Chief DIB Officer, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Naisha Bradley
Diversity and Inclusion Strategist | Consultant | Higher Education Executive
Naisha Bradley serves as the Chief Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Officer at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. She is also the CEO and owner of The Bradley Firm, LLC. (est.2020 | thebradleyfirm.org). Her work involves developing and implementing organizational-wide strategies to increase diversity, deepen inclusion and advance a sense of belonging among multiple stakeholder groups. Bradley collaborates with C-Suite executives to expand and deepen discussions that value difference, partners with employee resource groups committed to diversity and inclusion and helps companies identify policies and practices that would lead to creating a supportive climate with an increase of hiring, promotion, and retention of a more diverse workforce.
Naisha is an active community member. Her portfolio spans from serving on the Boston Mayor’s ONEin3 Advisory Council (2013) to working with cabinet officials in Africa on gender mainstreaming workshops. In 2007, she traveled to Monrovia, Liberia to work with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s cabinet. In addition to her impact locally and abroad, Bradley’s national work includes contributing to the White House Council for Women and Girls as a participant in the United State of Young Women Forum held in Washington, DC (Obama Administration).
Bradley speaks globally about topics related to advancing diversity in leadership. In June 2017, she traveled to Brazil to speak to CEOs and business leaders at Marie Claire magazine’s Power Summit. There, she served as a keynote speaker for the summit highlighting strategies to create pipelines for women’s career advancement. In addition, she has spoken about the importance of diversity and inclusion in technology as a panelist for Wipro’s “Embracing Diversity: Breaking Barriers to Digital Transformation” talk in New York City. Moreover, in 2020, she edited a book on how truthful conversations about race can lead to individual and organizational transformation. (Livingston, Robert. “The Conversation” Penguin Random House)
In 2016, she was recognized as one of Boston’s 25 Emerging Leaders by Get Konnected, which aims to showcase minorities who are shaping the region across various fields. Later that year, she was named one of the 40 Under 40 top professionals identified by the Boston Business Journal for her positive impact on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a result of her community and professional work. In February 2020, Naisha received her second 40 Under 40 recognition by the New England/Tri-State region of The Urban Professional Network. In March 2022, she was awarded Women of the Year by the Yawkey Boys and Girls Club of Boston.
Naisha graduated from Clark Atlanta University with a baccalaureate degree in Business Administration and earned a master’s degree in Gender and Cultural Studies from Simmons College. In May of 2018, she attained a second master’s degree in Public Administration and a certificate in Management, Leadership, and Decision Sciences from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.