The ethnic and racial representation disparity gap among college presidents in the United States is 83% White and 17% ethnically/racially diverse (Gagliardi et al., 2017). In this qualitative study, I explored the career pipeline experiences of a cohort of 10 ethnically and racially diverse college presidents in the United States. Critical race theory and grounded theory were used to guide this research process, and snowballing sampling techniques was used to recruit potential study participants. The data collection process produced six categorical experiences from participants: (a) experiences of diverse college and university presidents in pursuing doctoral study; (b) being an ethnically and racially diverse professional in higher education; (c) the persisting diversity representation gap in the presidential career pipeline; (d) increasing the number of diverse college or university presidents; and (e) mentors, intentional connections, and final thoughts. As a result of this study, I developed a new workforce development inequity framework that offers six merging data points to be used and further researched to assist in creating a systemic approach toward increasing the number of ethnically and racially diverse college and university presidents. [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://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]