Eloiza Domingo-Snyder, senior director and deputy chief diversity officer for Johns Hopkins Medicine, is a visionary leader with a history of spearheading positive organizational shifts around cultural competence, diversity and inclusion. Over a 16-year career, Domingo-Snyder has held leadership roles and brought about transformative change at organizations involved in higher education, business, law enforcement and health care.

She achieves this change by assembling teams of unique and talented individuals, and inspiring them to work collectively to devise strategies that will help create a climate of inclusive excellence. Her peers describe her as an outstanding leader who will advance the field of diversity, inclusion and cultural competence for years to come.

In 2016, Domingo-Snyder was recognized by the Filipina Women’s Network as one of the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World, and in 2007, she was awarded Ally of the Year by the Office of LGBTQ Services at Miami University (OH). She also co-developed the Cultural Competence Instrument for the Psychometric Assessment of Healthcare Providers, which was featured in a 2015 issue of INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing. She gives back by mentoring women of color, especially in the areas of career development, identity development and career-family balance.

According to Domingo- Snyder, diversity recognizes and values individual differences, while inclusion mobilizes those differences and leverages individual contributions to generate new ideas and innovative solutions. “While already large, the body of literature is growing that shows how bringing together diverse talents, ways of thinking, styles of working, approaches and backgrounds is not only essential, but critical to successful, efficient and financially effective teams,” she explains.

As women move up the career pipeline, she says there is a fine balance to strike between asserting yourself and listening to, and learning from, current leadership. “Genuinely listening and intently learning builds the acumen you need to navigate the pipeline gracefully and deliberately,” she advises. “Each move you make is more secure because, along the way, you’ve absorbed the skills necessary to live and succeed within each part of the pipeline.”