Dia Garcia

Dia Garcia has over 10 years of experience in higher education focused on advocacy, career coaching, recruitment, and training. Dia values making contributions to young adults' development and fostering collaborative relationships among individuals. Her purpose is to influence how students are led and guided to become valuable societal contributors.

In her role as Director of the UIA Fellows Program and Network Initiatives, Dia supports the recruitment, orientation, and professional development of UIA Fellows and assists with managing alliance-wide projects to foster scalable student success innovations.

Before joining UIA, Dia led regional recruitment, maximizing engagement and connections to increase Bellarmine University’s footprint in the Nashville market. Her previous higher education experience also includes work at Middle Tennessee State University, Belmont University, and Ole Miss.

Dia holds a bachelor's in Psychology and a Master's in Higher Education, Administration and Supervision, both from Middle Tennessee State University.