This study examines the ascension of women of color (WOC) to senior leadership roles in the higher education C-suite (senior-level executives in an organization). WOC earn 16% of PhDs and only 2% of senior leadership positions at higher education institutions. Increasingly, the higher education pipeline has diverse women ready and capable of stepping into senior leadership roles at colleges and universities. Despite WOC's presence in college and university roles that would traditionally advance to senior leadership, they lag representation beyond midmanagement and lack access and opportunity to advance to the C-suite. This research is a means to raise the visibility of WOC in higher education leadership and amplify their experiences through the identification, collection, and analysis of their voices. The question is, Are women of color the catalyst to disrupt or decolonize the intersectional oppression of the higher education C-suite? Through the intersecting lenses of critical race theory, intersectional theory, racial battle fatigue, and multicultural feminist theory, this qualitative narrative study addressed (a) how the intersectional identities impacted the trajectory of 12 WOC in their journey to senior leadership positions at colleges and universities; (b) the leadership experience of these 12 women as they constructed and articulated it; (c) the barriers and challenges they encountered on their journey and how they perceived and addressed those barriers and challenges; (d) the value and use of their support systems; and (e) the eventual impact of these experiences on their understanding of their purpose, passion, and the protection of their peace as individuals in their roles as leaders and change agents. Five themes emerged from the participants' counternarratives: pathways, barriers and challenges, policies and systems, support, and leadership. This study contributes to the growing body of research on WOC in higher education senior leadership roles by giving voice to the lived experiences of WOC who broke glass ceilings, survived the glass cliff, and escaped the labyrinth, yet still contend with the oppression and racial battle fatigue because of their intersecting identities and the systematic bias they often must confront. Their powerful stories revealed recommendations for institutional changes that focus on WOC being seen, heard, valued, respected, and protected; the recommendations are the 5 Ps: policies, programs, practices, persistence, and people. [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.]