Catalina Monsalve

Catalina Monsalve serves as Project Manager for Inclusive Excellence in the Office of the Provost at Arizona State University, where she provides strategic leadership for enterprise-wide initiatives that advance the ASU Charter and institutional priorities related to equity, access, and organizational excellence. In this role, she operates as a cross-functional program leader and trusted advisor, supporting the Office of Inclusive Excellence and senior leadership in the development, coordination, and implementation of initiatives with broad institutional impact.

Catalina leads and supports complex portfolios that include the University’s Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) strategy and Excelencia in Education designation efforts; disability and accessibility initiatives; the Southwest Borderlands Initiative; and multiple governance and advisory bodies, including the Committee for Campus Inclusion, Inclusive Excellence Academic Council, HSI Advisory Council, MLK Committee, and the Inclusive Excellence Charter Library. Her work focuses on aligning strategy, policy, and practice across units to promote consistency, transparency, and measurable outcomes.

A core aspect of Catalina’s role involves partnering closely with faculty leadership, staff organizations, and institutional stakeholders across the enterprise. She collaborates with faculty and staff associations, deans, associate deans, researchers, and administrative leaders to develop shared practices, support governance processes, and facilitate informed decision-making. Her work frequently involves navigating complex organizational structures, interpreting policy, managing sensitive initiatives, and supporting change management across diverse audiences.

Prior to joining the Office of the Provost, Catalina served as a Project Manager with the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, Arts, Media and Engineering, where she provided operational and financial leadership for a $1.7M augmented reality and virtual reality research portfolio. She oversaw budgeting, procurement, contract administration, reporting, and multidisciplinary project teams supporting innovative research initiatives.

Earlier in her career, Catalina held senior program leadership roles within the Office of Global Outreach and Extended Education, where she managed a broad portfolio of global, professional, and non-credit programs. Her work included leading federally funded initiatives such as the U.S. Department of State’s Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) and the USAID Higher Engineering Education Alliance Program (HEEAP), as well as developing custom professional training programs for public and private sector partners including Intel Corporation, Arizona Public Service, Salt River Project, Boeing, T-Mobile, the Musical Instrument Museum, and Tecnológico de Monterrey.

Catalina brings more than 15 years of experience in higher education administration, including service with the Maricopa Community Colleges and over a decade at Arizona State University. She is a first-generation college graduate who began her academic journey at Mesa Community College before transferring to ASU. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business with a focus on Public Service and Public Policy from the W. P. Carey School of Business,a certificate in International Business Studies, and a Master of Public Administration. She also holds Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt and Green Belt coursework credentials and is a Certified Sustainable Event Planner.

Catalina is a graduate of Arizona State University’s T4 Leadership Academy (Transform, Trust, Talent, Technology), an enterprise leadership development program focused on transformational leadership, organizational trust, talent development, and technology-enabled change across complex institutions. As part of the T4 Leadership Academy, Catalina led a capstone project focused on reimagining the faculty letter of recommendation process through ethical, AI-enabled design. The project has since been adopted by the Office of the Provost and is being integrated into university strategy, advancing prototype development and pilot planning in alignment with ASU’s Charter, Inclusive Excellence priorities, and Principled Innovation® framework. 

In addition to her professional responsibilities, Catalina has served on the boards of the Chicano/Latino Faculty and Staff Association and the ASU Project Management Network. She is an active member of CLFSA, the ASU Project Management Network, the Organizational Excellence Community of Practice, and the ASU Staff Council.

Catalina is known for her ability to lead complex initiatives at scale, foster productive cross-functional collaboration, and translate institutional priorities into actionable, sustainable programs. Her work centers on strengthening organizational effectiveness, advancing equity-driven outcomes, and supporting leaders and stakeholders in achieving shared goals across the university.