Nicole Macias

Nicole Macias serves as Director of Inclusive Engagement within the Office of Inclusive Excellence in the Provost’s Office, where she advances university-wide strategies to strengthen faculty, staff, and student engagement through inclusive programming. In this role, she leads “The Collaborative,” a cross-functional community of practice that brings together faculty and staff associations and student organizations to amplify inclusion efforts, and oversees marketing and communications for milestone and cultural celebrations to increase visibility and engagement across the ASU community. She also serves as a strategic advisor to university leadership on engagement, communication, and branding initiatives aligned with inclusive excellence. 

Prior to this position, Macias served as director and professor of practice for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Health Communications Initiative at the Cronkite Agency, within the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, where she was a Professor of Practice and guided students in developing campaigns addressing health disparities in underserved communities throughout the Southwest. Through partnerships with the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at the Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, St. Vincent de Paul’s Ivy Center for Family Wellness, and the Valley of the Sun YMCA, her teams led comprehensive branding, digital, and public relations efforts for initiatives such as the Type 2 diabetes prevention program, Every Little Step Counts, producing bilingual multimedia campaigns and managing integrated communications strategies. 

A dedicated advocate for inclusion with more than two decades of experience in strategic marketing and communications, Macias is an ASU alumna who earned her bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies in 2003 before returning to the university to continue her impact. She also serves as faculty advisor for the Hispanic Business Student Association (HBSA), becoming only the third person to hold the role in over five decades and the first woman to do so.