Inclusive Excellence Leadership Council

The Inclusive Excellence Leadership Council is a council formed by the Vice President of Inclusive Excellence to:

• Hold the Vice President of Inclusive Excellence accountable for fostering and enhancing an inclusive environment on campus.
• Serve as an advisory board to the vice president on items related to inclusive excellence.
• Serve as liaisons to the NAU community in the implementation of the NAU Inclusive Excellence Action Plan.

Structure and organizations

The Inclusive Excellence Leadership Council is a panel of knowledge experts who have demonstrated commitment to inclusive excellence across the NAU community. Diversity and inclusion leaders can and should come from throughout the NAU community to bring broad perspectives and unique experiences.

Responsibilities, expectations, and appointments

Inclusive Excellence Leadership team members serve to provide vision to NAU in terms of inclusive excellence and as liaisons in the implementation of the Inclusive Excellence Action Plan across the NAU community. Appointments are for three years with a potential one-time renewal. Inclusive Excellence Leadership team members receive an annual $1,000 stipend from the Center for Inclusive Excellence and Access.

2023 Inclusive Excellence Leadership Council members

Jani Ingram

Regents’ Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Jani C. Ingram, PhD is a member of the Chemistry & Biochemistry Department, and her research focuses on investigating environmental contaminants concerning their impact on health in at-risk populations. A critical aspect of her research is to foster collaborations with the Native American community and leaders to build trust and gain insights into their health concerns. She works with a diverse group of students in her research. This diversity represents students with different ethnic backgrounds, academic disciplines, and sexual orientations as well as where they are in their academic careers (middle school to graduate students). She is a member of the Navajo Nation (born to the Náneesht’ ézhi clan) and has been involved in outreach activities for Native American students in K–12, undergraduate, and graduate research. She is the principal investigator of the Partnership for Native American Cancer Prevention and the director of the Bridges to Baccalaureate program. She was named the 2018 recipient of the American Chemical Society Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students into careers in the chemical sciences. She received an associate degree from Yavapai College, a bachelor of science degree in chemistry from New Mexico State University, and a doctoral degree in chemistry from the University of Arizona. She was a staff scientist at the Idaho National Laboratory for twelve years before joining the faculty at Northern Arizona University in 2002.

Catherine Lockmiller

Health Science Librarian, Cline Library, Phoenix Bioscience Core

Catherine Lockmiller is a health science librarian at the Phoenix Bioscience Core. She completed her master’s degree in English literature in 2011, and her master’s degree in library information science in 2017. The best parts of her work involve researching and writing about critical theory in information science, and how it can build a resistance politics rooted in transformative justice. She gave a TEDx talk in 2018 on the harm done by sex assignment at birth and recently created a grant-funded, eight-hour class on gender diversity in sports. Catherine is a founding co-chair of the Arizona Library Association’s EDI Committee and the current chair of the Medical Library Association LGBTQIA+ Caucus.

Eric Otenyo

Professor, Department of Politics and International Affairs

Dr. Eric E. Otenyo is professor of Public Administration in the Department of Politics and International Affairs. He has advanced degrees from Syracuse University and Miami, Ohio. He first came to NAU in 2001 and helped establish state-wide online courses in public management. In addition to teaching and mentoring graduate students, he is an advisor in the MPA program. Dr. Otenyo is a current member of the Diné Institute for Native Educators (DINÉ) University Advisory Council. In 2017, he served as a seminar leader for the Institute. His community service includes appointment to the City of Flagstaff‘s Charter Revision Commission in 2015. Dr. Otenyo continues to serve on the Commission of Ethnic Diversity (CED) and as a faculty advisor to NAU’s African Students Association. Dr. Otenyo has published widely in the areas of comparative administration, public policy, and international politics.

Marcela Pino Alcaraz

Director of Enrollment Management, Arizona Innovation Alliance Fellow

Marcela Pino Alcaraz is a director of Enrollment Management and the Arizona Innovation Alliance fellow at Northern Arizona University. After an eight-year career at General Mills, Marcela decided to focus her energy on developing young leaders in higher education. Today, she supports innovative advancements for the Enrollment Management team and partners with ASU and the University of Arizona on projects for student success, especially for traditionally underrepresented populations.

Throughout her career, Marcela has championed diversity, equity, and inclusion. Marcela has advocated for vocal corporate leadership on critical social issues and has been a key collaborator in developing public statements supporting equity policies for immigrants and LGBTQIA+ communities. As vice president of the General Mills Hispanic Network, Marcela accepted an award at the Latina Style 50 Diversity Leaders Conference in Washington, DC. She serves as a Commissioner on Flagstaff’s Commission on Diversity Awareness, which leverages her experience developing community partnerships, conducting fundraisers, developing public statements, and leading community events. In partnership with the Office of Inclusion, Marcela coordinated a diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice learning and development multi-part training series for the Enrollment Management team. In her past work with NAU’s Interdisciplinary Global Programs, Marcela forged alliances with various DEIJ partners on campus and contributed to the team being awarded the NAU President’s Diversity Award. Her experience working on global teams across Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Australia has honed her cultural fluency, which she uses as a model representative for NAU with partners globally. Marcela enjoys leading professional development and student training, such as Learning Global Perspectives, Best Practices for Working Globally, Identities Abroad, and Courageous Conversations.

Marcela has an MA in Applied Sociology with a Concentration in Globalization from NAU, a BS in Supply Chain Management, and an International Business Certificate from Arizona State University. Marcela is Colombian-born and bilingual in Spanish and English. She is currently enjoying life in Flagstaff with her husband José and sons Andrés Sebastián and Joaquín Gabriel.

Frances Riemer

Professor, Department of Educational Leadership, College of Education

Dr. Frances Julia Riemer is professor of Educational Foundations and associate faculty/former director of Northern Arizona University’s (NAU) Women’s and Gender Studies Program. An educational anthropologist who has conducted ethnographic research in the US, Africa, and Latin America, she focuses on gender, development, and sustainable communities, change and issues of equity and access, cultural differences, and the social organization of community, school, and workplace.  

Dr. Riemer is the author of Working at the Margins: Moving off Welfare in America, co-editor of Qualitative Research: An Introduction to Methods and Designs, and editor of Front and Back Stage of Tourism Performance: Imaginaries and Bucket List Venues, as well as author of book chapters and articles in a range of journals and texts. She is a Fulbright Fellow affiliated with the University of Botswana, and her work has been supported by the National Academy of Education, the Spencer Foundation, the International Literacy Association, and the Arizona Board of Regents Innovation Fund. 

Dr. Riemer’s current research and writing projects investigate decolonial feminisms and tourism, women’s handicrafts as economic development, safari and community-based natural-resource management in southern Africa, the intersectional gendering of niceness, and first-generation college students’ study abroad. Dr. Riemer chaired NAU’s Commission on the Status of Women, was the recipient of the CSW Faculty Outstanding Achievement and Contribution Award, and co-chaired the city of Flagstaff’s Commission on Diversity Awareness. She organizes progressive policies locally and regularly speaks on women’s suffrage, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), and gender and climate change.

Dr. Martin L. Tease is a coordinator for the Office of Inclusion: Multicultural & LGBTQIA+ Student Services. Dr. Tease assists with the design and implementation of intentional educational programming (programs, events, workshops, and dialogues) to raise awareness and cultural competency for students, faculty, and staff in support of social identity, cultural, and global understanding.

Dr. Tease works to help direct leadership for and involvement in developing and overseeing mentoring programs to support students of color and the LGBTQIA+ community, creating, connecting, and supporting all multicultural student organizations and fostering a sense of community and connection across multicultural student organizations and the campus at large. In addition to academic research and continuing to work in TV/film production, Dr. Tease worked as an associate tutor designing several lectures, film screenings, and teaching workshops with an emphasis on multicultural diversity, inclusion, and the LGBTQIA+ community for film and media students interested in working in the field, studying creative practice, film history and theory, seeking internships or work experience through the school’s production unit.

Among other recognitions, Dr. Tease was the American Scholar in Residence for the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library in Norwich, United Kingdom, and received an outstanding distinction award for outreach and work as an assistant program manager for the Prince’s Trust Youth Development Program in addition to being awarded and recognized as the Director for the Murdoch Community’s outreach programs and mural focusing on the history of African American residents in Northern Arizona.