Passionate partner develops food and her community

“Your gender has nothing to do with your ability to learn, explore or lead,” Justyna Cermeli, Research Scientist, tells her two young daughters. No one is better proof of this than Justyna herself.

Sixteen years ago, Justyna came to the U.S. from Poland, where her mom encouraged her to pursue economics or banking so Justyna could be financially secure.

“When I was in high school, my mom used to ask, ‘Have you ever seen a starving banker?’” Justyna said. “I would say, ‘No, but I don’t want to be a banker.’”

Then one day, a guest speaker at her school spoke about food science, microbiology and nutrition.

“All of a sudden it was clicking in my head, “This is what I want to do,’” Justyna said. “That day I ran home and said, ‘Mom, people who work in food science aren’t starving either!’ From that day forward, that’s what I was working toward.”

Her impact at Schreiber

"I am a food scientist,” Justyna said. “I create new foods and improve foods we already have in the market. I work with cross-functional teams to cut costs, create labels and adjust food formulas.”

On display in Green Bay museum

As part of Women’s History Month in March, Neville Public Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is featuring Justyna as part of its HerStory exhibit that explores the changing roles and experiences of women in work, politics and their community. You can watch Justyna’s full?interview.

She’s also featured in the museum’s Spectacular Scienc exhibit, which features the stories of Justyna and five other women working in the science field.?

Committed to her community

Whether it’s organizing donation drives for a local homeless shelter, building a Habitat for Humanity home or donating multicultural books to Little Free Libraries, Justyna has always been hands on in her community – and you’ll often see her daughters volunteering right beside her. Justyna also serves on the board of the Green Bay Botanical Garden.

Our differences make us better

Something that’s really come to life in the past couple of years is our business resource groups that are led by partners. We currently have seven resources for partners who are part of or an ally to these groups: African Americans, LGBT+, multi-cultural, multi-generational, women, veterans and individuals with diverse abilities and unique needs. These groups are helping us think differently, change perceptions and have deep, meaningful conversations with each other.

Justyna led a plant chapter of our women's resource group. She also served as Co-Chair of our Mosaic intercultural resource group and remains a member of the steering team.

“Our business resource groups help us learn from each other by appreciating backgrounds and differences in experiences,” Justyna said. “It doesn’t seem like a straight line from cultural fluency to innovation, but there’s definitely a correlation.”

Learn more about Schreiber's commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion on our website.

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