Institutions of higher education continue to grapple with how to most effectively meet their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) priorities. Colleges and universities have turned to Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) as the institutional leaders to champion to provide leadership for creating more diverse, equitable and inclusive experiences and outcomes for their campus constituents. However, little is known about the inclusion and equity that CDOs experience within their roles. This study aims to expand the literature on Chief Diversity Officers (CDOs)in higher education (see for example, Nixon, 2017; Williams & Wade-Golden, 2013). This study seeks to contribute to the CDO literature by providing insights into what is known about Black CDOs' experiences at PWI, and how their racial identities shape those experiences. I argue that Black CDOs' experiences are shaped by racism. To build on the existing literature on CDOs, I investigated how Black CDOs' describe their experiences at PWIs, as well as the role that race played in shaping those experiences. In this study, I used semi-structured interviews and interpretivist phenomenological analysis (IPA) to gain insights into the experiences of 14 Black CDOs, who work across the United States at institutions of varying sizes, about their experiences. I used Critical Race Theory (CRT) to center and investigate the role of race throughout the study. Six findings emerged from this study. First, CDOs personal experiences with racism influenced their career trajectories into DEI work and ultimately into the CDO role. Second, the sociopolitical climate influences CDOs' experiences by dictating the type of work they do within their roles. Third, CDOs experience racism within their roles. The fourth finding involves the toll that racism takes on CDOs' mental and physical health. Fifth, CDOs' greatest success involves contributing to dismantling systems of racial oppression on their campuses. Lastly, the six theme that emerged was that to sustain themselves within their experiences, CDOs form relationships with one another. These findings demonstrate that although CDOs have successes in their roles, they experience many challenges, based on racism. Institutions of higher education must content with racism and find ways to support their CDOs or risk these leaders burning out. Additionally, the findings highlight that based on legal environment, the future of DEI and the CDO role are uncertain. Future research should explore how the endemic racism within CDOs' experiences contributes to the complexities of an unknown future of DEI as well as to their burnout. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]