A little about Eva

My Start/ My World

People ask me how I got into this work, and the truth is I cannot remember a time when I wasn’t doing this work. Being a person of color in predominantly white schools and workplaces compelled me to get pretty proficient in cross-cultural talk and engagement. I also learned how to submit to racist systems. It’s taken time for me to begin to heal from these experiences, and it continues to drive my work.

My formal education began in college. While walking to class, another student, a white male, called me a spic, which is a slur directed at “Hispanics.” I remember my face became hot, my feet went cold. I was stunned and confused, then later, I became afraid. This “bias incident” during my freshman year in college motivated my intellectual interest in understanding bias, prejudice, and hate. It fuels my interest in helping others understand and navigate racism. As a first-generation college student (way back when) and a Latina on a predominantly white college campus, this moment sparked my curiosity and commitment to learning about oppressive systems, provoking a deep personal connection to the formulation of the racial self. It also made way for a deep desire to uproot those systems in service of us all.

Today, it's my mission to provide that education in as many modalities (keynotes, workshops, theater performances, personal/ group coaching, and whatever else) to connect others with the work. I want to help create greater understanding and to motivate others to take up the mantle of creating more significant equity and justice for all. I want to help others choose to question, analyze, and change the systems they participate in equitable ways.

I’m investing in the world I want to live in and leaving it a better place for generations to come. For now, I’m calling it Eva Vega World. Yes, I do have the nerve.

My Professional Roots

I’ve had a pretty incredible career leading diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts before DEI was the preferred acronym. I’ve worked for colleges and universities, and a civil rights organization leading and creating anti-bias education training and learning resources. I also served as a chief equity officer for a private independent school, to name just a few! All of these roles required me to support the learning and competencies of the entire professional community. These roles were ultimately about building relationships and fostering community. At my core, I believe in the power of the collective in creating change. I believe in the power of community.

My Approach

My style has evolved over time. I’m certainly bold in the way I listen and connect with others. My expression is authentic, intellectual, dynamic, and nurturing as an educator who has tackled tough subjects my entire career. As a point person on equity issues, I’ve often had to be the namer of hard truths, understanding and balancing the complexities of history and ideas, budgets with competing priorities, urgency, and the interpersonal and group pain experienced and often not understood by others. I have also seen the toll negative thinking may play in undermining possibility and creativity. I cherish openness and risk because it’s in those spaces where resilience and connection build. With intention, I blend equity knowledge with emotionally intelligent, trauma-informed practices.

What is emotional intelligence? I like SHRM’s definition of it. ​ “Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand your own and others' emotions and how they drive behavior, and then using that knowledge to motivate others.” Our emotional intelligence impacts our ability to receive hard feedback on tough subjects, take risks to create change, and even be willing to connect to understand someone else’s experiences.

In my work, I model and engage participants in practicing the 5 features of emotional intelligence by Daniel Goleman and use them to process and develop an equity and liberation lens.

Do you know that divide everyone talks about? It’s my mission to bridge it- with greater awareness, skill, accountability, and courage.

My Education

I have 25 years of professional experience as a DEI+ educator, trainer, performer, coach, mediator, and senior administrator.

The New School for Social Research conferred my Master’s Degree in Sociology. Leadership that Works conferred by coaching certification. I am also a certified mediator (40 hours) with the Social Justice Mediation Institute.

The education I have received from the thousands of people I've worked has taught me the most.