Biography

Yesenia Espinal, Associate Vice President of Data Analytics, was born in the Dominican Republic and is a native of Brooklyn, New York. Her previous stops include Director of Institutional Research at Howard, Data Manager of Talent Strategy with the New York City Department of Education and Senior Institutional Research Analyst at St. Joseph's University, New York. 

Yesenia brings over a decade of experience in higher education and currently serves on the Association of Institutional Research Nominations and Elections Committee. She is deeply committed to student success and leverages data analytics to improve institutional effectiveness, streamline business processes, and support strategic decision-making. 

Most recently, Yesenia led the reporting and data validation workstreams for Howard University's Workday ERP transformation. She has deep expertise in institutional data management, reporting infrastructure, and stakeholder engagement. As a member of the Howard University Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council (HUAIC), she helps shape the ethical and strategic integration of AI across academic and administrative functions. Yesenia is also a dedicated mentor who invests in upskilling future data leaders and has led the development of a robust enterprise data warehouse in Microsoft Azure. She is widely known for her accuracy, consistency, and reliability.