Jesenia is the Chief Diversity Officer/ADA and Title IX Coordinator at Western Connecticut State University. She has 17 years of experience focused on leadership career providing vision, strategy, and operational execution to university and municipal agencies with diverse missions and goals. She is a results-driven visionary with a record of success developing and operationalizing strategies, initiatives, and programs that engage and unite diverse missions, leads institutional committees, groups, and organizations. Her skills include creating a compelling vision, communicating a call to action, and building high-performing teams enthusiastic about achieving organizational objectives in diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and acceptance. She is characterized as an analytical, collaborative, and success-oriented leader who desires to continue diversity management work at other institutions.
Jesenia is a recognized leader with expertise in topics on leadership, women’s equality, the state of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersexual, Asexual (“LGBTQIA”) equality, and immigrant civic engagement. During her career she has established a network of contacts with local, regional, and national constituent groups in the States of Connecticut and New York, including boards, committees, government, nonprofit organizations, and industry-leading corporations for collaborative and change-management innovations.
Jesenia has a Doctor Degree in Public Administration & Organizational Leadership at Capella University, Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2006 Jesenia completed a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs & Administration at The Metropolitan College of New York, New York, and in 1999 a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology/Sociology at City College of New York, New York.
Also, Jesenia completed a Certification from The Institute for Organizational and Industrial Relations Graduation at Cornell University at Ithaca, New York, and she is a Leadership Fellow from the 2014 cohort at The National Community College Hispanic Council’s (NCCHC) Leadership Fellows Program National Comm. Finally, Jesenia is a member or institutional representative at several Professional Associations and Organizations, including HETS.