Case Study Examples

Building a DEI Dashboard for Data, Accountability, and Future-Proof Strategies

  • During my listening and learning tour as the inaugural Chief Diversity Officer, UNC Charlotte stakeholders consistently voiced a need for greater transparency, accountability, consistency, timely tracking, and understanding of its institutional demographics within the university. The concern was that without a centralized data tool, stakeholders lacked actionable insights to identify gaps, support decision-making, ensure accurate yearly reporting, maintain accountability, and drive effective systemic change.

  • I worked alongside Institutional Research and Decision Support and other institutional leaders and stakeholders to design and implement an interactive dashboard to address voiced needs with a focus on user friendliness and data alignment for meeting strategic goals. The dashboard provided:

    • Comprehensive Data Aggregation: Real-time tracking of demographics, hiring, enrollment, retention, and success metrics for students, faculty, and staff.

    • Interactive User-Friendly Interface: Simplified access for decision-makers at all levels and provided easily digestible color-coordinated trend data and opportunities for cross-sectional analysis.

    • Increased Accessibility: Public-facing dashboard to centralize data and maintain accuracy across all reporting.

    • Systems Integrated: The dashboard automatically updates alongside other data portals.

  • The Diversity Dashboard was well received and often cited as a best practice for improving campus transparency, trust, and data reliability for yearly reporting, institutional self-studies, and grant development. Other areas of articulated impact include :

    • Empowered leadership with data-driven insights to better understand trend data and guide interventions.

    • Improved consistency, timely, and automated data tracking as the dashboard updated alongside other data systems.

    • Strengthened strategic planning and measurable progress toward inclusive excellence.

    • Became the first of its kind in providing next level data storytelling by allowing cross-sectional analysis among sub-population groups.

  • The Diversity Dashboard showcases how innovative tools can align operational goals with equity values, embedding accountability and driving sustainable change by providing valuable insight about key institutional stakeholders. In addition, this dashboard helps leadership establish appropriate and realistic benchmarks to measure progress and identity opportunity gaps for needed interventions. While this dashboard is a “living breathing” tool, one of its limitations of this dashboard is that the data is limited to federally recognized data, meaning the data dictionary will have to be continuously expanded to include other “invisible” identities.

Developing and Leading a University’s 10-Year Strategic Plan to Drive Inclusive Excellence

  • One of UNC Charlotte’s major priorities was to develop a comprehensive diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategic plan to address systemic barriers, enhance organizational accountability, be sustainable and remain flexible to changing times while consistently aligning with the university’s mission and broader strategic plan. Without a unified strategy, the University lacked common language, consistent coordination, and measurable progress was difficult to track.

  • I developed and led a cross-functional team, consisting of stakeholders at all institutional levels, to provide input on contextualized challenges with previous plan iterations, assist with development of major priorities, and to offer feedback throughout the design and implementation phases. This process included:

    • Stakeholder Engagement: Conducting listening sessions with students, faculty, staff, and community partners to ensure the plan reflected diverse perspectives.

    • Data-Driven Insights: Analyzing institutional data to illustrate a current picture of the institution’s standing, identify disparity gaps, establish priorities and objectives, identify metrics for success, and establish institution-wide benchmarks. In addition, held feedback sessions to member check against existing data to determine validity to lived experiences. These sessions were critical in developing metrics and identifying ways to ensure institutional buy-in.

    • Scalable Framework: Developed a customized inclusive excellence framework based on five agreed upon priorities that could be translatable, customizable, and scaled to meet the needs of each division to in meeting their goals according to function. The identified and guiding priorities became 1) access and success, 2) belonging and well-being, 3) infrastructure and viability, 4) leadership and partnership, and 5) communication and prominence.

    • Outside Consultant: Due to the increasingly highly politicized nature of anti-DEI stances infiltrating higher education, an outside consultant was brought in as an additional thought partner to provide additional insight and considerations in plan development that ensures balance, advocates for future progress, and fortifies support for existing progress.

    • Metrics Dashboard: Used all existing data to develop an interactive institutional metrics dashboard to communicate overall goals, progress, and serve as a guide for units as they begin the journey of developing and integrating their unit-level plans.

    • Strategic Plan Development Groups: Tasked identified divisional representatives and leaders to develop unit plan development and implementation teams. Each divisional team were trained on how to use the existing strategic plan as a framework to develop their own unit level strategic plan. This approach ensured buy-in, accountability, and shared responsibility.

  • Building Upon Common Ground successfully reflected the goals and visions of an entire campus among all stakeholders.

    • Provided new language in how to frame DEI as an intentional shared responsibility of inclusive excellence.

    • Developed metrics to measure progress and provided benchmarks for each unit to consider in implementation.

    • Led to successful training workshops on strategic plan development, enhanced goal-setting, and sustainable practice for every organizational leader across all 24 colleges and divisions.

    • The strategic plan served as a guiding framework for each unit to use in development of their individualized action plan.

  • Building on Common Ground was a revolutionary plan with promises of enhancing the University’s prominence as a leader in diversity, equity, and inclusion. The plan’s announcement and approach helped to secure the university’s third Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award.

    Unfortunately, due to a recent system-wide policy, all DEI progress was halted and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion—alongside other similar offices and roles—were eliminated. Consequently, this also halted further implementation of the plan.

Learning and Talent Management: Humanity-Centered Lifelong Education

  • UNC Charlotte seeks to deliver a comprehensive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) education and training for employees and students in a manner that will encourage participation without making learning and training opportunities mandatory. The previous approach emphasized a combination of standalone training sessions, outsourced education and training software for autonomous learning which made customization and updates difficult, was not budget friendly, lacked continuity and scalability, limited engagement opportunities and a focus on fostering long-term relationship building and development.

  • I worked alongside HR, faculty, and research experts to take inventory of existing opportunities to begin the process of creating a homegrown system that could be easily customized and updated to meet stakeholder needs. A list of subject experts were identified and a list of all DEI education, engagement, resources,  and learning activities were collected and categorized. Existing contracts were re-negotiated to use existing learning as a temporary bridge to phase in a newly developed model. Lastly, a framework for lifelong education and cross-cultural engagement opportunities was developed in a manner that reflected an ecosystem of daily learning as opposed to a “forced learning journey”

    • Lifelong Education Framework: Designed an ecosystem of learning with multiple tracks and opportunities to craft a customized curriculum for the user with a balance of autonomous learning modules to in-class discussions and campus programs that will count as learning credit to support personal and professional growth. 

    • Separate Learning Paths: Students and Employees were provided with options that suited their daily experiences as highlighted by research and focus group data that resonated with their roles and responsibilities. 

    • Cross-Cultural Engagement: Incorporated toolkits, resources, and event calendars to promote meaningful dialogue and collaboration across cultural and identity lines.

    • Scalable Accessibility: Built a learning management platform to be user-friendly, on-demand, and compliant with accessibility standards to maximize participation.

    • Revamped Outsourcing: Contracts were modified which saved a minimum of $50,000 per year in software subscriptions. 

  • The revamped DEI education approach expanded the way the institution views diversity, equity, and inclusion education from being a moral imperative to a cultural necessity for relationship building and professionalism for those who work and learn in diverse settings. One dimensional learning has been replaced with opportunities for intellectual, social, and cultural understandings that are more engaging and centered on cultural humility and psychological safety. 

    • Data from focus groups have rated the newly redesigned system as a 4.8 out of 5 in terms of user friendliness and course content. The focus groups also rated the system a perfect 5 out of 5 for having multiple learning pathways and cited the idea of learning credit for attending cultural events as “a must that should be mandatory for all of us.” Also, 100% of users reported greater confidence in cross-cultural engagement–interacting across cultures and identities different from their own.

    • The new system encouraged a shift from compliance-based training to a culture of continuous learning and inclusion. 

    • New learning programs were developed such as Dig DEEP (Dialogue, Education, Engagement, and Practice) which became a summer institute and year-long learning cohort for teachers seeking to improve their cultural understandings and have it integrated into their classrooms.

  • This project reflected a desire for stakeholders to have a safe space to learn and work through relationship building. The addition of on-campus and community-based engagement opportunities, coupled alongside interactive learning materials, reinforced the strength of customized learning at the individual’s pace and comfort level. Participants prefer the cultural integration and ecosystem approach rather than what they called “checkbox learning”. 

Promoting Belonging and Pluralism: Creating an Interactive Religious Observance Calendar

  • Due to a rise in religious accommodation requests and a voiced lack of understanding regarding request approvals, there was a need to develop a learning tool to promote awareness of religious and cultural observances for both students and employees. Existing resources lacked accessibility, integration with institutional workflows, and context to help students, employees, and employers understand the cultural significance of days requiring accommodations and why certain days should be avoided in terms of hosting programs or initiatives. The current University calendar does not provide a listing or understanding of religious holidays. 

  • I worked alongside faculty experts and diverse religious groups throughout the community to create an interactive religious diversity calendar to foster inclusion and streamline institutional support and understanding for religious and cultural observances consisting of the following elements:

    • Contextualized Information: Included detailed explanations of the cultural and religious reasoning behind observances that may require accommodations, such as fasting, restricted work, or celebration practices.

    • Seamless Integration: Designed the calendar to integrate with institutional systems, such as Outlook, Apple calendar, Google, and campus scheduling platforms, ensuring accessibility for all users with a button click.

    • User-Friendly Interface: Created an intuitive platform with filtering options to view observances by religion, region, or impact on academic and workplace responsibilities for as far as 10 years out. This was done to support future events, initiatives, and program planning. 

    • Guidance for Accommodations: Embedded links to institutional policies and resources, empowering users to request and manage accommodations effectively.

  • The interactive Religious Diversity Calendar enhanced institutional awareness and fostered a culture of respect and inclusion:


    • Increased understanding of religious diversity, with 100% of focus group users reporting greater cultural awareness.

    • Streamlined accommodation processes, reducing scheduling conflicts and enhancing support for students and employees.

    • Strengthened the university’s commitment to equity by embedding inclusive practices into day-to-day operations inside and outside of the classroom–including providing additional on campus food options and delivery options for those in their fasting period or have certain dietary needs. 

    • The calendar increased awareness on accommodation procedures and processes, as well as information on places of worship through the religious directory.

  • This initiative highlights how technology and thoughtful design can create tools that educate, engage, and empower organizations to build a more inclusive and supportive environment.