Heidi Bustos-Clay

Heidi Bustos-Clay  joined Lafayette College in 2026 as the Associate Director of Intercultural Development. Reporting to the Executive Director of Intercultural Development, Bustos-Clay brings more than eight years of experience advising student leaders and supporting student-led programming grounded in leadership development, public service, and community engagement. Her professional journey is defined by a deep commitment to advancing access, belonging, and holistic success for first-generation and historically underrepresented students, and to empowering them to lead with purpose.

In this capacity, Bustos-Clay develops and executes intercultural programming and community-building initiatives that support students, faculty, and staff across the College. She partners closely with student organization leaders, campus departments, and cultural centers to strengthen belonging, cultivate inclusive leadership, and expand opportunities for peer mentorship and engagement. Her work centers on culturally responsive programming, dialogue and education across difference, first-generation and low-income student success and the design of sustainable initiatives that connect students to community and to one another. 

Bustos-Clay’s professional background spans student leadership, inclusion and engagement, fraternity and sorority life advising, and Title IX compliance at liberal arts colleges. Recognized as Advisor of the Year at two institutions, she is known for building programs that endure and for advocating for students of color and first-generation students at predominantly white institutions.

Bustos-Clay is pursuing her Doctor of Philosophy in Education with a concentration in Educational Leadership, Policy, and Justice at Virginia Commonwealth University. She holds a Master of Science in Higher Education from Mary Baldwin University and a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies and Anthropology from Davidson College. Her research focuses on student access, cultural capital exposure, and critical theory, with particular attention to bridging educational opportunity gaps for students from marginalized backgrounds in urban U.S. cities and first-generation student success at elite private institutions. A proud Chicagoan and member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Bustos-Clay brings both personal and scholarly investment to the communities she serves. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, cooking, and hiking.