Conocimiento: Understanding Lived Professional Experiences of Latina/x Leaders

The WTIA DEI Center of Excellence is hosting this meetup to highlight the lived experiences of high-achieving Latina/e/x leaders and professionals in technology and other industries. Our esteemed panel will share their experiences of triumph and struggle across industries. Panelists will discuss their career paths, while also sharing vital information about the organizational practices and dynamics that helped or hindered their advancement. They will share advice about advocating for oneself while navigating organizational dynamics.

Learning Objectives

● Understand the lived experiences of high-achieving Latina/e/x women
● Gain first-hand knowledge about organizational dynamics that may be getting in the way of supporting the advancement of diverse women in the workplace
● Recognize opportunities and challenges in creating a community of inclusion for Latina/e/x women in the workplace

About the Panelists

Eleonora Juarez, Ph.D.
Associate Director of Application Development
TwinStrand Biosciences

Eleonora Juarez was born in Monterrey, Mexico, and raised in Brownsville, TX. She completed her Ph.D. in Molecular and Medical Genetics in 2016 at OHSU in Portland, Oregon, where she fell in love with hiking and all the beauty the PNW has to offer. Ellie currently lives in Seattle with her partner and her 16-year-old cocker spaniel, Fresa. She works as the Associate Director for Application Development at Twinstrand Biosciences, where she melds her love of science and genomics with her passion for enabling researchers all over the world to improve human health. Eleonora is a technically proficient bioinformatics and research lead scientist with substantial experience in diverse fields including radiation oncology, clinical diagnostics, human/molecular genetics, genome instability, NGS genomic applications, single-cell omics, and DNA repair.

Mayra Morgan, Ph.D.
User Experience Researcher
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Mayra is an educator and qualitative researcher with more than 15 years of hands-on experience conducting qualitative research.

Deyanira Zavala, MPA
Interim Director of Strategic Priorities
Colorado Center on Law and Policy
Deyanira Zavala is an experienced, collaborative nonprofit professional with over 10 years’ experience working in community economic development. In her current role, she supports the organization in implementing equitable community engagement practices that elevate the voices of communities impacted by displacement pressures across the state. Driven by her commitment to equity, she served as Executive Director of Mile High Connects, a cross-sector collaborative actively working to build a thriving, resilient Denver metro region. As executive director, her goals included forging partnerships between public and private sector partners and implementing equitable policy shifts while driving investments deeper into communities of color. She brings a local and national perspective to her work, having facilitated capacity-building and organizational development activities for organizations in the Southeast, Midwest, and Pacific Northwest U.S. The first in her immediate family to graduate from college, Deyanira holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Master’s of Public Administration from the University of North Texas.