“Innovative and Inclusive Leadership: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Leadership and Integration”

Being innovative can be risky. To be innovative leaders, we need to stay ahead of the curve, understand what is happening in our profession and discipline and be bold enough to approach problem-solving, collaboration, and implementation. Innovation thrives in a richly engaging and diverse environment where viewpoints interact, and diverse groups have an opportunity to explore and co-create new paths forward. Women are critical in advancing innovative leadership goals and practices because of our unique experiences and backgrounds in our communities, professions, homes, and in the broader society. Unfortunately, at leadership levels, women are still underrepresented. We will explore ways to build and affirm women’s leadership and continue to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization.

Diane Forbes Berthoud is the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) first chief equity, diversity, and inclusion officer and vice president (CEDIO/VP).

As CEDIO/VP, she works to steward UMB’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI); catalyze the institutional change necessary for deepening and strengthening that commitment; and design and operationalize a transparent accountability framework to measure and evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the University’s EDI initiatives at every level of the institution.

Forbes Berthoud works in close collaboration with the provost and other senior University officials, leading the development of a strategic action plan that will leverage current efforts, and also create a sustainable infrastructure that affects every aspect and every level of UMB.

She previously held several critical positions at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), including associate vice chancellor of EDI. In that role, she led the management of UCSD’s first Strategic Plan for Inclusive Excellence, directed central aspects of an accountability process involving senior leadership, provided leadership in the development of accountability data dashboards to track key metrics, and oversaw the creation of an EDI best practices resource and diversity strategic planning toolkit to guide the planning and implementation processes.

Before serving as UCSD’s associate vice chancellor of EDI, Forbes Berthoud oversaw academic planning, strategic planning, and implementation as an academic director of the university’s 4,000-student Sixth College. She served on the Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Women, developed and enhanced the global education program, and was honored with the universitywide Diversity award for outstanding efforts in advancing UCSD’s academic and institutional goals in diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Forbes Berthoud earned her PhD and master’s degree in organizational communication and social psychology from Howard University, and her bachelor’s degree in communication and a certificate in Spanish translation and interpretation from Barry University. She holds a management certificate from the University of California and a certificate in mediation from the National Center for Conflict Resolution and is a graduate of the UC-Coro Systemwide Leadership Program.

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