Episode 4: Title IX and Its Impact

Laura Bethea serves as Wake Tech's Title IX coordinator, overseeing the compliance of federally mandated Title IX regulations. Previously, she served as a certified Title IX investigator, facilitating training and conducting investigations of reported incidents of gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault.

Additionally, Bethea has served as Wake Tech’s Career Development manager over the past eight years, leading her team in the development, delivery and evaluation of career services to prospective and enrolled students and alumni. Most recently, she served as the college's Equity Team lead for the SPARK strategic planning process. Her previous work experiences include rehabilitation counseling and testing, outpatient therapy services and substance abuse treatment services.

She holds a BA in Psychology from North Carolina Central University and an MS in Rehabilitation Psychology and Counseling from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in Educational Leadership from East Carolina University.

She has earned numerous honors at Wake Tech, including a four-time Applied Benchmarking Grant award winner and an Excellence in Service Award. She is a two-time recipient of East Carolina University's Mack and Margaret Coble Doctoral Fellowship (2017-19). She's also won the N.C. Career Development Association's Best Practices Grant Award (2017-18) and N.C. Counseling Association's Innovation and Creativity Award (2015-16).

Bethea enjoys attending sporting events, volunteering in her community and social activities related to music and the arts. She has two dogs, Pablo Picasso and Leonardo da Vinci.