Matthew C. Whitaker, Ph.D.
Our Founder
“Dr. Matthew Whitaker’s leadership and dedication to learning from our past to create and maintain organizational execellence and effective community relations is unsurpassed, and has changed the lives of citizens, students, educators, civic leaders, executives, employees and businesses fortunate enough to have worked with him. I am proud to be a friend of Dr. Whitaker and Diamond Strategies.” ~ Charles Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer & Founder, AllAboutPeople, Inc.
Dr. Matthew C. Whitaker, 2025 © Diamond Strategies, LLC. Click HERE to book Dr. Whitaker for keynote addresses, commencement speeches, motivational speaking, training, and coaching. View Dr. Whitaker’s Tempe, Arizona, MLK Diversity Awards Keynote Address, “King’s ‘The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life’” HERE.
Biography
Matthew C. Whitaker, Ph.D., is the Founder and CEO of Diamond Strategies, LLC, a Better Business Bureau A+ rated, NSDMC-certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and the 2022 Best of Tempe Consultant Award winner. Diamond Strategies is a trend-setting firm specializing in organizational excellence, social responsibility and impact, and community relations. We have partnered with Fortune 500 companies across the United States, Europe, Africa, and China.
Our services include HR and EEO support, organizational audits, strategic planning, facilitation, and training, featuring industry-leading Training-of-Trainers (TOT), Interest-Based Resolution (IBR), mediation, motivational speaking, community relations, and thought leadership. Our consultants are distinguished, globally experienced experts serving schools, nonprofits, corporations, faith-based organizations, municipalities, and community groups. Additionally, we provide leadership and learning opportunities in interpersonal and intercultural communication.
We deploy one-on-one interviews, focus groups, workshops, team-building retreats, symposia, and other activities designed to equip organizations with the knowledge, skills, sensitivity, and resources needed to foster healthy, equitable cultures of collaboration, innovation, efficiency, and productivity. Our skilled team, combined with top-tier analytics and data-driven technology, helps organizations close gaps and advance people performance and corporate responsibility across their ecosystems. Our mission is to be your partner in maximizing human and institutional potential.
Dr. Whitaker is also the Executive Director of the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center in Phoenix. He is an award-winning educator, author, community engagement specialist, motivational speaker, and founder of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy. He received the 2014 Arizona Diversity Leadership Alliance (DLA) Inclusive Workplace Award and was a history professor at Arizona State University for 15 years. Dr. Whitaker holds a B.A. in Sociology, a B.A. in History, and an M.A. in History from Arizona State University; a Ph.D. with honors in History from Michigan State University; and an Executive Certification in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) from Cornell University.
Founded in May 2016, Diamond Strategies embodies Dr. Whitaker’s lifelong work in bridging history, sociology, and communication to help individuals and organizations leverage diversity for healing, social cohesion, productivity, and profitability. His authentic style and diverse family background enable him to connect with a wide range of audiences.
He has received the Arizona Diversity Leadership Alliance’s 2016 Diversity and Inclusion Leader Award and the Arizona Collectors 2020 Frederick Douglass Social Justice Award. Dr. Whitaker specializes in U.S. history, comparative Black history and life, civil rights, race relations, social movements, and DEI. He has edited three books, including Hurricane Katrina: America’s Unnatural Disaster, authored Race Work: The Rise of Civil Rights in the Urban West, and is completing a memoir, The Undisputed Truth: A Revolutionary Journey to Black Manhood.
Dr. Whitaker has consulted, spoken, and lectured worldwide, including Australia, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, England, Ghana, and Ireland. He has been featured on CNN, NPR, PBS, and other media, and received ASU’s 2015 Pioneer Award for contributions to African American life and culture. He co-founded the Healing Racism Public Dialogue Series, which won the 2008 National League of Cities Promoting Inclusive Award, and received the City of Phoenix 2006 Martin Luther King, Jr. Living the Dream Award. Dr. Whitaker is also a trustee of AZCEND and a martial artist, winning silver in the Shaolin 7 Star Fist 七星拳 [Qīxīng Quán], the oldest Shaolin Kung Fu form, at the 10th Wushu Kung Fu World Championships in Emeishan, China, in October 2015.
Follow Dr. Whitaker on Twitter @DrWhitakeronX, Instagram @drmcw, and LinkedIn @drmatthewcwhitaker. Follow Diamond Strategies on Twitter @dstrategiesllc, Instagram @dstrategiesllc, and LinkedIn @diamondstrategiesllc.