Three years ago, Cristina Alcalde made the move to Ohio to join Miami University.

She quickly rose to be considered one of the top leaders in the state.

Miami’s vice president for the Office of Transformational and Inclusive Excellence (OTIE) recently was selected as one of the Top 50 Women Leaders of Ohio for 2024 by Women We Admire, an organization that comprises some of the most accomplished women executives across the United States and Canada.

Alcalde said she was “honored and humbled” to learn she had been nominated and was under consideration for the list. She praised the Miami community she works with every day.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting and working with other staff, faculty, students, and alumni who are working to make a positive impact,” Alcalde said. “It is great to see how leadership efforts that move forward diversity and gender equity are recognized across Ohio and to learn about the work across industries other women leaders are involved in.”

The Top 50 Leaders list identified a wide range of individuals across companies and industries, including representatives from Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Fifth Third Bank, and Adobe.

In October, Miami earned its fourth consecutive Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, and the university recently appeared on Forbes America’s Best Employers for Diversity 2024 list at No. 16.

Alcalde is eager to continue ongoing efforts to equip the Miami community with critical skills to effectively communicate across differences of perspectives, values, and belief systems. OTIE partnered with ASPIRE, the Honors College, and the Menard Family Center for Democracy in launching the Constructive Dialogue Initiative. Nearly 100 Miami students participated in a pilot program of that initiative this past spring.

“In OTIE, our goals continue to be ambitious and our approach is comprehensive and collaborative, so that as we continue to work with others across Miami, these collective efforts benefit the entire Miami community,” Alcalde said.

Much more is on the horizon at OTIE, including further collaboration across campus. OTIE joins with the Center for Teaching Excellence for “Teaching and Learning Across Differences,” a faculty learning community, and will partner with Miami Athletics to complement the religious holidays and inclusive scheduling calendar with videos that will serve as an educational resource. Alcalde and Dana Cox, professor of Mathematics, will co-facilitate “Teaching and Learning Across Differences.”

OTIE, in collaboration with University Communications and Marketing, also developed a webpage based on the findings from the recent campus climate survey, and the division will add modules to its award-winning DEI in Leadership Online certificate that has become popular with industries outside of Miami.

“The work is ongoing, and it is so important to recognize our progress and accomplishments, and, at the same time, to continue to recognize that there is still much work to do,” Alcalde said.