Rhonda Talford McClure

Chief Inclusion Officer
Office of the President

Dr. Rhonda Talford McClure has more than 20 years of experience in diversity, equity, and inclusion leadership, organizational culture transformation, and strategic partnerships. Her journey began at Otterbein, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in 1996; she credits the University with nurturing the values of purpose, service, and integrity that she still carries with her.

Rhonda is responsible for coordinating implementation of the Otterbein Belonging Plan and creating a campus culture that attracts and retains a diverse workforce and student body. She partners with many people and divisions across campus, including faculty and academic leaders, Student Affairs and the Office of Social Justice and Advocacy, Human Resources and search committees, Enrollment Management, and many others.

She also leads Otterbein’s Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center, which was established in 2020 as the first in Ohio and works to dismantle belief in a hierarchy of human value and foster racial healing.

Externally, Rhonda oversees outreach and engagement with community partners. She connects with school districts and non-profits working with young people to develop enrollment pipelines that widen access to Otterbein, and builds relationships with employers eager to hire, develop, and retain their own inclusive workforce, allowing for opportunities for Otterbein students and revenue as Otterbein supports the companies’ culture-building through training, assessments, and other resources.

Rhonda has served as chief DEI officer for Bricker Graydon Wyatt, LLP, a Columbus-based law firm with national reach, and vice president, inclusion for Huntington National Bank. She has also worked with a range of companies, from Fortune 500s to startups, public, private and nonprofit, nationally and internationally, through The Knight Consulting Group, LLC, which McClure founded in 2000. Talford McClure began her career as an educator, teaching middle school students in Columbus City Schools, and has continued to teach at the university level throughout her career. She has been a visiting professor at Ohio University, assistant professor at Muskingum University, adjunct instructor at Capital University, and guest lecturer at Otterbein.

Recognized nationally and internationally for her work, Rhonda was honored as a Woman WELDing the Way by WELD USA in 2024, received the Alumni Pacesetter Award from Otterbein in 2019, and was named one of Profiles in Diversity Journal’s Women Worth Watching in 2018. Her agency, The Knight Consulting Group, LLC, was the National Association for Multicultural Education Agency of the Year in 2014.

Rhonda is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; Jack & Jill of America, Inc.; National Association of Multicultural Education; Otterbein University President’s Advisory Council on Race; and Cancer United. She also volunteers with Girl Scouts of Ohio’s Heartland; HDI, Columbus Chapter; and Women in Technology International.

In addition to graduating from Otterbein, she is a two-time graduate of The Ohio State University, with a doctoral degree in social studies and global education with a focus on cultural competency and technology, and a master’s degree in education.