Dr. Damary M Bonilla-Rodriguez

Dr. Damary Bonilla-Rodriguez is a leadership professional with more than 20 years of experience. Her work with a national nonprofit organization began in 2006, where she spent 13 years leading professional development, training, and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts for staff and board members across affiliates nationwide. This role provided deep insight into demographic differences and the importance of meeting people where they are to support authentic growth. She subsequently spent a couple of years with an organization that combined nonprofit and C4 political work, merging her civic engagement with her professional path. For the past three years, she has worked independently as a consultant, speaker, and author. She published a book in English two years ago addressing culture nuances, societal expectations, perfectionism, and imposter syndrome, followed by a Spanish edition the next year. Damary holds a doctoral degree and is among less than 2 percent of Latinas in the United States with this credential. Her public service includes being the first Hispanic elected to her local school board in November 2019 and serving six of eight years as a commissioner to the governor. She emphasizes questioning processes and norms professionally to drive positive change and has shared advice on becoming a respectful disruptor of the status quo.