Connecting with Daisy Auger-Dominguez

How have relationships/meaningful connections influenced your professional development and/or leadership style?  

I have devoted my life to building inclusive cultures of belonging and dignity, where access and opportunity can be the norm — not from just a place of values and ideas, but also from a place of pure pragmatism, fixing one part of a broken system at a time. This commitment and years of study, capacity building, network engagement, and long days of hard work all come from a very personal place.   

As the child of immigrants, I know first-hand the power of relationships and meaningful connections. My grandparents sought refuge in New York City at a time when there were very few Dominicans allowed to leave the island. They first lived with my great-grandmother in the apartment building where many of my family members would eventually move. When they moved back to the Dominican Republic, my grandmother would help fill out immigration forms and counsel countless Dominicans trying to make their way to 'Nueva York'. Relationships and connections saved them, and they, in turn, cared for and saved others. 

Over the years, kind mentors helped me navigate new landscapes time and time again. My high school counselor, Mrs.Smith, showed me deep kindness as a newly arrived student in New Milford, New Jersey. I spoke English fluently and was an American by birth. But I was raised in the Dominican Republic and knew very little of American cultural norms other than what I had seen in movies. I was quickly othered, called, and made to feel like “a foreigner”. I was reminded at every turn that I was “Hispanic”, a term that for most seemed to place me in this monolithic grouping of uneducated, poor, and criminal-minded people. Mrs. Smith created safe spaces for me to find my way. 

Professors like Dr. Walter Stafford, and leaders like Rossana Rosado, Lisa Quirox, Fred Terrel, and Luis Miranda all helped open doors for me throughout my career. Believing in me when I didn’t, making important connections to advance my career, and showing me the path when I lost my way.

I build and nurture relationships because it’s in my lineage, it’s my purpose and it’s my joy. 

Do you have any tips for maintaining and building strong relationships? 

Maintaining and building strong relationships requires love, attention, and discipline. And it’s so much easier now thanks to technology. When I left the Dominican Republic as a 16-year-old teenager, I was devastated to leave my childhood friends. Thirty years later, we are scattered throughout the world and connected thanks to WhatsApp! We share jokes, losses, career wins, and family news on a near-daily basis. 

Professionally, I lean on LinkedIn for sharing my news but also make an effort to reach out to colleagues, mentors, sponsors, and friends with whom I’m rarely in touch at least once a year. I like to send them love notes reminding them of the impact they’ve made in my life, new achievements, and all that’s new with my family. As I get ready to publish my book, Inclusion Revolution; The Definitive Guide to Dismantling Inequity in the Workplace, next year, it gave me such joy to recognize many of them in the Acknowledgements. 

How have you intentionally built inclusiveness into your circles?

By design, my circles are vastly diverse and inclusive. As a woman of color, I’ve had to navigate whiteness and difference my entire career, often being the only one - only POC, only Latinx, only woman, only parent. As someone who was raised in another country, who grew up with a rich variety of nationalities and cultures all around me, I have a natural openness and appreciation to those who are different from me. I seek them out and love to build relationships— real relationships— that are reciprocal in nature. It’s not about me getting something, but rather about nurturing kinship. And I guess as a Gemini, I was bound to be a natural chatterbox and explorer who relishes in dispersing information and resources, making connections, and also holding space to sit in silence with others. 

What community/communities are you proud to be a part of? 

So many! First will always be my family. The people who taught me what it is to be in a community and care for a community. My friends, who love, nurture, support, and challenge me every day. My work families, and there many, as I’ve had the opportunity to work in great companies. In each, I’ve built great friendships, supported brilliant colleagues and mentees, and build amazing teams with whom I remain in touch over the years. Every Latinx organization that is trying to build a better future for our community - Hispanic Association for Corporate Responsibility, Latino Victory Fund, Alumni Society, Hispanize, and so many more. The boards where I have the privilege to serve - Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Robert S. Clark Foundation, St. Ann’s Warehouse, and Facing History and Ourselves. The List and WIE Suite, outstanding circles of sisterhood. Oh, I’ll stop now!   

Finally, to my readers:

Who’s a Connector that's made a difference in your life?