NYU’s Chief Diversity Officer Unpacks Unconscious Bias and its Link to Innovation

Lisa Coleman is New York University’s (NYU) inaugural Senior VP for Global Inclusion and Strategic Innovation. In this role she with senior leaders, internal stakeholders, external partners, and constituents to advance, promote and build capacity for strategic global inclusion, diversity, equity, belonging and innovation initiatives across NYU globally and this includes New, York, Shanghai and Abu Dhabi, and NYU’s other thirteen sites, and numerous global research and other centers. This is Dr. Coleman’s third inaugural senior leadership role in which she has reported to the President and worked with C-Suite leaders. Prior to NYU, Dr. Coleman served as the first Chief Diversity Officer and Special Assistant to the President at Harvard University for almost a decade where she and her team developed some of the first initiatives focused on the intersections of technology, disability, and access. Prior to NYU and Harvard, she served as an administrator and faculty member, and was later appointed to serve as that institution’s first senior global inclusion & diversity executive.Lisa Coleman, PhD, has spent 20+ years working with numerous educational, healthcare and governmental systems, and corporate, for-profit, and non-profit organizations. Her early professional and research experiences include working with the Association of American Medical Colleges, Merrill Lynch Inc., as an independent computer and data analytics consultant, and as an international organizational strategic consultant. Dr Coleman’s collaborations with global stakeholders include work on the future of work and education including emerging fields; developing research, harnessing innovation and cultivating global talent across entrepreneurial markets; and cross-sector leadership and knowledge development.Dr Coleman is the recipient of numerous awards, recognitions, and honors; and she sits on various national and international boards. Dr. Coleman serves as a faculty member and also advises and consults with C-Suite leaders globally. Her research focuses on 1) cross-sector global leadership and partnerships; 2) intersections of cross/transgenerational innovation in health sciences, and technology, art and humanities, and employing data analytics and digitization to leverage diverse cultures globally; and 3) global C-suite, board development and training.Dr Coleman is an interdisciplinary scholar who earned her doctorate in Social and Cultural Analysis, American Studies from NYU, and three master’s degrees in African and African American Studies; Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and also, in Marking/Communication Studies. She has also specifically studied legal theory, and intercultural development. Dr. Coleman’s undergraduate foci were sociology/anthropology and computer science. She loves to travel, is an avid photographer, gardener and cook, and soon to be a pilot.