Catalina Piatt-Esguerra

Associate Dean for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Accessibility - UVA Library

Catalina Piatt-Esguerra is the new Associate Dean of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility at UVA Library. She previously served as the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at UVA's School of Education & Human Development’s. In this inaugural role, she co-led the design, launch, and operation of DEI-focused professional development workshops, program suites, and community-building opportunities for the School’s community of 1200+ students (online and in-person) and 300+ faculty and staff. Last year, she co-founded UVA's first Latinx employee resource group, aimed at empowering Latinx faculty and staff and bridge-building with Charlottesville's Latinx community.  She has also served as a DEI consultant for the Virginia Diversity Network (VDN), a coalition of DEI practitioners within independent schools across the state. Prior to joining UVA, she worked at the Miller School of Albemarle, a private co-educational day and boarding institution, where she taught Spanish and served as the school’s first Coordinator of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Alongside her work at UVA, she also serves on the Virginia Festival for the Book's advisory board and as a University of Michigan alumni volunteer in their Each One, Reach One (EORO) minority recruitment program. 

She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 2019, where she also worked as a Graduate Success Coach for first-generation students of color in the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives and co-led orientation programming for incoming students through the Office of New Student Programs. She also has a B.A in Hispanic Studies from The College of William and Mary and M.A. in Latin American Studies from American University. Her experience spans almost a decade in secondary and higher education spheres, and she focuses on empowering leaders to build their capacities in DEI towards building inclusive institutional climates.