Our Staff

Cecilia Orellana-Rojas serves as senior vice president of strategy and research for the National Diversity Council. In this role, she oversees the execution of the organization’s strategic goals to generate new revenue streams. She leads the consulting function as well as innovative, high-quality educational and research initiatives in diversity and inclusion. She is the creator of the DiversityFIRST™ Certification Program curriculum, which prepares professionals for successful careers in the D&I space, and the NDC Index, a tool that measures organizational commitment to diversity and inclusion among companies in the United States. She is also the developer of the DiversityFIRST™ Toolkit, a unique diversity reference portal and research consolidator.

Cecilia brings 15 years of experience at AT&T, where she started as a manager in diversity marketing. She spent most of her career at the telecommunications giant as associate director and lead consultant of corporate diversity. In this role, she offered support in the formulation, implementation and direction of AT&T’s diversity and inclusion strategy
including metrics, communications, and training. She also provided consulting in all aspects of workforce diversity. Prior to her corporate role, she worked as a journalist and later taught in academia for more than 10 years in the area of sociology, with emphasis on U.S. race relations, gender, Latin America, and research methods.

Cecilia is a passionate advocate for diversity. She was instrumental in the launch of the Texas Diversity Council and served as the first president of the San Antonio Advisory Board. As a founding member of the Texas Hispanic/Latino Summit, she played a leadership role in establishing the mission of the summit as a venue for Latino/a voices within the Texas
Leadership and Diversity Conference. She has been recognized numerous times with the Diversity Champion Award and Diversity Leadership Award for her commitment and dedication to diversity business practices.

Currently, Cecilia serves on the Emeritus Board of Directors for the Masters Leadership Program of Greater San Antonio. Previously, she has served as an external member of the Workforce and Diversity Committee for the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) and on the Immigration and Refugees Action Team for the City of San
Antonio’s Faith-Based Initiative.

A native of Chile, Cecilia earned a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s degree in Latin American studies from the University of New Mexico. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of North Dakota. She resides in San Antonio, Texas, with her husband, Henry, and their son, Rodrigo.