Leading Toward Liberation

A practical, courageous guide for leaders who want to create workplaces where everyone can thrive.

About the Book

What if leadership wasn’t about compromise, but about liberation?

In Leading Toward Liberation: How to Build Cultures of Thriving in Higher Education, I reimagine leadership as a liberatory practice grounded in equity, courage, and care.

Drawing from my experiences as a first-generation college student and Latina; clinical psychologist, professor, and researcher; and higher education leader and coach, this book blends scholarship with real-world examples to show what’s possible when leaders center liberation in their work.

You’ll discover:

  • How to build values-driven visions that stand up to institutional pressures

  • Strategies for accompanying colleagues and teams in solidarity, not hierarchy

  • Tools to recover from toxic or unhealthy work environments

  • Ways to balance courage and care while driving systemic change

  • Reflection prompts at the end of each chapter to guide your growth and action

Why This Book Matters

Too many leaders feel forced into systems that silence voices, burn out talent, and undermine the very missions they aim to serve.

Leading Toward Liberation offers an antidote. It provides both inspiration and practical tools to:

  • Create healthier cultures that attract and retain colleagues

  • Move beyond performative DEI into authentic liberation-focused leadership

  • Address burnout, inequity, and exclusion at their roots

  • Chart a career path that aligns with values while advancing impact

This isn’t just a book to read. It’s a companion for reflection, conversation, and action.

Who the Book Is For

Higher Education Leaders such as deans, provosts, chairs, and administrators navigating institutional pressures

Social Impact Leaders such as nonprofit executives and directors seeking to align internal culture with external mission

Aspiring Leaders and Educators who want a values-based roadmap

Teams and Organizations that want to use the book as a shared resource for culture-building conversations.

How to Use the Book

  • Individually as a reflective guide for your leadership journey

  • With a Coach to use the reflection questions as a foundation for sessions

  • In Teams as a shared text to spark conversation and collective action

  • In Courses or Training as required or recommended reading for leadership programs


Want to go deeper? Many leaders use Leading Toward Liberation as a springboard into coaching, consulting, or team workshops. If you’d like guided support in applying these practices, I’d love to connect.

  • “Leading Toward Liberation is the book I have been waiting for. As an academic leader, my goal has been to create a college environment that provides fertile soil for individual achievement, and subsequently, organizational success. Caño provides a text that supports that lofty goal while also reinforcing the importance of practicing courage, leaning on community, and safeguarding well-being.”

     — Kecia Thomas, University of Alabama-Birmingham

  • “Annmarie Caño provides a rationale and guide for helping educators lead their students on a road to liberation. Caño’s passion for justice, for equal treatment of all citizens, and for educational opportunity that begins and ends with an embrace of each student’s potential is visible on every page.”

     — Michael J. Garanzini, SJ, President of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities

  • “Caño provides a compelling argument for and practical guide to liberatory leadership in higher education. Leaders and those they serve will benefit from this reflective liberation mindset as they seek to change the oppressive aspects of academic culture into spaces of inclusivity and thriving. An empowering read.”

    — Rebecca Pope-Ruark, author of Unraveling Faculty Burnout: Pathways to Reckoning and Renewal

  • “Dr. Caño’s book reviews several elemental pieces of leadership development for leaders intending to build more emancipatory institutions. Her thoughtful approach is one of introspection and understanding how you fit and navigate in leadership spaces. It is also a great guide for navigating the complex demands of positions that are challenging from multiple fronts.”

     — Keith Whitfield, most recently President at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Order the Book

Available wherever books are sold, including:

Hopkins Press | Bookshop.org | Amazon

Your favorite local bookseller

Bulk Orders

For orders of 10 or more, contact me to secure a discount directly from Hopkins Press.

BULK ORDERS → CONTACT ME