Elena M. Bernal

Elena M. Bernal '94 advises and partners with the President to achieve and enhance the College's strategic vision and plans for advancing Grinnell as a diverse, robust intellectual community. She brings a comprehensive understanding of the role of diversity and inclusion in a liberal arts education, placing engagement across differences at the center of a challenging and vibrant learning experience. As Grinnell's chief diversity officer, Elena adjudicates and consults on efforts to find, retain, and advance individuals who will enrich our campus community, as outlined in the College's diversity policy. She also serves as the College's liaison for the campus partnership with two Posse Foundation sites, D.C. and Los Angeles. Her policy research interests focus on the intersections of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation in higher education. As a Grinnell alumna herself, Elena led the drive to create more multicultural space for student groups - a vision that became reality at the new Joe Rosenfield '25 Center- during her student years.