Dania Matos
VP for Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
DePaul University
Alma Mater: Brown University
A nationally renowned leader and zealous advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice (DEIBJ), Dania Matos (she/her/ella) “leads with love” and advocates for the power of communities and centering humanity to dismantle systemic oppression.
She presently serves as the Vice President for Institutional Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at DePaul University, the largest Catholic university in the U.S., where she provide perceptive vision and strategic direction to help shape priorities, policies, and programming supported by transformative practices around all aspects of equity, diversity, and inclusion work to advance the mission of the University. She previously served as Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion at the University of California, Berkeley where she worked at the national, system, campus, divisional, and local levels to create a powerful vision for the campus, as well as a shared sense of responsibility for DEIBJ among stakeholders, with the aim of positively impacting the recruitment, retention, and experience of faculty, students, and staff, as well as the overall campus climate in the near and long term.
She is a visionary and strategic changemaker who previously served as the inaugural Associate Chancellor and Chief Diversity Officer at the University of California, Merced as well as a faculty affiliate in their Ethnic Studies department. Prior to this, she served as the inaugural Deputy Chief Diversity Officer at William & Mary where she was also an adjunct professor in the Government department and taught on issues of immigration and race.
Dania’s career has spanned the private, nonprofit, and government sectors where she has always championed equity, and has even taken her talents to Broadway. She has served on several prominent national boards and received numerous accolades including being named as 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 their respective communities.
Born in Puerto Rico, Dania is proud to have been raised by a single mom and grandmother–two women she credits for shaping her work, advocacy, and leadership style. She is a recipient of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship and the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Fellowship, holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from Brown University and a Juris Doctor from the Catholic University, Columbus School of Law.
