About

Solomé Rose brings over a decade of professional experience to the fight for racial equity and social justice. Her career began at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation where she supported countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and India with their efforts to stem the tide of mother-to child transmission of HIV/AIDS.

After four years of working in global health, she transitioned to higher education and joined the Centennial Center at Hobart and William Smith Colleges where she built the center’s global leadership portfolio. She established an innovative program in partnership with Stellenbosch University in South Africa that trained future leaders to examine and address global challenges while disrupting colonial narratives about Africa.

As a result of Solomé’s track record on issues of racial equity and inclusion at the Centennial Center, she was tapped to serve as the institution's inaugural Chief Diversity Officer. In only two years, she established the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, successfully led a strategic planning process, developed an initiative to increase the recruitment and retention of students of color in STEM, co-developed a faculty climate survey on tenure and promotion which resulted in faculty by-law changes, and conducted several racial equity assessments within academic departments.

In 2018, she joined Planned Parenthood of Central Western New York where she was also the inaugural Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She similarly developed a strategic diversity plan, enhanced the agency’s recruitment efforts to increase the diversity among leaders, and developed an initiative to increase the representation of underrepresented minorities in nursing. Additionally, she established employee resource groups, facilitated trainings, led bias-related investigations and provided coaching to leaders. But what she is most proud of is her collaboration with the CEO and board of directors to diversify the board. In two years, the percentage of people of color grew from 16% to 30%.  

In June 2020, she relocated to Memphis with her family amid global protests against police violence and systemic racism. While marching with local activists she realized that her contributions could be two-fold—lending her voice to the global calls for justice and working within organizations to move the needle. She decided to create her own consulting firm to help organizations translate their commitment to racial equity into meaningful change. 

Solomé has a Bachelor's of Arts from the University of Virginia and a Master's of Public Policy from George Mason University.