Social Scientist and educational equity advocate, Dr. Erin Lynch, CRA serves as President of Quality Education for Minorities (QEM) Network, an educational non-profit that serves over 900 Minority Serving colleges and universities. She has served as Primary Investigator on over $48.6 million awards and has submitted over $898 million in proposals to federal, foundational, and state agencies to conduct research and education interventions for students. Prior to QEM, Dr. Lynch served as Associate Provost of Scholarship, Research, and Innovation, Dean of the Graduate School, and Endowed Professor of Education at Winston-Salem State University; Research Director for the Center of Excellence in Learning Sciences at Tennessee State University; and faculty and Director of Office of Research and Student Innovation, and faculty in the Department of Special Education at the MDE College of Education at Austin Peay State University. Her diverse academic training provides expansive expertise in a number of cross-cutting disciplines including Curriculum and Instruction, Special Education, Non-profit management, and Industrial Organizational Psychology. Her diversity in training has afforded her the ability to serve as a research proposal reviewer for the National Science Foundation, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Education.  

Dr. Lynch is nationally recognized for her work in Minority Serving Institution advocacy and educational equity research. Currently, she serves as Co-Chair of the National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) committee for the Development of a Plan to Promote Defense Research at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, & Other Minority Institutions; Governance Board Member to the EDUCAUSE CourseGateway Platform program in digital learning equity; member of the American Council of Education, Social & Economic Mobility Index Development Technical Review Panel; and former member of the Complete College America HBCU Digital Learning Advisory Board, as well as product advisory board member to Quality Access Program for Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), Tyton Partners, and Bill and Melinda Gates foundation in the area of digital learning equity.  

Published and regular speaker on topics of leadership, innovation management, and equity-centered design, Dr. Lynch has served as a reviewer for the Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice (Sage), Gender, Place, and Culture (Routledge), Journal of Research on Christian Education (Routledge), and Senior Editor for DiKan: The Journal for HBCU Leadership. She has book chapters in Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic on HBCU's Academic and Social Culture (Mellen Press, 2022), Handbook of Research on Business, Socioeconomic, and Educational Challenges for Women (IGI Global, 2021), and Introduction to Special Education: The Spectrum of Exceptionalities, 1st and 2nd Edi. (Kona Publishing, 2019, 2023); as well as articles in Cell, The Journal of Academic Administration in Higher Education, Journal of Research on Christian Education, Journal of National Social Sciences Association.  and op-eds in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. She also keynotes on topics specific to educational equity for Minority Serving Institutions, leadership, and organizational development.