Coffee & Contacts- Elevate Company Culture

Join Paola A. Velasquez, IMEC’s Director of DEI in Manufacturing, and discover how companies are approaching diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to elevate company culture and drive advancements across their organization. Paola will walk you through steps of earning and improvement using IMEC's DEI journey map tool and share insights on companies that are creating pathways for tomorrow's workforce.

Paola's family has a long tradition in manufacturing. Her parents worked and retired from the industry, so she learned of the value of manufacturing at a young age. She joined the manufacturing workforce at the beginning of my college years and later went on to gain experience in academia, business, and healthcare. Because of this, she brings a different perspective to the manufacturing industry.
Paola's career has been marked by her passion for leading diversity and inclusion training. For over 20 years, she worked with the underserved and underrepresented population, and has created and led sustainable programs. She facilitated trainings like Unconscious Bias, Becoming an Ally, Understanding our Privileges, Brave, Bold Conversations, and Value Exercises – all aimed at addressing the skills gap and raising multicultural awareness. Now, she gets to do the same for manufacturers and help improve economic equity and inclusion in Illinois manufacturing.
She leads with purpose and understand that diversity, equity, and inclusion need to be embedded into the everyday work and in turn, it will drive meaningful change by cultivating an atmosphere of inclusion and belonging where employees can thrive, and business can grow. By combining her knowledge of critical and emerging issues in the United States with IMEC resources, she helps establish actionable goals and objectives to reduce turnover, support workplace collaboration, expand creativity and problem solving, and promote opportunities for career advancement.
As the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at IMEC, she helps strengthen Illinois manufacturers and facilitate job opportunities in ways that reduce the industry’s equity and skills gap.

Expertise

Specialized Skills

• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
• Bridging the Gap Trainer & Trainer of Trainers
• Master of Arts in Spanish Translation
• Bachelor of Arts in Business & Spanish Translation