iTTU Mentor

Diana Hechavarria

Functional Expertise

• Early-stage startups

• Entrepreneurial dynamics

Industry Expertise

• Research

• Entrepreneurial Behavior

• Strategic Planning

Dr. Diana M. Hechavarria (h-index 23) is an Associate Professor of Management at Texas Tech University (TTU). At the broadest level, Diana’s research explores the various dynamics confronted in the earliest stages of launching a new firm (nascent entrepreneurship). The majority of work focuses on examining startup outcomes from a gender lens in nascent entrepreneurship. She is also interested in examining gender dynamics in nascent social entrepreneurship and cultures of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Diana’s research has been featured at various conferences and symposiums, such as the Academy of Management, the International Council for Small Business, the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, the Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference and the DIANA International Research Conference. Her research has been published in journals such as the Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Small Business Economics, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, and International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship. In 2019, Diana won USF’s Women in Leadership & Philanthropy’s Dr. Kathleen Moore Faculty Excellence award for her emerging research on women’s entrepreneurship in the Tampa Bay entrepreneurial ecosystem. She was also recognized by the USF’s Status of Latinos Presidential Advisory Committee (SoL) in 2017, 2018 and 2021 for her research in minority entrepreneurship and presented the SoL Faculty Award and Hispanic Pathways Award.

Diana has been involved in the coordination and analysis of the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED) and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) research programs in the United States, two of the most comprehensive national and international studies on the state of entrepreneurship. She also worked on harmonizing and disseminating the data records of the GEM studies for public use on the University of Michigan’s International Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) website. She’s also contributed to several national reports on the state of entrepreneurship in the United States and Australia using GEM data.

Diana is an active member of the Junior League. Currently, she is a member of the Junior League of Lubbock, where she chairs the Advisory Planning Committee. She was also an active member of The Junior League of Tampa where she chaired the Mobile Interactive Literacy Opportunity (MILO) community project. MILO provides books to children so they can build home libraries to promote literacy. She also served on the Executive Board of The Junior League of Tampa as Strategic Director for the 2020-2021 League year. As Strategic Director, she operationalized and implemented the non-profit organization’s strategic plan.

Diana is a first generation Cuban American, and the first in her family to graduate college. She has a Ph.D. in Business Administration from University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, OH, USA), a M.A. in Liberal Studies from Florida International University (Miami, FL, USA), and a B.A. in Sociology from University of Florida (Gainesville, FL, USA).