Venue
Hybrid
DoubleTree by Miami International Airport
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Panelists
Dania Matos
Vice Chancellor, Equity & Inclusion
University of California, Berkeley
After a national search, Dania Matos was recently appointed vice chancellor for the Division of Equity & Inclusion (VCEI) at University of California, Berkeley. As VCEI, Dania advance Berkeley’s public mission and goals of becoming a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and an anti-racist campus by boldly establishing new paradigms and implementing strategies and tactics that further embed diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice practices into the fiber of the Berkeley campus. She is a visionary and strategic changemaker who inspires as she leads.
Prior to joining UC Berkeley, Dania served as the inaugural Associate Chancellor and Chief Diversity Officer at UC Merced 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 a “Top DEI Advocate” and will be recognized at the 15th Annual California Diversity and Leadership Conference. 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. She also serves as a faculty affiliate in History/Critical Race and Ethnic Studies.--
Dania Matos, Esq.
Nanette Vega
Assistant Dean for Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement
University of Miami
Dr. Nanette Vega currently serves as the inaugural Assistant Dean and Assistant Professor for the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She is a founding member of the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement. Prior to her current position, Dr. Vega served as Director of Diversity for the Office of Faculty Affairs. She also served as Assistant Dean of Students and Director of the Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Education and has held other positions at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. Vega actively serves as a national consultant and holds leadership roles in various professional organizations including serving as a board member for the Miami Dade Chamber of Commerce-
Leadership Miami, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Alumni Board and NASPA Foundation Board. Vega served as the national Chair for the ACPA Latinx/a/o Network and has held various leadership roles in ACPA. In addition, Vega served as board member of NASPA’s. Latinx/a/o Knowledge Community and NASPA FL, ACPA National Conference Leadership and
Planning Team, and faculty for the NASPA NUFP institute and Escaleras Latinx/a/o professional institute. Vega has received several honors and has been recognized nationally for her work in HealthCare Career Equity, Restorative Practices, Student Affairs, and Racial Justice. Vega received the 2021 ACPA Diamond Honoree Award, Insight into Diversity-Diversity Visionary Award, NASPA FL Administrator of the Year, Iron Arrow-Highest Honor attained at the University of Miami, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award, and the ACPA Coalition for Multicultural Affairs Outstanding Contribution to Multicultural Education Award.
Vega earned her Doctor of Education and Master of Arts from the University of Miami. Her Bachelor of Arts was completed at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. She also earned a Diversity and Inclusion Certificate from the School of International and Labor Relations at Cornell University.
Lissette Gonzalez
Senior Vice President, Global Supply Chain Officer
Bloomin' Brands
Lissette Gonzalez was born in Nicaragua. In [YEAR], she and her family immigrated to the United States. She has more than 20 years of experience in retail operations and supply chain roles, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Global Supply Chain for Bloomin’ Brands, one of the world’s largest casual dining companies with more than 1,450 restaurants around the world. In this role, she is responsible for overseeing the company’s global supply chain, including planning, sourcing, food safety, and logistics strategies for domestic and international markets. Previously, Lissette served as Vice President with oversight for the Global Procurement and Planning & Forecasting areas. Her leadership helped enhance demand-based forecasting at Bloomin’ Brands, creating a more efficient and agile supply chain. Prior to joining Bloomin’ Brands, Lissette held various leadership roles at Office Depot, where she had increasing levels of responsibility within the company’s supply chain function and retail operations. Lissette serves on the board of trustees at Carrollwood Day School. She is also an executive sponsor for the Bloomin’ Brands Black Employee Resource Group and is a council member of The Alliance for Hospitality Equity and Diversity (AHED), led by the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Florida International University. She holds both a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and a master’s degree in engineering management from Florida International University.
Vanessa Nazario, MS, MBA
Corporate Director, Chief Diversity Officer
Memorial Healthcare System
Vanessa Nazario was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Trenton, NJ. She has worked in the field of Community Development, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for over 25 years. Her career began at MECHA, a Hispanic based nonprofit organization providing home ownership training and counseling to low-to-moderate income families. She later joined PNC Bank where she worked and had the honor of working in several roles over the course of her 20 year career within the Community Development Banking Department. In early 2017, she transitioned into a new role with RWJ University Hospital, which is part of RWJ Barnabas Health System, as Director of Diversity and Inclusion where she was responsible for diversity and inclusion and healthcare equity initiatives. She managed several key programs that helped transform the culture into an inclusive environment for both staff and patients. Vanessa also launched the Hospital’s first Diversity Council and provided oversight for the seven Business Resource Groups. She was also a key leader in the development and launch of the PROUD Gender Medical Center Program: a comprehensive medical program serving the needs of the LGBTQ+ community. In early 2021, she joined Memorial Healthcare System in Hollywood, FL as Director of DEI and to lead the System’s diversity, health equity, and inclusion strategy and Language Interpretation Services. In June 2022, she was promoted to Corporate Director, Chief Diversity Officer. In addition, she is leading the System’s inaugural health equity strategy.
Vanessa serves on several committees: Florida Diversity Council’s Education Committee Human Resources Association of Broward County’s (HRABC) DEI Committee serves as a Student Mentor for Rider University’s Women in Leadership Council HISPA’s South Florida Advisory Council ARC of Broward’s Business Advisory Council. Vanessa has spoken at numerous conferences on topics such as: diversity, inclusion health equity community development diverse women in leadership. Vanessa received her MBA from Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ and also has a Masters in Science degree from Southern New Hampshire University. She completed a Non Profit Management Certificate from Seton Hall University and is certified as a Diversity Executive (CDE) from the Institute for Diversity Certification. She is currently completing an Executive Leadership program at Cornell University.
Moderator
Sofia Anthony
Interim CEO
National Diversity Council
Sofia Anthony joined the National Diversity Council’s team in 2011 as the Coordinator for the Florida Diversity Council (i.e., FLDC). The FLDC grew and developed significantly under her leadership and continues to gain momentum. In 2012, Sofia was promoted to the Senior Coordinator position and was given the Tri-State Diversity Council (i.e., TSDC) to grow and develop. In 2013, Sofia became the first Regional Manager for the National Diversity Council (i.e., NDC) and in 2015, she became the first training and development lead as the Manager of Training, Development, and Regional Operations. The state diversity councils that primarily fall within her region include Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New Jersey, and New York. Sofia works very closely with multiple teams of Board members who oversee diversity councils throughout the NDC.
As the Assistant Vice President, Sofia Anthony strives to ensure that Coordinators, Senior Coordinators, and other staff members receive the proper support they need to fulfill the NDC’s mission, vision, and goals to the best of their abilities. Not only does Sofia assist with training and development, recruitment and selection, and operational management, but she also helps with business development as well. Some of Sofia’s key contributions to the NDC include formalizing on-boarding and training documentation and processes for new employees developing, communicating, and launching a 360 performance appraisal process establishing metrics and developing feedback surveys to obtain valuable data for evaluation and improvement purposes conducting the organization’s first training needs analysis to identify Coordinator¹s primary training needs creating an online database of sample email templates for external communication purposes and raising over $250,000 in new corporate partnership dollars since joining the Council, amongst others.
Sofia Anthony graduated magna cum laude from Brown University, where she obtained a B.A. in Anthropology and Ethnic Studies. While working for the NDC, Sofia obtained an M.S. in Human Resource Management from Nova Southeastern University in 2013 and in 2014 obtained her PHR and SHRM-CP credentials. Sofia was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, yet spent the majority of her life in Tampa, Florida. She has always had a deep passion for diversity and inclusion efforts, and feels incredibly fortunate to have found a job that allows her to fulfill her passion each and every day.
Registering for the full 2022 Latino Leadership Conference includes access to the 2022 Latina’s in Leadership Program on September 21st, 2022. There is no individual registration for the 2022 Latina’s in Leadership Program. If you want to go to the Latina’s in Leadership Program, you will need to register for the full conference.