Storberg-Walker, J., Tekle, H., List, C., & Yu, D. (conference presentation accepted, 2021). The consciousness of relational paradigms: An exploratory collaborative autoethnography. Mahareshi International University Leadership Conference, April 2021.

Hutchins, H., Bierema, L., Byrd, M., Scott, C., Ruona, W., Gedro, J., Callahan, J., Elliott, C., & Storberg-Walker, J. (2021, February). Decentering whiteness, confronting complicity, and taking action to disrupt systemic racism. Academy of Human Resource Development International Research Conference in the Americas. (Virtual conference).Storberg-Walker, J. (2020, August).

Re-visioning management: Quantum perspectives. Academy of Management Annual Research Conference. Academy of Management, Management, Spirituality, and Religion Interest Group Showcase Symposium; Streaming Session Online.

News and Media Mentions

There are currently no articles available.

February 2024 - Dr. Julia Storberg-Walker published a book chapter titled, "Creativity in theorizing for women and leadership: a multi-paradigm perspective," in the Handbook of Research on Gender and Leadership, 2nd Edition.
September 2023 - Dr. Julia Storberg-Walker and GSEHD doctoral candidate Ina Gjikondi (Human and Organizational Learning) co-hosted a panel discussion with author Susan Bauer-Wu, inspired by her book, A Future We Can Love: How We Can Reverse the Climate Crisis with the Power of Our Hearts and Minds (Shambhala Press). Ms. Bauer-Wu will join members of the GW community to explore the role of higher education in addressing the climate crisis.
September 2020 - Dr. Julia Storberg-Walker presented on collaborative autoethnography as a part of the Fetzer Scholars Program of the Academy of Management (AOM). The Management Spirituality and Religion Interest group of the AOM has awarded 40 scholarships, funded by the Fetzer Institute, to emerging scholars and advanced doctoral students from around the world. The collaborative autoethnography session is part of an ongoing global strategy to develop advanced research methods skills for scholarship focused on spirituality and related human and organizational phenomenon.
August 2020 - Dr. Julia Storberg-Walker served in several roles at the recent Academy of Management Conference, held virtually this year. Dr. Storberg-Walker was on the planning team for an innovative, global, virtual round-the-clock research consortium and delivered a keynote presentation on first person research. She was a panelist in one of the Academy's synchronous showcase symposiums and presented a paper entitled "Catalyzing the Quantum Shift: Pathways Forward for Teaching, Research, and Service." Finally, she hosted a session entitled "Healing With the Planet through the Work That Reconnects: Opening to Inner Wisdom." Dr. Storberg-Walker is the incoming Professional Development Workshop Chair for the Management, Spirituality, and Religion Interest Group and a member of the Fetzer Scholarship Committee.
May 2020 - Dr. Julia Storberg-Walker has been elected to the five-year leadership track of the Academy of Management’s Management Spirituality and Religion (MSR) Interest Group. The Academy of Management is the preeminent professional association (20,000 plus members) for management and organizational scholars and educators, and the MSR interest group has over 800 members from around the world. The leadership track in MSR includes a series of executive positions, culminating in the Chair of the Interest Group in the fifth and final year. MSR explores how spirituality and religion can influence organizational dynamics and affect management outcomes.