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NADOHE Northern California Summit

UC Merced - National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) Northern California Summit

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Dania Matos, J.D.
Associate Chancellor and Chief Diversity Officer
UC Merced

Dania began her tenure as UC Merced’s inaugural Chief Diversity Officer in July 2019 and oversees units responsible for addressing various aspects of equity, diversity, and inclusion. In this role, she is leading the university’s effort to develop and implement a strategic plan that will position UC Merced as a leader in equity, diversity, and inclusion as it aspires to be a nationally recognized research university. She has oversight of the Office of Campus Climate and the CARE office. Dania’s primary responsibilities include diversity strategic planning, oversight of various Chancellor’s Advisory Committees, securing equity, diversity and inclusion grants, and research of same as well as innovative programmatic initiatives that will move the campus towards the advancement of excellence as inclusive.

Prior to joining UC Merced, Dania served as the inaugural Deputy Chief Diversity Officer at William & Mary, the second oldest institution of higher education in the nation, where she worked to advance diversity and inclusion efforts and create accountability structures for the university’s academic and administrative units. Recently, Dania was named as a fellow in the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) National Presidential Leadership Academy/La Academia de Liderazgo. In 2018, she was named one of the "Top 25 Women in Higher Education" by Diverse, Issues in Higher Education for “[making] a difference in society by attacking some of higher education’s toughest challenges, exhibiting extraordinary leadership skills, and making a difference in [her] respective communities.” Dania received her J.D. from the Catholic University Columbus School of Law and her A.B. from Brown University in International Relations.

Mary Wardell-Ghiraduzzi, Ed.D.
Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

& Chief Diversity Officer University of the Pacific
Dr. Mary J. Wardell-Ghirarduzzi is a seasoned executive leader, professor of communication and leadership, and best-selling author serving the California higher education community for more than 25 years. Beginning July 1, she will serve as the inaugural Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer at the University of the Pacific. Dr. Wardell-Ghirarduzzi is an expert in building strategic and lasting organizational capacity for equity, love, and social justice. She was re-appointed by San Francisco Mayor London Breed to serve as the President of the San Francisco Public Library Commission and in 2018, she helped the organization win the coveted National Public Library of the Year award.  For the past ten years she served as the inaugural vice provost & chief diversity officer at the University of San Francisco (USF). Known for her servant leadership, she won the most influential woman award by the San Francisco Business Times in 2017 and won the Hero Award by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission and the Changemaker award by the African American Historical Society of San Francisco. Currently, Dr. Wardell-Ghirarduzzi teaches race, diversity, and leadership to graduate students in the USF Schools of Management and Education. To prepare today's corporate and non-profit leaders for the difficult yet necessary racial equity and social justice work ahead, she founded The DEI Leadership Group, LLC, a crisis management, diversity solutions, and leadership development practice based in San Francisco. In 2020 she released her first book, Twice as Good: Leadership and Power for Women of Color.