Staff
Meet the staff from the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion. Click here to view our organizational chart.
Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman is Vice President & Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, and the Ida B. Wells and Ferdinand Barnett Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University. Dr. Coleman is charged with implementing diversity accountability processes, thereby coordinating efforts to counter bigotry and exclusion while promoting inclusion, diversity, and equity. She works collaboratively with faculty, staff, and students across Northwestern’s 12 schools and colleges on three campuses.
Before coming to Northwestern University, Dr. Coleman was on the faculty at Texas A&M University, the University of Michigan, the University of Pittsburgh, and New York University. At Texas A&M University, she was the Vice President and Associate Provost for Diversity. At the University of Michigan, she served as Associate Dean of Social Sciences in the Rackham Graduate School, as well as Chair of the Department of Communication Studies.
Dr. Coleman is the author of Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from the 1890s to Present (2011, Routledge) and African-American Viewers and the Black Situation Comedy: Situating Racial Humor (2000, Routledge). She is co-author of Intercultural Communication for Everyday Life (2014, Wiley-Blackwell). She is the editor of Say It Loud! African American Audiences, Media, and Identity (2002, Routledge) and co-editor of Fight the Power! The Spike Lee Reader (2008, Peter Lang). She is also the author of a number of other academic and popular publications. Her research and commentary have been featured in a variety of international and national media outlets. Her documentary film, Horror Noire, made its international premiere in 2019 to critical acclaim. To-date, Horror Noire has won the 2020 Rondo Hatton Award for Best Documentary and the 2019 FearNyc Trailblazer Award.
Dr. Coleman has earned numerous awards for her teaching and mentoring. She is the recipient of the John Dewey Award for undergraduate education, the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Outstanding Mentor Award, and the Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award, all from the University of Michigan. She earned the New York University School of Education Award for Teaching Excellence. She is the recipient of the Minority Access National Role Model Award, the Chatman Women’s Foundation Icon Award, and the Delta Tau Lambda Sorority, Inc. “Commitment to Excellence” Award. She held the Texas A&M/College of Liberal Arts Cornerstone Faculty Fellowship.
Dr. Coleman was a Fellow in the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University. She earned a Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University. She is a graduate of the American Council on Education Leadership Academy, the University of California-Berkeley Executive Leadership Academy, and the National Intergroup Dialogue Institute. Dr. Coleman was a Fellow in the Big 10 Academic Alliance Academic Leadership Program. She is currently participating in the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) Standards of Professional Practice Institute. Dr. Coleman is also a Fellow in the Academic Leadership Institute sponsored by The New School and the University of Michigan.
Her current research focuses on the NAACP’s participation in media activism.Dr. Michelle Manno is Assistant Provost for Diversity and Inclusion at Northwestern University. In this role as assistant provost, Manno will provide strategic and tactical support on critical activities for OIDI, promoting equitable culture across Northwestern. Manno will actively engage as a leader with internal and external stakeholders in support of this mission, to coordinate efforts aimed at creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment for the entire community.
Manno comes to Northwestern from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), where they most recently served as assistant vice chancellor of diversity initiatives and as faculty affiliate in the Department of Sociology. Before that, Manno was the director for diversity initiatives.
At UIC, Manno led several important initiatives aimed at increasing equity and inclusion for the entire campus community including the Equity Dashboard Project, the Inclusive Classroom Initiative, Advancing Racial Equity strategic planning, and the Equity Advocates Program. She was responsible for campus-wide efforts around diversity education, served as a co-investigator on UIC’s “Building Inclusive Excellence in STEM” Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant, and served on key university task forces focused on campus climate, student mental health and well-being, Native American student inclusion, and food and housing insecurity. They co-created the gender-affirming procedures (GAP) advocates program and co-chaired the Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of LGBTQ people. Manno also regularly taught courses for the Department of Sociology and UIC’s Intergroup Dialogue program.
Manno earned her bachelor’s degree in Sociology at Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne, their master's degree in Sociology from UIC, and their Ph.D. in Sociology from Emory University, with a concentration in social inequality.
Jasmine Gurneau leads the development and implementation of university-wide initiatives related to the inclusion of Native American and Indigenous students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Her role includes facilitating stakeholder engagement, serving as a thought leader on campus, and building and sustaining partnerships with tribal communities. Jasmine's Full bio.
Hilary Zimmerman, PhD
Director for Diversity Initiatives, Evaluation, & Assessment
Phone: 847-467-0129
Dr. Hilary Zimmerman is the Director for Diversity Initiatives, Evaluation & Assessment. In her role, Hilary supports assessment and evaluation efforts related to diversity, equity and inclusion across Northwestern. She works to support data-informed initiatives, programming and growth across Northwestern by preparing reports, running analyses and creating data visualizations that provide ways to explore and assess inclusion, diversity and equity. Read Hilary's full bio.
Louie Lainez
Manager, Diversity and Inclusion
Phone: 847-467-5197
Louie Lainez serves as Manager for Diversity and Inclusion in the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion. Louie oversees the OIDI office operations and engages in the communication, outreach and advancement of institutional diversity and inclusion initiatives for students, faculty, staff, alumni and community partners. Louie's Full Bio.
Anthony McCray
Communications Specialist
Phone: 847-467-0219
Anthony McCray serves as the Communications Specialist for the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion. Anthony leads the development of the office’s strategic communications plan for internal and external audiences. In his role, he combines content creation, storytelling and meaningful pedagogical engagement with a broad group of stakeholders to develop and advance OIDI’s presence. Anthony's full bio.
Leona Quist is the Executive Assistant for the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion. In this role, she directly supports the Vice President and Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer, Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman. Leona's full bio.
