Celebrating Women of Impact

Celebrating Women of Impact

By Ella Salom '24

Recently the 2022 Women of Impact honorees, Dr. Mary Lomax-Ghirarduzzi and Lori Castillo ‘92 Martinez, visited the Notre Dame campus before the Women of Impact luncheon and were interviewed and honored for their work in social justice and leadership. 

This year’s honorees have blazed trails in their respective careers as leaders in the fight for gender and racial equity, both in the workplace and the global community. Dr. Mary Lomax-Ghirarduzzi is an academic trailblazer for equity in the school environment, currently serving as the dean of students and vice provost of diversity and community engagement at the University of San Francisco. She has almost three decades of experience in academia. She has also written a book, Twice as Good: Leadership & Power for Women of Color, reinforcing her participation in the race for gender and racial equity. Our second honoree, alumna Lori Castillo ‘92 Martinez was a member of the Class of 1992 Silver and Teal Dragons. Castillo serves as the executive vice president and chief equality officer at the software company, Salesforce in San Francisco. 

The interview was conducted by two students who serve as interns for ND’s Career & Life Success Program. During the interview, the honorees discussed the application of social justice and equity activism in our everyday lives and how to integrate these issues into our future careers. As women in leadership roles, both honorees were able to reflect on their workforce experience and emphasize the importance of using your voice in the community, and how to work on making that voice heard. As Dr. Lomax-Ghirarduzzi so eloquently put it, to "say yes" to every opportunity is to say yes to new experiences and helps us make our presence large and clear. 

On behalf of the ND community, thank you to our honorees, Dr. Mary Lomax-Ghirarduzzi and Lori Castillo '92 Martinez, for engaging in this event.