Meet Ashly and Daphne, Co-chairs of the Latinx & Hispanic Employee Resource Group

Daphne Mendez and Ashly Medina are the inaugural chairs of the Columbia University Facilities and Operations (CUFO) Latinx & Hispanic Employee Resource Group (ERG). In this interview, they share why building community at work is important, what they are proud of in their work, and how the ERGs can support CUFO staff. 

The ERGs, first introduced to all staff at an expo in December 2024, bring staff together around a variety of cultures and interests to provide networking and mentorship opportunities, facilitate educational programming, and foster an overall sense of community and belonging. All CUFO staff are welcome and encouraged to participate, regardless of their background. 

Sign up for ERGs on CUFOnet, and read on to get to know Ashly and Daphne. 

What's your role within CUFO and how long have you worked at Columbia? 

Daphne: This is my seventh year at Columbia. I am currently the Assistant Director of Administration for Columbia Dining. I handle all the backend administrative tasks that it takes to run the dining halls.  

Ashly: I'm an analyst for Columbia Residential. This is my second, going on third, year of working for Columbia. It's technically my sixth year being here though. I did undergrad at Columbia Engineering. When I graduated in 2022, I started working here.  

I support all the Columbia Residential departments – Construction, Leasing, and Operations. I gather data, analyze it, and provide insights to improve our processes. Basically, any kind of number crunching they need, that's me! 

What made you both become interested in being co-chairs of the Latinx & Hispanic ERG?  

Daphne: We both got brought into this through referrals from CUFO’s Equity & Inclusion Council. Christina Apollonio, one of the members of the council who works for Columbia Dining, asked me if I might do this.  

What made me say yes to this is knowing we spend so much time at work. A lot of the relationships and the people that we work with are important to our day-to-day life. People are important, of course, in terms of cooperating to get our work done, but also, we are all human and living through experiences together. Any opportunity to create more of a community and help each other grow is important.  

Ashly: 100 percent agree! It was very similar for me. I was having lunch with my supervisor, Leilani Reynolds. She is also part of the Equity & Inclusion Council. Leilani asked me if I might be interested in being a co-chair. She nominated me, and here we are. 

Daphne and I want to make sure this is a positive environment for everyone who works here. To build this community together, we think of that as a social resource to support all of us.  

What’s your focus for the ERG in its first year? And what do you hope staff will get out of participating? 

Daphne: If anyone wants to get involved in the ERG, especially in this first year, we’re grateful. We can make an impact together. Especially as the Latinx and Hispanic community, the social aspect is very important. Getting things done at a big institution, like Columbia, often takes a long time and requires a lot of collaboration. We need people to be invested to keep the momentum going. Social moments can help us move things forward when we’re stuck.  

Ashly: One thing we've noticed from our events so far is people are getting to know each other.  When we had our event up at Manhattanville, I got to know some of the people who work there that I might not otherwise see day-to-day.  

Anyone who wants to get involved, the time you put in is flexible. You can always drop by just for part of an event. No matter if you only come to some events or to every single one, you are part of this collective that works together. We also hope to expand our ERG’s work to include additional professional development and educational resources. 

What is something you have worked on during your time at Columbia that you’re proud of? 

Daphne: One of my first big projects for Columbia Dining was meal delivery during the pandemic. During the quarantine period for the students, we delivered all the meals to residents in the dorms.  

That was my first time fully taking control over a big project. I got to meet a lot of people from different departments. Before that, I was overseeing one dining hall.  Then, I was overseeing staff from multiple dining halls and multiple departments that were assigned to this project.  

It was a huge learning opportunity for me. I got a lot out of that experience, which has translated into my role now. At the time, I was a Unit Manager. That experience pushed me to think about what I could do moving forward. I had a lot of support and trust from my supervisor, Vicki Dunn, so I learned a lot from that experience. The project was a turning point for me. 

Ashly: As someone who went to undergrad here, it’s really interesting to come into Facilities and Operations and see how much work goes on behind the scenes 365 days a year. Living somewhere safe, clean, and well-maintained makes a big impact on someone’s well-being. It means a lot to me to contribute to that.  

Through my work, I’m able to find new efficiencies and processes to better support residents. I really like what I do. One of the big projects I'm proud to be working on is supporting the Butterfly intercom systems many of our buildings have. This allows residents to use their phone to let people in and to be able to see who is ringing them.  

What's one aspect of your heritage, culture, family, or upbringing that you think is really important to share with the CUFO community? 

Daphne: I am a very proud daughter of Mexican immigrants. I’ve spent so much time in Mexico. Mexico is one of those places that’s not always represented in the best light in media. To me, it’s important to show that my parent’s heritage and culture is more than just what you see on TV or in the movies.  

Ashly: Daphne and I come from a very similar background. I’m also the daughter of Mexican immigrants. It's the language. It's the food. It's the people. The values and traditions that we pass down are so important to us. Latinx and Hispanic cultures tend to be very, very proud and very, very connected. I think that's really beautiful, especially here in New York and within CUFO. There are so many different people from different backgrounds across our staff, who also have a lot of pride in where they're from and their heritage. 

Daphne: We want to cultivate a space where everyone can feel as proud of their backgrounds as we feel about ours.