Caroline Laguerre-Brown is the Principal and CEO of Designing Equity, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in higher education. She offers comprehensive support to national associations, post-secondary institutions, and corporations, leveraging her seasoned expertise as a lawyer with deep knowledge in diversity, inclusion, and institutional compliance. Caroline’s extensive experience includes leading the design and implementation of policies, educational programs, and risk‑management strategies for global organizations, with a focus on a wide range of anti-discrimination laws. She has specialized expertise in sexual harassment policy, prevention, and compliance management. As an experienced facilitator and trainer, Caroline addresses complex workplace discrimination and diversity issues—including unconscious bias and anti-racism—and plays a key role in assisting senior leaders with strategic communications to manage crises and mitigate reputational harm.
Previously, Caroline served as the Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement at George Washington University (GW) in Washington, D.C. In that role, she oversaw units serving more than 26,000 students, including the Title IX/Sexual Assault Prevention Office, the Multicultural Student Services Center, GW’s Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service, and the Office of Disability Support Services. Joining GW in 2016, she led a significant review and overhaul of the university’s sexual harassment and assault policy and spearheaded its first comprehensive diversity program review.
Before her tenure at GW, Caroline was the Vice Provost and Chief Diversity Officer at Johns Hopkins University, where she introduced the university’s first sexual harassment prevention training initiative, launched unconscious bias training for faculty search committees, initiated a Race in America speaker series, and co-developed a faculty diversity program.
Caroline currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) and continues to teach at NADOHE’s Standards of Professional Practice Institute, preparing future chief diversity officers. She also serves as External Board Member for the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO).
She previously served on the Board of Trustees for Union Theological Seminary and as a member of the Charter Committee for the Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity.
Caroline holds degrees from the State University of New York at Binghamton and the University of Virginia School of Law. She is admitted to practice in New York, the District of Columbia, and Maryland, and is a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA), where she has contributed to expert panels on compliance and diversity.
