Meet the Team

Ana Rodriguez is an expert in workforce diversity and multicultural markets, specifically the strategies organizations employ to increase the diversity of their talent pool, the biases that affect the recruitment and retention of underrepresented talent in organizations, and initiatives to capture the growing Latino marketplace.

Since 2017, Ana has served in a dual role at the Cox School of Business as the Executive Director of the Latino Leadership Initiative, the nation’s only executive education program dedicated to the professional advancement of Latinos and Managing Director of Business Development. She works with Fortune 1000 companies to recruit, retain and develop top Latino talent who will drive business growth and create a sustainable competitive advantage for their organizations.

As a national center of excellence, the SMU Cox LLI combines practical leadership principals with insights from rigorous research to address the opportunities of today’s diverse, global market. Ana oversees the four pillars of service: Leadership Development for high-potential talent, Organizational Development to build multicultural competence, Latino-focused Research and business insights, and Community Engagement. Previously, she spent more than fifteen years building winning business development, multi-institutional partnerships, public affairs, and media strategies.

Ana has co-authored numerous articles on issues facing companies including developing diverse talent, the Competitive Advantage of Diversity and Inclusion, and Strategies to Foster an Inclusive Environment. She is a nationally recognized trainer in cultural formations, Latino identity, demographic shifts, cultural intelligence, diversity and inclusion, and civic engagement. Although she specializes in developing Latino talent and capturing the growing Hispanic market, her perspective is multicultural.

The Texas Women’s Foundation recognized Ana with the Young Leader Award at the 2019 TWF Leadership Forum & Maura Awards, and the Dallas Regional Chamber presented her with the ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award at the 2020 Women’s Business Conference. D CEO Magazine named Ana among the nine most influential Latino business leaders in Dallas for 2018. She has also received the 40 under 40 Award and Minority Business Leader Award from the Dallas Business Journal.

Staphany López-Coronado is the Associate Director of the SMU Cox Latino Leadership Initiative (LLI), the nation’s only executive education program dedicated to the professional advancement of Latinos. In this role, Staphany is responsible for overseeing the operations and strategic delivery of the LLI's innovative leadership development  programs, symposiums and year-round events/forums, Latino-focused research and community engagement initiatives in schools and communities.

As a national center of  excellence, the SMU Cox LLI combines practical leadership principals with insights from rigorous research to address the opportunities of today’s diverse, global market. She works with Fortune 1000 companies to recruit, retain and develop top Latino talent who will drive business growth and create a sustainable competitive advantage for their organizations.

Previously, Staphany served as the Assistant Director for the Office of Social Change and Intercultural Engagement at SMU where she assisted incoming students of color transition to the university by providing support services and connections on campus. Prior to SMU, she was the inaugural Recruiting Specialist for the UNT Office of  Outreach where she developed the foundation for the Ventanilla de Educación in the Consulate General of Mexico in Dallas.

Staphany is a proud native of San Antonio, TX and a first-generation college graduate. She recieved her Bachelor’s Degree in Mexican American Studies from The University of Texas at Austin and earned a Master of Education in Student Affairs in Higher Education from Texas State University. Currently, she is a doctoral student at the University of North Texas working on her Ph.D. in Higher Education. Her research interest include Latino/as in higher education, first generation college students, and equity and diversity issues.

José Antonio Bowen has been leading innovation and change for over 40 years at Stanford, Georgetown, and the University of Southampton (UK), as a dean at Miami and SMU,  and as president of a top ten USN&WR most innovative college until 2019. He now runs Bowen Innovation Group L.L.C., and does innovation, leadership and inclusion consulting and training for Toyota, AT&T, Chevron, Pfizer and other Fortune 500 companies.

Bowen holds four degrees from Stanford University (in Chemistry, Music, and Humanities) who honored him as a “Distinguished Alumni Scholar” in 2010. His research includes  over 100 scholarly articles and books, including Teaching Naked: How Moving Technology out of your College Classroom will Improve Student Learning (winner of the Ness  Award for Best Book on Higher Education in 2012) and Teaching Change: How to Develop Independent Thinkers using Relationships, Resilience and Reflection (2021, Johns  Hopkins University Press).

Bowen has long been a pioneer in teaching and technology as profiled in The New York Times, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, PBS News Hour, and NPR, and was  awarded the Ernest L. Boyer Award (for significant contributions to American higher education) in 2018. He has presented hundreds of keynotes and workshops in 46 states and 17  countries around the world. He also worked as a musician with Stan Getz, Bobby McFerrin, Liberace, and Jerry Garcia, and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Music. He is a  Senior Fellow at the American Association of Colleges and Universities and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts (FRSA) in England. For more watch his SxSW or TED talks. His new book, Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning, was published in March, 2024 (Johns Hopkins University Press).

As a founding partner of People Systems Consulting, Jerry brings over 30 years of experience to his work with clients such as Lockheed Martin, JPMorgan Chase,
Southwest Airlines, Shell Oil, Toyota/Lexus, AT&T, and many more large and small clients. In addition to his work in North America, he has engaged extensively with clients in Europe, Asia and South America. His expertise spans a variety of areas, with particular focus on change leadership, performance management, leadership development, and executive team coaching.

Jerry currently serves as Academic Director for several award-winning leadership development programs with Southern Methodist University’s (SMU) Executive Education. In  addition, he is a faculty member for the George W. Bush Institute’s Liberty and Leadership Forum where he works with leaders in Myanmar, who are committed to bringing about a peaceful transition to democracy and civil society. Jerry has also taught toprated MBA and undergraduate courses in organizational development and change with SMU’s Cox  School of Business.

Previously, Jerry was the Head of Organizational Development and Learning for SMU’s faculty and staff. Prior to SMU, he held consulting and leadership roles with Franklin Covey and Presbyterian Healthcare System. Jerry holds Certification and Master Certification designations for numerous programs and assessment instruments and has certified  thousands of facilitators across the globe.

Combining an educational background in Communication, Organization Development and Psychology with his hands-on business experience in marketing, and business development, Jerry brings a sense of real-world application to his work.