Soljane Martinez, Ed.D. has been appointed the Director of Library Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Brown University. In this role, Soljane serves as a Library leader and administrative thought partner, advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging across the Library by directing organizational and programmatic initiatives, contributing to outreach to campus and wider communities, and fostering an inclusive workplace culture.

Soljane brings over two decades of experience in education and leadership, focusing on disrupting educational inequities and promoting culturally responsive teaching. She was most recently the Director of School Redesign and Improvement for Providence Public Schools. In this role, Soljane helped align school improvement and program resources to prioritize student achievement and maximize results based on vision and measurable outcomes. Soljane also supported transformative leadership through her capacity-building work with school leaders across the district.

Soljane returns to Brown University having previously served as the Education Coordinator, during which time she spearheaded outreach activities, developed K-12 programming to enhance educational outcomes, and helped expand Brown’s partnerships locally and nationally. She was instrumental in establishing College Day at Brown, an immersive one-day program that brings Rhode Island high school students to Brown’s campus to experience a college setting and learn about their opportunities in higher education.

Soljane serves as adjunct faculty in the Johnson & Wales University Master’s of Education, Teaching and Learning Program, where she teaches Culturally Responsive Teaching. She is on the Instructional Faculty of College UnBound, and she was an award-winning classroom teacher in elementary through high school for almost 20 years. Before entering the field of education, she was a reporter for The Providence Journal and The Wall Street Journal Sunday.

Soljane holds an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Johnson & Wales University, an M.Ed. from CUNY-College of Staten Island, and a B.A. in Journalism and Political Science from the University of Rhode Island.

In March 2024, I became General Counsel and Corporate Secretary to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Inc.), one of the most significant cultural and performing arts institutions in New York City and the world. After graduating from Brooklyn Tech in 1987, I went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree from The Pennsylvania State University and a Juris Doctor degree from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I have three decades of experience as an entertainment, intellectual property, litigation, labor and employment, and business lawyer, including work with major international law firms, my own boutique law firm, and media conglomerates NBCUniversal and BuzzFeed Media Enterprises. I have served on and lead the boards of several performing arts, education, and human services organizations, and am a past President of The Penn State Alumni Association and a past Trustee of The Pennsylvania State University. I have always had a personal passion for the arts, and have been a musician, composer, librettist, actor, and creative for more than four decades, working in nearly every genre of music, and writing book, music, and lyrics for two full-length musicals.