An Interview With Tavares Beverly
Connection and understanding aren’t limited to people who look like us or share our background — sometimes the people furthest from our own experience are the ones who can see us most clearly, if we’re open enough to let them in.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure to interview Leticia Romo.
Dr. Leticia Romo is a first-generation college graduate whose lived experience fuels her deep commitment to student success. As Director of Inclusion & Community Relations at Alliant University, she brings heart, care, and intention to building inclusive spaces where students, faculty, and staff feel they belong. Dr. Romo holds a B.S. in Business Management from Iowa State University, an M.Ed. in College Student Affairs from the University of South Florida, and an Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership from Maryville University. Her approach to leadership is collaborative and community-driven, rooted in the belief that inclusion is built one genuine relationship at a time.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into our discussion about celebrating diversity, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
As an undergrad I attended Iowa State University. I was raised in the borderland desert of California, Mexico, and Arizona, so needless to say, it was a huge culture shock. Not only was I getting acquainted to college, I was also trying to find a place where I “fit.” As the first in my family to go to college, I got lost at the university. I felt like a number, I felt isolated, I felt like I didn’t belong. Although I knew I was academically prepared, the sense of belonging took me a long time to find.
Thankfully, there was a program dedicated to helping low income, first generation, and/or students of color succeed in college — the kind of program that has since faced federal rollbacks and scrutiny. It was that program that reached out after they saw that I was struggling academically. They offered me the holistic help I needed to succeed. I found a place where I belonged, where I wasn’t othered, where I could just show up and be my authentic self.
It was that experience that shaped my career path. I was fortunate enough that someone reached out to me when I was struggling, and they offered me skills, resources, and the occasional hug I needed to overcome any adversity. I have been working in higher education for over 20 years, and my passion remains the same: create a place of belonging for all students to be able to thrive and live authentically, provide holistic care and resources, and ignite their passion and purpose.
Can you share an interesting or hopeful story where spending time with someone who did not look like you or who was different from you taught you something that has been useful to you?
I believe there is always an opportunity to learn if we stay curious and care for one another. I’ve come to believe it’s important to treat people the way they want to be treated — which is different from what the Golden Rule teaches us. For me, treating others the way they want to be treated requires stepping away from my own assumptions and biases, engaging in active listening, and honoring the truths of others.
I once attended a training with a colleague who, on paper, shared none of my identities — different race, different background, different life experience. Despite that distance between us, during a conversation about navigating predominantly white work environments, he said something I still carry with me: “I am not everyone’s cup of tea, and I have come to appreciate that it’s okay — because I will never be tea.”
It was exactly what I needed to hear. As a person of color in a white-dominant workplace, I had been feeling like I couldn’t be my authentic self. Here was someone who didn’t share a single one of my identities, yet he saw me, understood the weight of what I was carrying, and gave me permission to stop trying to be “everyone’s cup of tea.” That moment taught me that connection and understanding aren’t limited to people who look like us or share our background — sometimes the people furthest from our own experience are the ones who can see us most clearly, if we’re open enough to let them in.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Inclusive Leadership — honoring every team member’s contribution
Growth Mindset — treating mistakes as fuel for improvement, not failure
Empowerment — trusting people over controlling them
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Can you share a personal story that highlights the impact of diversity and inclusivity in your life or career?
One of my greatest career accomplishments was opening a Cross-Cultural Center at an institution where executive leadership was opposed to creating such a space. Their fear was that a CCC would create more separation across campus. It was important to me that, in conceptualizing the space, I structure its foundations in a way that would inherently avoid creating separation. Everything from programming, to collaborative efforts with different groups and programs across campus, to social opportunities was intentional.
I had a work group of students, staff, and faculty who developed every aspect of the center — from what time the space would open and close, to what décor filled the room. This was intentionally an inclusive space for all, built by the community it was meant to serve. Because of that community-driven approach, the center did exactly what we knew it would: it connected people who might not have crossed paths otherwise. I saw friendships bloom, collaborations ignite, and care shown from one person to another.
How do you approach and manage the challenges that arise when working towards creating more inclusive communities?
I am persistent when I truly believe in something. I ask for rationale behind the challenges, and through that rationale I identify what the core issue is. Once I identify the core issue, I start researching for a solution that will address it while still moving forward with creating inclusive communities.
For example, when I proposed the Cross-Cultural Center and leadership pushed back out of fear that it would create separation, I didn’t dismiss their concern — I asked for the reasoning behind it. That helped me identify the real issue: a fear of division, not opposition to inclusion itself. From there, I could design a solution that addressed that fear directly, building the center around collaboration and shared ownership from the start.
I have to remind myself that everyone has bias and preconceived notions based on their past experiences, so it is important that I not dismiss those feelings but instead identify them and find a solution or, sometimes, a compromise that will move the community forward. I think at the heart of inclusion is just that: honoring what is felt and learning how to move forward.
What innovative strategies or initiatives have you implemented or observed that effectively promote the importance of diversity and inclusivity?
I’ve learned that innovation doesn’t mean reinventing the wheel — it means using the wheel differently than how you’ve used it before. Innovation doesn’t always require creating something entirely new; sometimes it means adapting an existing idea to fit the needs of your community.
At one institution, I helped launch a motivational campaign featuring quotes in different languages across campus. A motivational campaign isn’t a new idea on its own, but what made it meaningful was how it came together: I worked collaboratively with students, staff, and faculty to collect motivational quotes from their own countries or heritage, submitted in their native language. The response was overwhelming, and we created posters featuring these quotes exactly as submitted.
It became a beautiful display of overcoming adversity, encouragement, and support — all while honoring the many languages spoken across our community: Arabic, English, Tagalog, Mandarin, Japanese, Spanish, Farsi, and more.
That’s the takeaway for me: everything needs to be community-based and community-centered. When you build that way, you can create something innovative and special that genuinely promotes diversity and inclusivity — even if it’s built on an idea that already existed.
In your opinion, what are the key elements that make a community truly inclusive, and how can these be fostered on a larger scale?
Truly inclusive communities are built with and by one another — not designed top-down and handed to people, but co-created. At their core, they honor differences and create space for people to engage with one another despite those differences. They are places where everyone is committed to treating one another with respect, love, and compassion, because we understand how important that work is.
A few key elements make this possible: shared ownership, where the people the space is meant to serve are part of building it, not just receiving it; transparent communication, so people understand not just what decisions are made but why; and accountability, so that commitment to inclusion isn’t just aspirational language but something the community holds itself to.
Fostering this at a larger scale means resisting the urge to create one-size-fits-all solutions. When I built the Cross-Cultural Center, it worked because it wasn’t designed in a vacuum — it was shaped by a work group of students, staff, and faculty who had a stake in every detail, down to the hours it was open. That same principle scales: instead of importing a single model onto every campus or department, you replicate the process of shared ownership, and let each community shape what inclusion looks like for them. The multilingual quote campaign worked the same way — a simple idea, but its impact scaled because we let the community define its content and meaning rather than dictating it ourselves.
At scale, inclusion isn’t about uniformity — it’s about creating consistent structures (like shared ownership and accountability) that allow each community to build something that reflects their own truths.
Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Ways We Can Build Inclusive Communities”? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.
1. Build with the community, not for it.
Inclusive spaces can’t be designed top-down and handed to people — they have to be co-created with the people they’re meant to serve. When I opened a Cross-Cultural Center at an institution where leadership feared it would create separation, I made sure every detail — from operating hours to décor — was shaped by a work group of students, staff, and faculty. Because the community built it together, the center did exactly what we hoped: it connected people who might not have crossed paths otherwise.
2. Meet people through their differences, not despite them.
Inclusion isn’t about minimizing what makes us different — it’s about honoring it. At one institution, I helped launch a campaign featuring motivational quotes submitted by students, staff, and faculty in their native languages — Arabic, Tagalog, Mandarin, Spanish, Farsi, and more. The result was a display that celebrated the many cultures and languages represented across our community, rather than asking people to set them aside.
3. Identify the real concern behind resistance.
Pushback against inclusion work is often rooted in fear, not opposition. When leadership resisted the Cross-Cultural Center out of concern it would create division, I didn’t dismiss that concern — I asked for the reasoning behind it. That helped me identify the real issue: fear of separation, not opposition to inclusion itself. Understanding that allowed me to design a center that addressed the fear directly, built around collaboration and shared ownership from day one.
4. Create space for people to be authentically themselves.
Belonging means people don’t have to shrink or perform to fit in. I once attended a training with a colleague who shared none of my identities, yet during a conversation about navigating predominantly white work environments, he told me: “I am not everyone’s cup of tea, and I have come to appreciate that it’s okay — because I will never be tea.” It gave me permission to stop trying to be everyone’s cup of tea and just show up as myself. That’s what inclusive communities should offer everyone.
5. Measure impact beyond the numbers.
Data matters — it shows growth and accountability. When I began surveying every event and program I ran, I saw attendance grow by 10% year over year. But real impact often shows up later and less visibly: a student using more inclusive language, choosing not to laugh at a sexist joke, or being mindful not to misgender someone. These are the outcomes that are harder to measure, but they may be the truest sign that the work is changing how people show up in the world.
How do you measure the impact and success of diversity and inclusion efforts, and what changes have you seen as a result of these initiatives?
Professionally speaking, data is very important in measuring impact and success. We live in a society that needs “proof” to demonstrate success, so it’s important to have that data ready. I survey after every event, program, or initiative, and I’ve seen real results — for example, attendance at our programs grew by 10% year over year, which tells us people are showing up and engaging.
That said, it’s important to me personally to also illustrate impact and success in other ways. What are students feeling or saying afterward? Did they engage with someone different? Did they connect with someone new? Did the experience ignite a passion or interest for them?
We don’t always see the immediate measures of impact and success, because in many instances, we are planting seeds for growth and adaptation that show up later. Maybe next time a student uses more inclusive language with their friends. Maybe next time they don’t laugh at a sexist joke. Maybe next time they don’t misgender someone. These are the outcomes we can’t always measure right away — but they may be the most meaningful measure of whether the work is truly changing how people show up in the world.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
If I could start a movement, it would be one built around more care and compassion in how we treat each other — one where we acknowledge and learn from the moments we hurt others, regardless of intent, and commit to doing better because of it.
This movement wouldn’t just be about caring for our own individual needs and ways of being — it would be about committing to caring for others’ needs, too. At its core, it would ask us to hold ourselves accountable in how we treat one another: Is the problem really about them, or is it about me thinking my way is the only way? Is it really about what they’re doing, or is it about my ego making me believe what they’re doing is wrong?
If enough of us asked ourselves those questions before reacting, I believe we’d build a world with far more grace, humility, and genuine connection — one interaction at a time.
How can our readers further follow you online?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-leti-romo-113136a9/
Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you continued success!
About The Interviewer: Tavares Beverly (www.tavaresbeverly.com) is the Founder and CEO of Beverly Boy Productions, a national video production company that has helped organizations tell their stories through video for more than two decades. Over the course of his career, he has worked with everyone from Fortune 500 executives and healthcare professionals to politicians, nonprofit leaders, educators, and artists, gaining a unique perspective on the role communication plays in leadership, business, and human connection. A frequent contributor on topics including communication, entrepreneurship, leadership, and personal development, Tavares believes that the ability to communicate effectively is one of the most valuable skills a person can develop. His work is driven by a passion for helping organizations connect with their audiences and helping individuals unlock their potential through mentorship, perseverance, and meaningful relationships. To learn more, connect with Tavares on LinkedIn or visit www.BeverlyBoy.com. If you’re interested in using the power of storytelling and communication to grow your organization, strengthen your brand, or inspire your audience, he welcomes the opportunity to connect.
Celebrating Diversity: Leticia Romo Of Alliant University On How To Build Inclusive Communities was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.