Dr. Christian Alberto serves as the Director of Admissions & Enrollment Management at SUNY Optometry in New York City. He joined SUNY over 6 years ago as the Assistant Director where in addition to executing application processes, he was tasked with promoting awareness of the profession of optometry to racially minoritized populations. Dr. Alberto continues this work but now oversees the admissions, recruitment, enrollment, and orientation strategies at the College, where he strives to ensure an equitable and inclusive process for all. He has a passion for serving students and providing them with resources to achieve their goals. Dr. Alberto earned his Ed.D. from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Education, where his dissertation focused on growing the racially minoritized student pipeline in optometry schools by utilizing a culturally responsive and strengths-based approach in recruitment. He holds a master's degree in Higher Education Administration from the City University of New York, with a background in psychology.
Dr. Miguel Baique serves as the Assistant Dean for Academic Diversity & Inclusive Excellence in the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science at Binghamton University, SUNY. Prior to this current role, Dr. Baique served as the Director of Student Engagement & Inclusion at SUNY Genesee Community College.
His post-secondary education journey started at the College at Geneseo, SUNY, where he majored in sociology and communication. A year after completing his undergraduate work, Dr. Baique attended the College at Brockport, SUNY and completed a Master’s in Public Administration. A year after completing the Master’s program, Dr. Baique attended the University of Rochester, to complete a Doctorate in Educational Administration, with specialization in Higher Education Administration.
Holding multiple minoritized identities (e.g., low-SES background, first-generation Latino), Dr. Baique knew early on in his post-secondary career (as a student and professional) that he wanted to champion change and advocate for underrepresented (or excluded) student populations. Dr. Baique has a keen interest in diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice values and practices. Due to this interest, Dr. Baique is eager and preparing to step into a Chief Diversity Officer role in the future.
Aside from his educational and professional background, Dr. Baique is a Queens, NY native who enjoys spending time with his family (mother, four sisters and two brothers). Lastly, Dr. Baique is married to, Lisa Martinez-Baique and has a small golden-doodle named Hunter.
Dante Cantú is an equity-minded higher education leader specializing in student success and adaptive program development. He draws from years of organizational leadership in the private, not for profit, and social sectors, with over 15 years in higher education.
He currently serves as the executive director of academic advising & student success at SUNY New Paltz. In his current role, Cantú provides administrative leadership for the College’s integrated advising and student support services while providing collaborative leadership for student success initiatives that are campus-wide in scope.
At New Paltz, he works closely with administrators, faculty, staff, and students to develop a coherent student advising system that is consistent with New Paltz’s educational mission, vision, and values, meets the needs of today’s students, and draws from current research in support of student learning, persistence, and degree attainment.
Cantú’s contributions in the areas of student learning, development and success have received national recognition. He has presented at national and regional conferences on a range of topics related to student success and retention, strategies for supporting non-traditional populations, and leadership development. He is actively involved with leading national and statewide organizations such as NACADA, the Gardiner Institute, the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, NASPA’s Advising Success Network, and the NYS Student Success Center’s Coaching Academy.
Originally from San Diego, California, Cantú received his B.A. from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and his M.A. from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study.
Adriana Conde currently serves as, Assistant Vice President for the Office of Employee & Labor Relations at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. Her main responsibility in this position is to promote positive working relationships in the diverse SUNY SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University community.
Adriana is a Colombian born immigrant who traveled back and forth from New York during her formative years yielding a resilient pride of her Latino heritage. Adriana's years of service (36+) has provided an opportunity to see the organization through different leadership styles and governmental changes. This long-term service has enabled her to develop steadiness in a fickle and fast-changing world. In this position, Adriana has been able to change and accommodate to new ideas and challenges throughout the years. This invaluable history serves to provide a road map to the present leadership particularly when making changes. The exploration of her role as a LatinX and how she can better serve the community is very motivating. Adriana is also very interested in how she can serve to enhance the opportunities for other LatinX employees that are joining SUNY.
Dr. Giza Lopes is the Executive Director of the New York State Youth Justice Institute, SUNY Albany. Giza's scholarly work has investigated, among other topics, the collateral consequences of youth contact with criminal justice system as it relates to employment, education, and interpersonal relationships. Her research into these and other criminal justice issues has appeared in top-ranked academic journals, such as Justice Quarterly and Crime and Delinquency, as well as in multiple edited volumes, encyclopedias, and media outlets. She has also published a book, Dying with Dignity: A Legal Approach to Assisted Death, which traces the origins of the debate surrounding the legalization of "assisted suicide" in the United States and Europe.
Prior to joining the Institute, Giza was a Senior Research Associate at the NYS Office of Indigent Legal Services. She received her Ph.D. and MA from the School of Criminal Justice, the State University of New York at Albany.
Tanhena Pacheco Dunn has been an HR practitioner in Higher Education for more than 20 years. She holds a juris doctor degree from Albany Law School of Union University. Ms. Pacheco Dunn joined SUNY New Paltz as the first Executive Director for Compliance & Campus Climate in 2012. In August 2016, she assumed the roles of Chief Diversity Officer and Associate Vice President for Human Resources, Diversity & Inclusion. In this role she designed and launched an integrated HR department that includes traditional HR practices, Title IX, LGBTQ+ support and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
As Chief Diversity Officer, she co-chairs the Diversity & Inclusion Council with a member of the faculty and leads the Bias Response Team. A member of the President’s Cabinet since 2017, she partners cross-divisionally to advance the College’s commitment to antiracism, diversity, equity and inclusion. Mrs. Pacheco Dunn advocates for the practice of institutional decision making through a lens of equity and the importance of sustained engagement in diversity equity and inclusion work to effect meaningful cultural change at all levels of the institution.
Prior to her appointment at New Paltz, Mrs. Pacheco Dunn served as the Assistant Director of Human Resources at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, and was an alumni recruiter for Albany Law School in Albany, New York.
She credits the immigrant experience of her grandparents with shaping her values on the importance of higher education, the responsibility to create pathways for those who come after and leading through empathy and equity.
Louis A. Reyes Jr. is the Director of The Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) on the campus of SUNY Delhi. Mr. Reyes is no stranger to EOP as he began his college career as an EOP student at The University at Albany in the summer of 1997. An Alum from UA, he earned is Baccalaureate Degree in English while having a dual minor in Africana Studies and Education. Mr. Reyes has displayed great passion in his work, spanning over two decades of appreciation and service to Educational Opportunity Programs.
Mr. Reyes continued his education at Stony Brook University where he secured a Masters Degree in Liberal Studies and an Advanced Graduate Certificate in Coaching. Mr. Reyes lives in Oneonta, NY with his wife (Shannon) and three children (Alessia 5, Coralynn 3 and Angel 2).
Dr. Carmen A. Serrano is an Associate Professor of Spanish in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University at Albany. Before arriving to UAlbany in 2013, she taught at Bates College, Colgate University, and Middlebury College (Summer Language School). She teaches Latin American and US Latinx literature and culture and is author of The Gothic Imagination in Latin American Literature and Film(2019). Specters are the focus of her next book project. Drawing from her published article, "Ghosting Indigenous Cultures: Yaquis' Near Absence in Literature of the Mexican Revolution" (2019), her next book analyzes how the Yaqui people—a native community residing principally near the Yaqui River in northern Mexico—have been converted into spectral entities in novels dealing with the Mexican Revolution produced in the first half of the twentieth century. She is the winner of several teaching awards including the Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award (2022); The Presidential Teaching Award (2021); The College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching (2020-2021); and Outstanding Nominee, Faculty and Student Engagement Torch Award (2020). She is also the executive producer of the podcast series UAlbany Student Stories. Her students inspire her and give her strength on tough days and that is why she loves hearing their stories of resilience and joy via the podcasts.
Christie started at Geneseo at the beginning of 2019. Previously served as the Associate Director of Admissions and was promoted to the Director role in May 2021. Christie brings close to 15 years of experience and leadership in higher education, which includes working for various institutions. She previously served as Assistant Director of Admissions at Monroe Community College, where she received the American Association for Women in Community Colleges 40 under 40. Christie holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from SUNY Oswego and a Master’s Higher Education from the University of Rochester.
In her role as Director of Undergraduate Admissions, Christie will oversee all aspects of undergraduate admissions and work collaboratively with the Vice President for Enrollment Management and the entire Enrollment Management Leadership Team on enrollment initiatives that will support the mission and values of SUNY Geneseo and ensure its long-term success.
Christie is committed to eliminating barriers and creating greater access for low-income, first-generation, underrepresented students and their families. She is excited to join the Hispanic Leadership Institution and collaborate with emerging leaders across the SUNY system. It will be honor to represent her heritage in this capacity.
Dr. Elizabeth Vásquez is an Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University at Albany School of Public Health. Dr. Vásquez research examines the individual-level indicators and the ecological impact of social context, which contributes to differential health outcomes in older racial and ethnically diverse populations, in particular Latinos. Dr. Vásquez is a fellow with the Sustained Training in Aging and HIV Research (STAHR) program and an affiliated investigator with the Study of Latinos (SOL). She is an alumna of Programs to Increase Diversity among Individuals Engaged in Health-Related Research (PRIDE) and the National Institute of Aging Butler-Williams Scholars Program.