For nearly 100 years, Xavier University of Louisiana has hosted exceptional staff, faculty and administration that instill a mission to promote a more just and humane society in its students. Recently recognized as a 2023 Amazon Web Services (AWS) Education Champion award and a 2023 Hometown Hero by the Student Freedom Initiative (SFI), Dr. Mable J. Moore, Xavier’s vice president for the office of technology administration and chief information officer, models the vision of the nation’s only historically Black and Catholic institution. 

Dr. Moore expressed her pride and excitement at the recognition both she and Xavier received through these awards. Still, she clarified that the accolades wouldn’t have been possible without her team. 

“Being selected to be an AWS Champion was exciting!” shared Dr. Moore. “I want to share this recognition with my technology staff for their exemplary work migrating XULA’s critical operations to the cloud.” 

The AWS Education Champions program recognizes, celebrates, and supports education leaders and bolsters their vision to create a world where education is available for all. Recipients are selected because they share a mission to transform and advance education and serve as inspiration for the next generation of educational leaders. Dr. Moore’s pursuit of Xavier’s mission exemplifies what it means to strive for a more equitable society. 

The Student Freedom Initiative addresses the wealth gap through the lens of affordable access to college education, providing students with support that enables their personal and professional success. The initiative focused on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) due to their historic contribution to the nation. As a Student Freedom Initiative Hometown Hero, Dr. Moore received $5,000 to donate to charity.  

“Being selected for [an SFI] Hometown Hero award was very exciting and humbling for me,” said Dr. Moore. “[I have been] working with SFI since its inception and over the past three years on Cyber security and other initiatives. It also gave me another opportunity to give back [through the charity donation].” 

Dr. Moore manages all academic and administrative technologies for the campus, including networking and cyber security. Facing the challenge of climate change and the resulting weather phenoms head-on, she drove the strategic decision to improve the resilience, sustainability, and security of Xavier’s systems by moving to the cloud. Today, 85 percent of Xavier’s enterprise, administrative, teaching, and learning systems are in the AWS cloud.  

Dr. Moore will be working with Student Freedom Initiative, AWS, and more than sixty HBCUs to assist them in migrating their systems to the cloud while guiding their cyber security strategic planning and counseling their cyber security initiatives. According to Dr. Moore, Xavier also recently partnered with SFI to assist with applying for the new President Biden’s Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program (BEAD) grant for LA state broadband. If granted, the funds would support broadband access at HBCUs, including connectivity and greater adoption of broadband in underserved communities.  

Dr. Moore has served as an educator, administrator, change agent, and faculty member for more than 30 years in the transformation and globalization of organizations using information and education technology.