Background

Tiara Dungy joined the Moore School's Office of Diversity and Inclusion in 2021 as the inaugural director of inclusive engagement. Tiara is highly skilled in D&I, stakeholder engagement, program development and is also a social responsibility champion who believes the world can be made better through intentional human action. A native of Tampa, Florida, Tiara began her professional career after earning a B.A. in sociology from Spelman College and an M.A. in international relations from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.

She has since spent the last 17 years establishing rich global learning networks through consulting, community service, and research with a focus on youth development and entrepreneurship across the United States and South Africa. Tiara’s philanthropic and private sector work includes roles with the US Fund for UNICEF, Comcast Corporation, and the WNBA Atlanta Dream. Tiara’s breadth of professional experiences also informed her academic pursuits as a Community Engaged Scholar and Ph.D. student at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Her research focuses on the social responsibility of entrepreneurs of the African Diaspora.  

Tiara is a recipient of IUPUI’s “Elite 50” Award, a prestigious honor for “graduate and professional students who demonstrate excellence beyond the classroom—in areas such as campus leadership, scholarly work, and community engagement.” Her publications can be found in the Africa Journal of Management and on LearningtoGive.com. She is also an active member of several advisory boards employing training in diversity, equity, and inclusion to support impactful social research and institutional change, including the United Way commissioned Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) Research Advisory Council and the Women’s Philanthropy Institute Advisory Board.

Her community servant leadership includes active engagement with civic organizations that promote human and social capital, including Leadership Fellow with the Exchange, the Urban League, voting giving circle member for Giving Sum, and the National Alumnae Association of Spelman College.