At the core of this initiative are five remarkable DEI leaders who will serve as program faculty. These nationally recognized diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice thought leaders bring professional DEI leadership experience to higher education and other professional industries.
Director of The Indiana Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs
Alexis Gonzalez is a first generation Mexican American who has made it her personal and professional goal to “be the support she wish she once had.” Currently she serves as the Director of The Indiana Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs. Prior to her role with the Commission, she received her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Philosophy from the University of Minnesota Twin Cites. In Minneapolis, she worked in the Minnesota State Senate. Her current professional priority is to focus on the most vulnerable communities within Hoosier Hispanic/Latinos. She serves as Board President of the Latinas Welding Guild where she assists Latin@ women navigate male dominated industries. Director Gonzalez was also appointed to the Indiana Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Coalition where she collaborates with other community leaders to uplift and assist the farmworker community.
Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Indianapolis Colts. Adjunct Professor in the Indiana University O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Brian Richardson Jr. is an award-winning diversity officer who has had the opportunity to provide training and workshops both nationally and internationally on DEI-related content. He is the inaugural director of diversity, equity, and inclusion for the Indianapolis Colts and an adjunct professor at Indiana University Bloomington. Throughout Richardson’s career, his experiences in the DEI space have intersected sports, public health, public policy, education, tech, nonprofit organizations, and corporate entities, among others. In addition, his work has been featured on the national stage through TEDx and the Big Ten Network, as well as across the state of Indiana through various news, radio, and magazine outlets. Richardson is enrolled at Indiana Wesleyan University, pursuing a doctorate in business administration, and is an alumnus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. He earned a Master of Science in Education with an emphasis on kinesiology and a bachelor of science with a concentration on sports management from Culver Stockton College.
Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Division of Student Affairs at IU Indianapolis
Ellise Antoinette Smith is from Detroit, Michigan, with a research focus on the experiences of bodies that identify as fat. With an interdisciplinary focus, Smith uses photography (#VisualActivism), podcasting, spoken word poetry, and social media as a catalyst to center these narratives.
As a doctoral student in the Urban Education Studies program at IU Indianapolis, Smith dedicates her scholarship to creating celebratory spaces for the marginalized identities that she holds using frameworks such as Black Feminist Thought, Sense of Belonging, Intersectionality, and Critical Race Theory. In addition, she aims to ensure that the work and narratives around bigger bodies are included in academia while challenging the dominant ideologies around body image acceptance.
Smith centers her work within the diversity, equity, and inclusion sector as she pulls from her experiences working with first-generation, low-income students, racial equity, and eradicating injustices for underrepresented populations.
Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Teammate Engagement, IndyGo
After graduating from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and from Indiana University with a Master of Science in Higher Education and Student Affairs, Lloyd Daley-Graham worked full-time as a student affairs practitioner in housing and residence life for approximately eleven years. Noteworthy experiences during this time for Daley-Graham include participating in the Social Justice Training Institute, serving on the Sexual Assault Response Team, giving several presentations at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, and creating/managing several programs about and across differences for residential environments at Clemson University and Indiana University. In addition, he is the director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Teammate Engagement for the Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation or IndyGo. Daley-Graham is passionate about promoting a sense of belonging for all identities through education and meaningful connections. He strives to do this through the educational goals associated with Intergroup Dialogue which include raising consciousness, relationship building, and committing to action related to positive social change.
Associate Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Monica Johnson is assistant vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Indiana University. Throughout her career, she has been active nationally in issues dealing with access and success in higher education.
Johnson has presented nationally and internationally on various topics associated with intersectional identity, inequality, and injustice. She has been a featured speaker for the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), The College Board, the ACT, The Center for Leadership Development, the Indiana Black Expo (IBE), University of Western Cape (Cape Town, South Africa), National Society for Black Engineers (NSBE), TED, and National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE). She is the immediate past chair of the National Advisory Council for NCORE.
Johnson holds a bachelor’s degree in African and Diaspora studies from Vanderbilt University, a master’s degree in higher education administration from Mississippi College, and a Ph.D. in higher education from Azusa Pacific University.
CEO, Innovator, Entrepreneur, Change Leader,
Trident Systems LLC
Rupal Thanawala is a visionary and goal-oriented IT executive with a track record of planning, developing and implementing cutting-edge solutions in Fortune 500 corporations. She has over 20 years of business and IT strategy execution experience in ERP with demonstrated success in delivering innovative technology solution and skilled in all the phases of the project life cycle, from initial feasibility analysis, budget management , conceptual design through implementation and enhancement in regulated industry. She has assisted her client to develop short-term and long-term strategy for Serialization and track & trace to meet the regulatory requirements globally. Her entrepreneurial and customer-centric approach resulted in gaining high ROI, cost-effective and state-of-the-art solutions. Rupal holds BS in Biomedical Engineering from Mumbai University and Executive MBA from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management. Rupal believes that we all have unique gifts and talents and we must acknowledge and respect what we have to contribute in growth of each other.
Director for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity + Access Academic Specialist
Sachet Watson is a Hoosier born and raised. Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, she is a proud Indiana alumna. Watson completed her Bachelor of Science in Public Affairs in Legal Studies in June 2012 and her Master of Science in Higher Education at The Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. Her professional background and experience include student conduct, mock interview and resume critique, residence life, curriculum development, and crisis care management. She most recently served as the diversity and inclusion coordinator for the Jacobs School of Music and the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design. Before that, she was the Office of Student Diversity and Inclusion assistant director at the Indiana University School of Public Health.
Watson has presented at several national conferences on various social justice topics, such as access for first-generation college students and institutional inclusion. Her professional interests include, but are not limited to, social justice in higher education, representation, intersectional feminism, social justice education, advocacy for students of color, and decolonizing the academy. She firmly believes in inclusive excellence, and that inclusion is active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with all community members. In addition to social justice, Watson loves music, her faith, her nephews, her dog, superheroes, coffee, traveling, and connecting with students.
