Meet Miriam De Dios Woodward
Miriam De Dios Woodward is Founder, President & CEO of De Dios Consulting LLC. A native of Jalisco, Mexico, Miriam grew up in Fairfield, California and Perry, Iowa and currently resides in West Des Moines, Iowa with her husband and two young daughters.
Miriam is an accomplished leader with over 21 years of experience, including 12+ years in CEO roles, building, scaling and elevating services and technology businesses. She is an influential leader recognized for driving businesses through transformative growth, with deep expertise in expanding reach within the Latino market. Her work in the financial services industry is guided by a deep commitment to financial inclusion and empowering underserved markets - a passion rooted in her own experience growing up financially underserved and unbanked.
In 2024, Miriam made her dream a reality and started De Dios Consulting; a business growth consulting and coaching firm. The firm helps organizations strategically engage one of the largest, fastest-growing, youngest and most underserved markets in the U.S. - Latinos. In addition, it supports business leaders in achieving their next phase of growth.
Prior to starting her company, Miriam was the Global CEO of ViClarity, an international risk management and compliance software and services company based in West Des Moines, Iowa and County Kerry, Ireland. The company serves regulated industries including financial services and healthcare. In her nearly six-year tenure at ViClarity, Miriam led the company’s transformation from a compliance services company (known as PolicyWorks) primarily serving the credit union industry to a multi-product, multi-industry business with a global footprint.
Before taking the helm at ViClarity, Miriam was the CEO of Coopera Consulting, a Latino market strategies firm, for nearly seven years. Miriam held roles of Vice President and Emerging Markets Director prior to CEO. In her nearly 12 year-tenure at Coopera Consulting, Miriam helped establish the company as the leading resource for U.S. credit unions seeking to expand by serving Latinos. In addition to her C-suite experience, Miriam’s leadership includes several positions with John Deere Financial and State Farm Insurance Companies.
As a global thought leader, Miriam frequently speaks on a range of impactful topics, including women’s leadership, the Latino market opportunity, the intersection of financial inclusion and compliance, scaling emerging businesses and the development of culturally-relevant financial products and services.
Miriam is an independent board director of Homesteaders Life Company, a director of the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions and a director of the West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce. Miriam also serves on the Capital Crossroads governance committee and regional council, Iowa State University’s Ivy Women in Business and Ivy Dean’s Council advisory boards and the World Council of Credit Union’s Global Women’s Leadership Network global advisory committee.
Miriam earned her bachelor’s degree with honors from Iowa State University and her Master of Business Administration and leadership certificate from the University of Iowa. She is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Leading Change and Organizational Renewal executive education program and has a certificate in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion from Cornell University’s ILR School.
Throughout her career, Miriam has received numerous awards and accolades for her accomplishments, including:
2022 Ivy Women in Business Inspiration Award from the Ivy College of Business at Iowa State University
Named to the 2020 LatinX | Hispanic Top 100 Hall of Fame by theboardiQ
Named one of 32 of the Region’s Midwest Power Brokers Most Influential People of Color in 2020 by Madison 360
2019 40 Under 40 award from the Des Moines Business Record
2016 Woman to Watch designation from Credit Union Times
2014 LULAC Iowa Latino Business Person of the Year award
Publications
CUInsight Authored Publications
Expanding credit union services to Spanish-speaking communities: Navigating regulatory compliance and best practices -
June 30, 2025 CUInsight
The Latino consumer advantage: How businesses that engage win big - March 27, 2025 CUInsight
Bridging the gap: How credit unions can leverage fintech to engage the Latino market - December 24, 2024 CUInsight
7 Must-Know Latino Market Insights to Shape Your 2025 Strategy - October 7, 2024 CUInsight
Advice from Four Female Executives to the Future Women Business Leaders in DSM - March 2024 Greater Des Moines Partnership
On Leadership: The No. 1 leadership skill for 2024? Emotional Intelligence - Feb 16, 2024 Business Record
Women in Technology - Jan 12, 2024 Finopotamus
Des Moines Mom Feature - July 2022 Des Moines Mom
CEO INSights with Miriam - 2021 West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce
Best Practices, Advice, Programs Shared from NCUA DEI Summit - Nov 7, 2019 CUToday.Info
CUInsight Experience Podcast: Embracing Change - October 2019 CUInsight
WCUC Interviews: Financial Inclusion at a Global Level - July 2019 CUBroadcast
Leadership in Action - May 2019 CUManagement
ACUC Interviews: How to Lay Foundation for Successful Hispanic Membership - 2019 CUBroadcast
9 Ways to Make Hispanic Engagement Part of Your Credit Union’s Differentiation Strategy - Sept 20, 2018 Experian Insights
Laying a Foundation for Success with the Hispanic Market - September 18, 2017 Experian Insights
90 Ideas in 90 Minutes - September 2017 Des Moines Business Record

Miriam is passionate about leading organizations into their next phase of growth and has deep expertise in expanding reach within the Latino market.
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