About
Ralph Tavares joined the Economic Progress Institute Board in October 2026
For more than two decades, Ralph has worked to widen access for Black and Brown students and professionals and to change the systems that decide who gets through the door.
He began his career at Salve Regina University as its first multicultural student recruiter and rose to Associate Director of Admissions and Multicultural Education. Over 12 years there, he led international recruitment across Latin America, the Caribbean, China, and the Middle East. He also built multicultural overnight programs that brought prospective students of color to campus and helped create the university's Office of Multicultural Programs. As Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Director of Multicultural Student Success at Providence College, he guided a 110-student multicultural scholarship program to 100 percent first-to-second-year retention. The program's four-year graduation rates consistently exceeded the college's overall rate. He also founded the college's Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation. As Director of Diversity & Outreach at Roger Williams University School of Law, he informed targeted faculty hiring and the creation of a "Race and the Foundations of Law" course through his work on the school's Equity Scorecard. Today, his work at DSG Global informs the firm’s inclusive hiring framework, which assists his teams and clients nationwide in their executive search, research, and hiring processes.
Ralph served as President of both Diversity and Inclusion Professionals (DAIP) and the New England Consortium of Black Admission Counselors (NECBAC). As Vice President of the Friends Academy Board of Trustees, he founded its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee. He was named a Providence Business News Diversity Champion and received the Roger Williams University School of Law Dean's Distinguished Service Award. He also received the New England Association for College Admission Counseling (NEACAC) William S. Neal Award for College Admissions Excellence.
A graduate of Leadership Rhode Island, Institute for Non-Profit Practice’s Black Leadership Executive Fellowship, and the Rhode Island Foundation’s Equity Leadership Initiative, Ralph holds a BA in English from Providence College and an MBA from Salve Regina University.
