Dr. Ande Diaz is the granddaughter of a Puerto Rican seamstress and a Scottish minister. She holds a full-time appointment as the inaugural Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) for Saint Anselm College – an institution dedicated to providing a liberal arts education grounded in Catholic values of inclusiveness, community, and stewardship. As CDO, Ande brings an equity lens and provides strategy, coordination, and monitoring of initiatives to cultivate cultures of inclusiveness.
For over 25 years, Dr. Diaz has served in a variety of roles in higher education, including Associate Provost for Diversity and Organizational Development at Allegheny College; Senior Researcher at Tisch College for Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University; Media, Arts and Public Service Career Advisor at Harvard College; Director of the Intercultural Center at Roger Williams University; and Assistant Dean for Multicultural Affairs at Princeton University.
Dr. Diaz’s research areas include civic engagement, inter-ethnic alliances, and intergroup dialogue. She has taught classes on higher education; the not-for-profit sector; foundations of American culture; and most recently, “intergroup communication for a participatory democracy.” She is currently developing on-line modules on diversity, inclusion, and equity. Ande serves on the Board of The Democracy Imperative (TDI). TDI is a national network of scholars and practitioners dedicated to broad infusion of deliberative democracy policies and practices.
Dr. Diaz holds a B.A. from Yale University, an Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a Ph.D. in human and organizational development from Fielding Graduate University. She also holds a Certificate in Arts Management from the University of Massachusetts. Her hobbies include winemaking and house renovation (not in that order). Ande has also been instructed to drink only decaffeinated beverages. She is never bored.
