DANIEL PASCOE AGUILAR
Chief Diversity Office & Founding Director of the Center for Social Justice
Daniel Pascoe Aguilar, PhD, MDiv, is passionate about problem solving and collaborating with students, alums, the university community, and community organizations on meaningful partnerships and innovative strategies for the development of a diverse, authentic, engaged, and ready next generation of leaders. Currently, Daniel is Excelsior University’s chief diversity officer, founding director of the Center for Social Justice, and Title IX coordinator, where he is leading the organization’s JEDI (justice, equity, diversity and inclusion) efforts based on a systemic approach with the goal of facilitating Excelsior’s becoming a Multicultural Organization through 7 key engagement and impact initiatives.
Before this role, Daniel served as associate provost for immersive learning and career design at Drew University in the New York City larger metropolitan area, where he led Launch, a comprehensive, inclusive approach to undergraduate education designed to facilitate all Drew University students’ identification of their purpose, their preparation for their careers, and their contribution to their communities and/or the world. Prior to his tenure at Drew, Daniel served as executive director of Career Services at Ithaca College, director of the University of Oregon Career Center, director of Career Services at Seattle University, director of alum career services and associate director of employer relations at the University of North Texas, senior associate director of student services and chair of career courses at Indiana University, director of the crisis center for homeless families of the San Francisco County, and minister in diverse religious organizations in México and the US.
Daniel has completed 3 graduate degrees in the US: a PhD in Educational Systems from Indiana University, a Master of Divinity from Palmer Theological Seminary, and an MS in Education also from IU, as well as a BA in Industrial Design from Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana in México and a Bachillerato in Physics & Mathematics from Escuela Moderna Americana. For the last 12 years, he has offered consulting, speaking and training services to universities, their career centers, and community organizations on the preparation of the next generation of leaders and the enhancement of the JEDI of our work. Daniel has published 30 chapters, articles, and columns on systems thinking, career development, systemic leadership, and intercultural development, as well as a book on systemic leadership, curricula on career and intercultural development, and a dissertation on conflict management in educational leadership. He has also been a song writer, a classical pop and oratorio/opera singer, and a recording artist throughout his life, including the publication of 15 albums.
In 2014, Daniel received the UO Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award and, in 2016, the UO Student Employment Enhancement program he founded and led earned the One Oregon Award. Throughout the last few years, he has had the opportunity to serve as chair of the Capital Region JEDI Leadership Consortium and the UO Division of Student Life Multicultural Organization Development initiative, as co-chair of the global Future Talent Council D&I Think Tank and the DU Committee on Reimagining Undergraduate Education, as faculty of the Career Services Institute, and as founder and chair of the IC Experiential Learning Alliance, the UO and IC Student Employment Enhancement initiatives, the UOAdvantage Design Team, and the UO International Student Career Alliance. He is also a current member of the Forbes Nonprofit Council and of the NYS Hate & Bias Prevention Capital Region Council, a board member of In Our Own Voices and the St. Petersburg Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Center, a mentor of the AAC&U College to Career Institute, and a recent member of the NACE Strategic Positioning Taskforce.
RUBI BLANCAS ORDUNA
Program Director, Center for Social Justice
Rubi K. Blancas Orduna is a strategic leader in economic empowerment, reentry systems, and community development, with a multidisciplinary background in international relations, criminal justice, and education. She holds a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice and a Graduate Certificate in Cybercrime Investigation and Cybersecurity from Boston University, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Universidad Iberoamericana. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Organizational Leadership at Columbia International University.
Her career spans international, governmental, and nonprofit sectors. She has held key roles with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), leading crime prevention and anti-corruption initiatives, and within the Government of Mexico across the Ministries of Education, Health, and Foreign Affairs. In the United States, she has contributed to the public education system as an educator and grant writer, as by promoting workforce development, STEM, and financial literacy initiatives.
Most recently, she served as Director of Economic Empowerment and Coordinator of A New Direction Local Reentry Council at Koinonia Community Solutions in Eastern North Carolina, where she led multi-county initiatives advancing workforce development, housing stability, and reentry services for underserved and justice-involved populations.
As of May 2026, Ms. Blancas Orduna serves as Program Director of the Center for Social Justice at Excelsior University in St. Petersburg, Florida, where she leads strategic initiatives focused on justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, supporting community engagement and advancing systems-level impact. Bilingual in English and Spanish, she brings expertise in cross-sector collaboration, program development, and stakeholder engagement. Her work has been recognized through multiple honors, including an AmeriCorps Service Award and grant-writing distinctions.