For more than 25 years, Judi Díaz Bonacquisti has developed programs and policies to expand college access and advance students toward college-degree completion. Díaz Bonacquisti had served as senior student affairs officer and senior enrollment officer. She is experienced in recruitment, retention and graduation strategies, especially for students from historically excluded communities including first-generation, low-income, undocumented and students of color. She has served at public and private colleges and universities with a range of academic offerings, admissions selectivity and populations from 4,000 to 24,000 students. She is honored to serve in the Office of the President for the University of Colorado as Senior Diversity Officer.

Díaz Bonacquisti has presented at numerous national conferences and has assisted in statewide policy development to advance the college completion agenda. She was appointed by Gov. John Hickenlooper to serve on the Educational Leadership Council and was nominated and jointly appointed by the State Board of Education and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education to serve on the Educational Success Task Force. Diaz Bonacquisti has been recognized by the Denver Business Journal as a winner of 40 under 40, is an alumna of Leadership Denver, and is a founding member of the Colorado Coalition for the Educational Advancement of Latinxs.

Born and raised in Pueblo, Colorado, Díaz Bonacquisti holds a Doctor of Education in Leadership for Educational Equity from the University of Colorado Denver, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University. She holds certificates from Harvard’s Institute for Management and Leadership in Education and Leadership in Enrollment Management from the University of Southern California.

Díaz Bonacquisti owns Bonacquisti Wine Co. with her winemaker husband Paul Bonacquisti. She has engaged the winery in several partnerships with nonprofit organizations, especially those that support access, equity and success in higher education. Bonacquisti Wine Co.’s core philosophies have supported local education and local art since its inception in 2006.