OK .
Are we ready to start ?
Wonderful , so good afternoon and
welcome to our event celebrating the
Hispanic Heritage Month . Hello , my
name is Daniel Ortiz and I will serve
as a , as your moderator for today's
session . I am honored to welcome you
to this cross cultural mentoring panel
celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month .
This panel is part of a FM CS mentoring
and globally diverse workforce 2023 .
And the goal is to create an inclusive
culture where all people feel
comfortable in conversations around
demographic diversity and to eliminate
barriers or airmen and guardians may
face when searching for and benefiting
from mentors , events will take place
during special observant month ,
providing an opportunity for all airmen
and guardians to hear about how to
better mentor a globally diverse
workforce . Each year , National
Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated
from September 15th to October 15th .
The theme for this year's Hispanic
Heritage Month is to so , so we
are all , we are one . During this time ,
we recognize the important
contributions in rich culture of
Hispanic Americans . Hispanic heritage
holds an indelible place in the heart
and soul of our nation and National
Hispanic Heritage Month reminds us that
the American identity is a fabric of
diverse traditions and stories woven
together . Since the beginning , our
country has drawn strength and insights
from Hispanic writers , scientists ,
soldiers , doctors , entrepreneurs ,
academics and leaders in labor and
government . Our culture has been
enriched by the rhythms , art and
creativity of Hispanic people and our
deepest values have been informed by
the love of family and faith that is at
the core of so many Hispanic
communities to kick off our discussion .
We have some words of welcome from the
Hispanic empowerment and advance
advancement team champion , Mr Joseph O
who is unable to be with us live today .
However , he has graciously recorded a
message for us .
Hello , I'm Joe , executive director of
the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center
and the champion for the Hispanic
empowerment and advancement team . The
heat . I recorded this message because
I'm out of the country for the event
and could not guarantee a good
connection if I'm lucky enough , I may
also be joining live , but this event
was too important to risk that bad
connection . A couple of shout outs to
Dara Bell Ortiz for taking the lead on
arranging this event to do a my heat
lead and to all my heat teammates and
thanks to the panel , Aria Rivera
Howard Garcia and Major Nathan Snow for
being willing to share your experiences
today . We are
all , we are one I can't think of a
more important thing than that and not
limited to Hispanic Heritage Month . It
seems everywhere we look , someone is
trying to divide us by politics , by
faith , by race , by gender , by where
we live or just by who we are . Don't
fall for that trap . We have more in
common than we have differences and
those differences make us richer as a
team events like this to me or like
highlight reels of your favorite sport .
They show dramatic scenes of the
winning touchdown . And this month we
are highlighting some of the
experiences of the Hispanic community .
And that is awesome . And just like in
a football game , the highlights aren't
the only thing that won the game , but
just one moment in the hours long
struggle that actually led to victory .
Everyone had their own highlight risks
that lets us win . So my request to the
audience is to listen , learn and
appreciate the experiences of the panel ,
all those things that they're going to
share with us today and then add to
that your background , your experiences
and the other highlight reels you get
to see throughout the year . And that
way we can make it real uno we are all ,
we are one . Thank you for being here
and let's get started .
We thank Mr for his support and words
of wisdom to Hispanic community .
Throughout the next hour , we plan to
discuss and answer questions on
mentoring a global diverse workforce .
Thankfully , through cultural
understanding , respect and inclusion ,
I will take the next few moments to
introduce myself before I introduce or
Steam panel member members . Once again ,
I am Dariel Ortiz originally from to
Puerto Rico where I moved from to
Dayton , Ohio . After finishing my
bachelor's degree in electrical
engineering , I moved to Dayton . Like
many of us seeking opportunities for
growth , become better , be better and
explore other opportunities . I have
been in civil civil service for 15
years initially working as an
intelligence analyst engineer in
different squadrons around a a two
years in I decided to jump over the
opposition world and serve as a deputy
division chief for awards where I
learned about management and leadership .
More recently , I got a new position as
the innovation lead for the digital
digital strategic team , part of the
agile combat support directory . As a
member of the Hispanic community , I
love supporting any event that will
give a voice to our stories ,
opportunities for us to be better , do
better and have representation in wide
wider forums . It's for this that I
have always involved myself in better
analysis groups , women initiative ,
initiative , teams , heat and any
extracurricular activity that can help
sharing my experience as a Hispanic
woman and engineer working for the Air
Force and above all as an as an example
to others in any possible way . I can
also I have a passion for helping
people and interconnecting people and
this is the goal of today's session . I
hope you enjoy it as much as we have
loved organizing it for all of you .
With further ado today's panelists are
M Aura Rivera Defense Intelligence ,
senior leader , retired data
exploitation , National Air and Space
Intelligence Center , Bright Patterson
Air Force Base , Major Nathan Snell ,
deputy chief for the turbine engine
engine division Air Force Research
research laboratory , Wright Patterson
Air Force Base . And last but not least ,
Mr Howard Garcia is strength and
materials , technical expert , Air
Force Life Cycle Management Center .
Wright Patterson Air Force Base .
Lastly , we do have Brianna Ross and
Jasmine Turner from our headquarters A
F MC diversity , equity inclusion and
accessibility team and Mandy Smith Neco
our command mentoring program with
today's panel before I turn this over
to the panel members who will give a
short three minute intro to themselves
and their view of the importance of
mentoring . I want to provide some
important rules of engagement . The
Zoom session has been recorded , the
chat is not being recorded . The
recording of this session will be
posted on the A FM CPA website under
the mentoring highline . We ask that
you stay muted at all times and do not
turn your camera on to save bandwidth .
All panel members plan to be on camera .
Thank you for those who have sent in
questions . We will begin with those
and then move into questions posted on
the chat as moderator . I will ask
those questions as time allows . We may
not get to questions but if you provide
your email address along with your
questions , we will get you an answer
after the event , we will go to the
full hour and , and as close to 3 p.m.
Eastern Standard Time as possible , we
as you complete the short assessment
informing us how you enjoy the panel
and things we could improve for future
panels . The link to complete the
assessment will be posted pe
periodically in the chat . We also
encourage everyone to sign up to become
a mentor or mentee using my Vector ,
the Department of the Air Force tool
for mentoring the my vector link will
also be posted periodically in the chat .
Panel members . Please take a few
minutes to introduce yourself your
heritage and your mentoring journey
starting with Miss Rivera . Yes ,
good afternoon . Can you hear me ? OK ,
we can hear you . Yes , you're gonna
hear my dog in the background that that
what happens when , when you are
working from , from home ? Uh I'm Maria
Rivera . I am was born and raised in uh
slash Cao Puerto Puerto Rico and I went
to university . I say Mr Garcia uh is
also from you . May II , I don't know
if you may remember . My brother used
to play volleyball with you . Uh So it ,
it's a very small world uh like I
mentioned uh coming from Puerto Rico ,
went to University of Puerto Rico ,
Maya West and I used to tease all my uh
my future colleagues that there is
University of Puerto Rico and there is
all the others . But anyway , I went to
University of Puerto Rico , um
graduated as an electrical engineer
back many , many , many years ago and I
came to date them clearly by , by
accident . Uh I was a NASA intern at
our space flight center back in 1979 at
the end of the , with the Apollo
program and the coming up with the
space shuttle and I was working
satellites at the time and I was
offered the opportunity to work on the
space shuttle . However , when I
graduated in 19 , in 1980 the space
shuttle went into a delay and NASA
pulled the job offer . Basically
telling me that if I wanted to work on
the shuttle program , I needed to wait
a couple years to go to Nasa Kennedy to
do it . So in the meantime , I have
read so much about the Wright brothers
and the story of aviation that I wanted
to come to Dayton and experience that
myself , not necessarily to meet the
Wright brothers , even though with my
white hair , you will think otherwise .
So I came here and I started to work at
the time at the Foreign Technology
Division and I fell in love with the
intelligence community and its mission
um mentioned an engineer by trade
professional engineer uh license in the
state of Ohio . And that uh the reason
why I mentioned this certification
becomes important when we talk about
mentorship . Uh I directed uh
I was participant and director of the
nec civilian career development program .
And I was a mentor and an advocate for ,
for many of uh of future leaders . In ,
in my organization , I retired in 2013 ,
after 34 years of service uh to the
government . And I went into an
extensive sabbatical which I went
and became an advocate for the transfer
of technology to the agricultural
community . I went to Ohio State uh to
study agriculture economics to that end
and then came back and as a contractor
then in support of the Department of
Defense in the community . Currently ,
I am working uh on projects related to
climate and technology uh and
technology conservation and looking
forward for the opportunity to talk to
all of you uh uh share the , the
journey and uh provide uh provide the
audience with some of my uh
recommendations for how to move into
the very interesting world of getting
yourself known and promoted in the
Department of Defense . Thank you very
much . Thank you so much , Miss
over to you now . Yeah .
So uh so I'm major Nathan Snow . Uh I
originally grew up in uh southern
California just north of Los Angeles .
I graduated with a bachelor's in
mechanical engineering from the
University of Texas San Antonio in
2012 . Then uh then I went and got my
master's while uh a commissioned
officer at the University of Oklahoma
in 2015 . And then I got my phd in
aeronautical engineering uh out of a ,
uh in 2022 . And , uh so , uh I was
first stationed in Tinker , uh Oklahoma
and uh worked in program offices there ,
uh various assignments . Then I moved
on to Vandenberg , uh in California
where I did space launch , uh worked
with , uh spacex pretty heavily on
their uh launch operations . Then I
came over to at Patterson to complete
my phd and uh now I'm working in the
turbine division as the Deputy chief .
Uh I was also , I've been deployed ,
I've been to IUD in Qatar in 2016 and
then I just recently returned from a
deployment in July from Camp Aidan in
Kuwait . Uh I married , my wife is
Gabriela . Um It took so
she's , she's half Hispanic . She is ,
uh and she's very stubborn . It took
her three years for her to change her
name . Uh So her , her name is actually
Gabriella Blanco and I told her she
could keep it , you know , I didn't
have a problem with it , but she was
afraid that the kids would get picked
on if they were Blanco with snow
because then people figured out snow
white . Um but she is black Venezuelan .
Her father grew up in Venezuela . Uh He
came to the United States in the
seventies on a scholarship to play
tennis uh for the University of
Oklahoma . And then , uh so we have
three Children , Mason Coin and Addison
and they are learning , we're trying to
teach them Spanish and uh they ,
they're just learning all the funny
words . None of the great stuff that
maybe they should be learning . But uh
but I'm glad that they're learning
something . Um So as far as mentoring ,
I have been the recipient of great
mentorship throughout my schooling and
career . Uh I've also had uh a great
opportunity to supervise and mentor
several engineers and officers enlisted
uh with diverse backgrounds . It has
been one of the best experiences of my
career . Uh And I have learned the
quality of mentorship , communicates
how they care and value the mentee as
an individual and shows that they're
invested in their future . And I always
try to encourage others to embrace
their diversity and that every
successful team requires that inclusion .
So , I mean , wonderful . Thank
you so much now , uh over to you Mr
Garcia .
Mhm
How are you muted ?
See , that's how you follow mentoring
when somebody else tells you what to do
and you listen to them and you apply .
Uh This is Howard Garcia . Welcome to
buddy . Uh I was born in New York . Uh
and uh and then eventually , later on ,
uh with my parents from Puerto Rican
parents uh moved to Puerto Rico uh uh
has a Aria mentioned small world ,
right ? Went to University of uh
Bulldogs Tarzans , that's our mascot ,
very proud of it . Um One of the
important things that I , that I still
remember is that when I arrived to
Puerto Rico just being born in New York .
Uh I was well received by the Puerto
Rican community , those in the eras uh
that we were transferring a lot of our
families transferring back to Puerto
Rico , especially coming from New York ,
we were considered New York , Ricans .
We were a little bit different because
we have both cultures . We have the
culture of New York , United States .
And also we have the culture of , of
our Hispanic heritage and our parents .
And , and I just remember one thing
when I was growing up to live in New
York , my parents always took the time
and the effort to still speak my
language , try to teach me my language
there and also still stay strong on the
in the English language . But the same
time to maintain the the culture . And
I remember one of the things vividly
when I was very young , uh the three
Kings Day on sixth of January and which
it's honoring the three wise men that
uh provided gifts and , and a homage to ,
to Jesus Christ at the moment and , and
the way they did it , we're talking
about New York . I'm living right
behind uh laguardia Airport . It is
freezing cold , there's snow all over
the place . And my parents found
somewhere to get some grass and they'll
tie a little bundle , they'll put it
underneath my bed and taught me how to
do it . Pull it with water and then
with the representation that if when
the camels came with three kings that
they in exchange for the water and the
grass for their animals , they will
give you a gift . And I remember that
vividly and transfer that into my life .
And that I just remember that how
important it is to always be true to
your roots and to remember where you're
from and be able to communicate that
and do good to others . So as I moved ,
uh to here to the , to the States , uh
I'm , I'm an avid volleyball player ,
uh ex volleyball , retired , uh but
also a avid volleyball coaches moment .
And I remember just bringing that also
to the players that I coach and trying
to remember how important it is to
interact and bring the things of that
you brought with you , the things that
you , who you are , what you want to do
and be able to be open about it and not
shy about it . So , uh with that said ,
I have worked on , uh , I've been here
for 39 years . I retire in December
this year . I work in the S 16 program .
One is development uh F-22 and his
development F-15 , some other program
is a strength , strength engineer , uh
and also as an M MP uh engineer . Um
and as roles have gone by during my
years of experience working with these
different programs also interacted with
a different type of , of individuals
from different backgrounds on genders
so forth , so on . And I , I learned
that we have to be able to first open
our eyes and our mind to understand uh
the different people that you're
interacting with so that you can also
be recipient created the same way . I'm
married with uh two . I married to my
wife Lizette for uh uh going close to
four years . Hopefully , I forget what
the , what the date is . Have 42
beautiful daughters and four
grandchildren , having a bowl with them .
They're very active and just like their
mom and dad were . Uh and I also
remember coming here to the States when
I , my first assignment in the F-16
program , uh being assigned to the
Hispanic Employment Program . And I had
no idea what that was . I asked my boss ,
he said , Howard , you're Hispanic just
be part of it . And I said , OK , I'll
go for it . And then I learned
immediately how many things were still
unknown about the Hispanic community in
the early eighties and what I can do to
be able to provide that information and
how people started embracing it . And I
learned again not to be shy about it
because if you open your , your , your
book to people , people are gonna be
willing , really willing to uh to read
it . But if you're honest and
respectful about it and able to that
way , started getting into the
mentorship of helping people with
different backgrounds in different ways
through , uh through uh and on bass and
different uh activities . Being part of
Puerto Rico sing . Uh I can't sing but
playing instruments with my wife . He's
an awesome singer also , uh bringing
through the sports , through volleyball ,
trying to bring the culture that we ,
the way we play , the way we felt , the
way we express ourselves and how we
really , really uh uh felt about
different things and how important it
is to show who you are and believe who
you are . And also , you know , being
part of the uh Hispanic community
through Paco and Pr CS at time was a
great thing . I still enjoy it . I know
that uh I'll keep on doing as much as I
can as the people have done it for me
in the past .
Great . Thank you so much . Thank you ,
panel members for your introduction .
We're looking forward to a dynamic and
engaging discussion , utilizing a
combination of set and free flowing
questions from the chat session . So
please be sure to input your questions
into the chat area . MS Rivera , we
will begin with you . Um As a leader ,
you have had plenty of experience as a
mentor and a mentee . How do you
identify a potential mentor ? And what
makes a good mentor ? Oh , thank you ,
Dariel . Uh Mentorship is , is a
passion of mine . And as I was
mentioning before , during my , my
introduction , uh when I came here to ,
to work at as a , as a very young uh
professional engineer . Uh
All my focus was truly into getting
my job done and get it done properly
and uh excel in , in everything that ,
that I did and never with an
aspiration to become a senior executive
equivalent . No , none of that was ,
was crossing my mind at the time . So ,
uh I was very fortunate that I have
senior leaders in the organization that
even in the 19 eighties , they were
looking into the uh diver a
diversification of the , of the
workforce . Uh I should start , should
have started my uh remarks by saying
that I , that I am the second female
engineer in that facility . If , if you
think about uh uh that fact
when , when you are 22 years old and ,
and you walk in the , the the hallways
and you do not see a lot of people like
you , but you still basically have as a
young person , the energy to go out and ,
and do things . So to say that I seek a
mentor necessarily uh early in my
career will , will not be , will not be
correct . I was pulled by , by other ,
by senior leaders in the organization
because frankly , they saw that , that
I was a very good engineer that I was
able to not only to get the job done
but to get it done with in a way that
show them that I was interested in
growing my technical expertise . So
uh to that end , I , I immediately
obtained my master's degree in
electrical engineering from Rice State
University . And throughout my career ,
I , I continue to , to grow my , my
academic and uh uh credentials and the
professional engineering license for uh
engineers in government . Unless you
are uh uh part of the army corps of
engineers really is not a requirement .
So I went ahead and did it because I
said , you know , eventually when I
retire , uh if I want to go and work
for industry , I would like to , to
have that credential unknowns to me at
the time , one of the senior leaders in
the organization was a professional
engineer himself . So when I was
speaking uh across the organization for
the , for the five signatures that I
needed to endorse my uh application ,
he immediately figured connected me
with , with the , with the application .
And once I passed on my first try , he
became my , my , my mentor . He
actually came out and , and , and , and
reach out to me . However , not
everybody will have that opportunity
for , for that to , to take place . So
when you seek of a mentor , I will , I
will argue that the first thing that
you need to do is that you need to have
the ability to relate to that
individual uh male , female . And you
have the things that come in common
will be the mission , your own personal
backgrounds . Uh the , the mission ,
the mission areas . And a as I brought
it , there has to be something that
basically will connect you to , to that
individual . And once you reach out for
that individual across your
organization , I will argue that your
first mentor is really your first line
supervisor , he or she will be the
first person that will be uh your first
advocate . And soon after that , that
first uh level supervisor will be able
to make the proper introductions to
other leaders in , in the organization
that can reach out and support your ,
your journey . Great .
Thanks for that . Uh Miss Rivera , many
now Hispanic heritage includes a wide
range of people and culture . What
would you recommend to people trying to
learn more about leading people who may
have very different backgrounds from
each other while still being Hispanic ?
Yeah . Um So first , uh I'm really
grateful to have this opportunity . I ,
um you know , I've worked with a lot of
different groups . Um And like I
mentioned before , I recently returned
from a deployment . Um And I , I didn't
specifically work with Hispanic , you
know , actually there were Spaniards
there that actually dealt with , but I
dealt with um groups from all over um
from all over the world and it really
kind of opened my eyes and how to
interact with them . Um But first , I
guess I would say that there's 22
things that I would say um going along
to that question is one , you have to
get out of your comfort zone and that's
for the mentor and the mentee , you
gotta feel comfortable . Um And so ,
like I said , so when I was deployed ,
we had 26 different nations that were
represented and we worked very closely
with them . Uh We had represent
representatives from Spain uh Italy ,
Britain , France , Denmark . Um And I ,
and I made some really great friends
while I was there and I still talk to
them today and mentor with them . Uh ,
you know , some of them are actually ,
um , French or Italian soldiers and all ,
you know , they're telling me what's
going on at work . I'm like , well ,
have you thought of this ? So , it's ,
it's , it's been quite a , a great
experience . Um , and so , but what I
learned is so it , it was very
particular , the Italians were very
open and it was because of the
situation that they were in . Um , they
were kind of onesie two . And so they
were , they were kind of vulnerable and
they , you know , and I guess , I don't
know if I was able to catch on to that ,
but I , I saw , you know , we can make
some friendships there and I saw the
groups and this includes the Americans
too . I was a little disappointed how
little the Americans interacted with
the other nations . It was such a great
opportunity . They were just right
there but they , they kind of stay to
themselves . Um , they weren't willing
to get out of that comfort zone . Um ,
and so recognizing the opportunities
that we have , recognizing individuals ,
even when I did , I had , uh , some
individuals I would bring along with us
from , from Italy and France to lunch
with us . And often I'd find I was the
only one talking with them , even if it
was a group of 10 of us . And it was
very disappointing to me because the
other , you know , individuals I was
with would , would talk about things
that was very difficult for them to
follow . Um you know , very specific
and they weren't very um cognizant of
the , the audience that they were in .
And so I would say , get out of your
comfort zone , uh you know , be willing
to learn about them , show interest in
them . And then not because they're
necessarily , you know , Hispanic or
their friends because who they are
because they're an individual and , and
just knowing and learning about that
individual and those things will just
come out , you know , their , their ,
their culture and things will just come
out because it's who they are . And so
embrace that . The other I would say is
um that goes along with that is
encourage the diversity and highlight
individual backgrounds . Um So , you
know , I have some friends uh from
Texas . They , they uh they grew up in
a town that was predominantly Hispanic
and I was , I was a little surprised
and maybe this was just a little bit .
My , my ignorance is , I assumed that
they knew Spanish and that , you know ,
they spoke Spanish . And , uh , so when
I would , when I would talk to them , I
learned that their parents have
actually did not teach them Spanish .
And , um , because their parents
thought it would be a disservice to
them in their future . Um , if they
have like a Hispanic accent or
something like that . And I , I thought
that was really unfortunate um that ,
that , that their parents felt that way
uh because I felt like that was a loss
to them , to their , to their Children
that they could pass along . Um And ,
and I hope , uh you know , there's
still maybe cases but I hope we're
overcoming that . Um I'm trying to push
my wife to teach my kids Spanish . I
think it's , it's wonderful to , to be
able to do that . It doesn't just , you
know , it's not just about knowing
another language , but it opens you up
to just , you know , a whole other
world of how , how other cultures
function and operate and it makes you
feel more connected . Um On the other
hand , I worked with officers that were
English was their second language . Um
And they have excelled , they learned
to adapt and not only adapt but they
thrived in the Air Force . Uh One's a
pilot and one's getting his phd . Um
And so those , those are great stories
and , uh but they're very proud of
their heritage . Um And , and on
another example , there was a , there's
an angel that I worked with that was
African American . Um And he ,
he had , he did not have family support
in joining the military . And I don't
think anybody knew this about him . Um
You know , he said he even , you know ,
we talk about his experiences when he
was at the academy or , or working with
individuals , how he , it wasn't
necessarily as inclusive as , as maybe
it should have been . And , and I
expressed to him that I , I appreciated
him being here um in the military and
serving with us in , in his background .
Um and that we need that diversity .
And so for me really encouraging
individuals to express themselves and
who they are not try to fit some cookie
cutter mold mold . Um but that we need
that diversity and , and uh you know ,
we , we shouldn't hide that . We , we
should encourage individuals to be who
they are . Ok .
Great Mr Garcia . How has
representation or the lack thereof in
leadership shape , how you view your
own position in civil service ?
Oh , that's a , that's a very uh good
question . Uh I come
back to uh remember when I came in into
uh work at Right Pat in 1985 .
Um I got uh I got the offer except the
offer and then we came over to Ohio ,
we knew very little about it . Uh ,
except that Ohio State was here and the
University of Dayton was here . That's
as much as I knew . Uh , but with
ignorance itself in regards to the
state of Ohio , we just thrust
ourselves in here and , and , uh , II ,
I looked , I , I listened to the
question and , and how that position in
regards to civil service , uh , the
word service , which is a word of
action is what really caught catches my
attention . Now , I'm gonna remove
civil from it . It doesn't matter if
you're civil service or you're not , if
you're a contractor or not , if you're
just uh a person just that works in
different things or probably different
things . It's still a service . And ,
and me looking back at when I came in
and coming first into the home office
just to be trained and my focus was
just to be the best uh engineer that I
could be in regards to static strength .
And I will just , you know , read , go
to different uh conferences , get
trained as much as possible to be able
to do the best I could . But didn't
realize at the time that my boss , the ,
my first immediate boss , his name was
Charlie Woodcock and he was a direct
descendant of a Cherokee Indians . And ,
and , and , and that was when I sat
down one time and I was a little bit
flustered because I was , I didn't get
to know a lot of people from Puerto
Rico . In fact , the only person I knew
was Joy Gonzalez at the time and we
went to school together . That's as
much as I knew . And I was a little
frustrated and I sat down with him and ,
and he had a conversation very strongly .
He said , Howard , uh where you come
from is your roots . But that's not
only gonna , that's not gonna be the
thing that's only gonna define you ,
your actions are really gonna define
you . And that caught me by surprise .
The moment me being ignorant , of
course . And I said , OK , here is a
person that I can lean on to really and
I can relate to and to think about what
I'm going to do in my future because I
was only planning to be here three
years and then move on pr 39 years
later and still here . Uh So based on
what Mr Woodcock told me , I , I took
that with , uh , with , uh , with a lot
of thought and , and moved on . So then
I got collocated in the time of the
F-16 . And guess what ? My first
supervisor , her name was Harlan K . He
was a direct descendant from Germans
and he had gone through the experience
of , of a lot of relatives through
World War Two . And he also sat down
with me because he saw still first , I
was a little bit shy about what I want
to do . Still just focus on static
strength . And he also sat down and
told me the same thing that Mr Woodcock
told me and I said , OK , this is two
people . Two for two . I'm , I get one
Warren that tells me his thing . I'm
striking out , I gotta go home . So I
thought about it a little bit more .
And then I said , OK , you know , it's ,
it's representation or it's not the
bottom line is that you have to really
define who you are and present that to
other people . So Mr Woodcock and Mr K ,
they took their time and their energy
to be able to show me the path that
they have taken to be where they were
at that given time . And this is the
days when there was just fourteens and
fifteens when you're 15 , you were gray
fourteens , you were right there . It's
a big thing and I admired him for that .
They , and then under the tutelage of
Mr , he told me , Howard don't only
focus on one thing , expand your world ,
expand your horizons . And I had a
little bit of background and materials
and then he started giving me things
that were uh per that were concerning
to materials . And I started expanding
myself and I start feeling more
comfortable and his mentorship regards
to that view of not only being just
encapsulated in just one thing to be
open up and to be able to uh to receive
and to provide was , was tremendous and
he was the one that get me into the
Hispanic Employment Program . Uh and a
lot of things that he taught me were
the things that I provided into the
program and they got a applied . And
then the third person I can bring into
regards to mentoring to me uh that made
a great , great impact and has uh uh
more to me as a person . I am today is
a man . His name is Les Me . Uh , he
was an African American graduate from
Dunbar at the time . He was the chief ,
uh , uh , engineer for , uh flight
system , the S 16 . And , uh , one day
I went with my , with my wife to go and
search for homes to purchase here in
the , in when we lived in , uh , in the
Fairborn area . And my wife , we went
to this place and we just driving in
and we just get out and I was maybe GS
nine and 11 still with a Hispanic , you
know , tan and still had a lot of hair ,
uh , and stuff like that . And the
people just didn't really receive us
graciously . I thought they would have ,
but they didn't and they told us that
we couldn't afford that place . Uh ,
and I'm looking at my wife and we'll
come back and , you know , we said , ok ,
uh , we just walked on and we went back
and , and that Monday I went to work
and Les came over and said , Howard how
did your house search uh your house
search go for . And I gave him the
story and he said this is wrong . And
they said the bottom line again , as I
tell you , it's not , you know , it's
not the color of your skin or where you
come from really defines you what you
really do and the thoughts that you
have . So he took upon himself to drive
me , get in his car , which he had a ,
a 2 80 Z uh at that time and get me in
the car and drive over to him with him
to his place . And he , when we got
local location said , how were you
driving the car ? So it was like trying
to represent a financial status at the
point , I was a little bit embarrassed
but I was , I know he was trying to get
a car . So we got out and then the
people came running because I was in a ,
in a , in a , uh you know , quote
luxury car at the time . And uh , and
he said that's the point that you have
to drive , you have to stand up for
yourself . But at the same time , do
not do what people have done to you at
this point . And that's through my
mentoring career from there on . I took
that also on myself to be able to make
sure that folks did not really try to
push things to be able to listen to be
open about that and I've done that in
the F-22 program and other programs .
I've been at , I've been in the sports ,
uh the coach , the teams that I coach
today so forth , so on . So , you know ,
if representation to me is important ,
but at the end of the day is really who
you are and what you want to be and who
you wanna be and what , how you
represent yourself before others . Uh
I've been very blessed uh to do that .
My recommendation to anybody out there
that's listening to , don't get wrapped
up on the , the , the little things ,
the things that are not important , get
wrapped on the things that are really
gonna provide you value , uh uh you
know , uh better in your studies . Um
uh Listening to other things , going to
conferences , uh interacting with
people with older folks like you are or
with youth and be able to caps like
those things and bring in a package to
you . So eventually , like in our case ,
in my case , I'm a civil servant at
this point to be able to provide the
best service you can based on what you
learn in the background you have .
Awesome . Thank you so much . Um Miss
Rivera , which other resources outside
of A F MC can be leveraged for the
Hispanic community to expand their
mentoring experiences . Uh Some of
the thoughts that Howard and Major Snow
shared uh are , are critical . Uh We
already mentioned the performance and
now we're gonna talk about
relationships . So for example , uh
you have at the very early uh elements
of your career , uh being an active
participant in technical societies
becomes important for me would be like
I triple E uh because that , that will
give you exposure to a community beyond ,
beyond your , your workplace . So
technical , technical societies uh
early in your career uh are , are
critical uh as your career progresses ,
then participation in LA is the society
the Hispanic Professional Engineers
will , will be one that I will highly
recommend because not only opens the
door for you to , to get to know the
peers , but also to start looking more
strategically at what your uh
professional engineering career . Uh If
you happens to be an engineer will ,
will look like also Project Management
Institute is , is , is very , very good
uh uh association and institute to , to
be part of because let's say , for
example , if you are , if you are in ,
in uh in project management , uh
eventually , uh the certification for
project management will be become
important to you . So becoming part of
the project management institute
basically opens the door , not only for
you to have relationships within the
federal government , but also to have
relationships with industry as well .
And coming back and talking again about
engineering and stem because that's
what I do . Uh The National Society of
Professional Engineers also opens the
door . Uh not only uh for you to uh
address your , your , uh your community
uh on the , on the , on your
professional side , but also on the
community outreach gives you an
opportunity to volunteer in activities .
Like imagine engineering that opens the
door for you to talk to uh second
graders as uh as far as uh not all
engineers drive trains . You have math
counts for 6th , 7th and 8th graders is ,
is basically you volunteer to , to help
a young uh young , young students uh to
excel in math and become math athletes .
And , and as you move forward , then
you can participate and be supportive
of the society of women engineers , for
example , and so forth . So if you look
across the uh in , in the community ,
there are many avenues that , that you
can use and leverage . That also brings
you uh the opportunity to share ideas
and experiment beyond uh the realms of
what the Federal government provides ,
which by the way , uh the Department of
Defense Federal Government has
wonderful that you can use to basically
grow uh grow your potential . The
Office of Personnel Management , I
cannot tell you how many courses I took .
Uh uh as far as you know , first level
supervising , going to West Virginia
and and participating in some of the
seminars and in Denver , I have to
imagine that there are other facilities .
Now again , give you exposure not only
to the academic side and uh and the
learning opportunities there but also
opens the door for building uh
friendships and relationships with uh
individuals across government , not
only for right path but but across the
nation and across the world . So uh
opportunities are plentiful . I am
certain that if you reach out to your
career development , leaders across a F
MC , they should be able to point you
in the right direction when it comes to
opportunities within the Department of
Defense . And then uh when you look
across the community , you can find
also opportunities to , to join other
uh professional organizations as well .
Thank you , Mr River . You're very
right . Leveraging the tools that we
have at hand are highly important for
us to find good mentorship options . Uh
majors . Now , how would you encourage
leaders to be inclusive when
establishing mentor mentee
relationships ? Uh
Yeah . So first , I mean , I think you
need to build a relationship of trust .
Um You know , you need to , I guess ,
define how the mentee uh perceives
you . I mean , do they see you as a
boss ? Do they see you as a friend ? So
getting to that right level of , of
respect and understanding um And you
know , before mentee will open up you ,
you need to create an environment that
they're willing to open up to you . Um
I personally try to uh acknowledge my
own vulnerabilities and communicate
that what I'm , you know , the
mentorship that I try to get them is ,
is advice . Um And it's up to them to
choose their own path though , not to ,
you know , if they don't follow through
with what I recommend , you know ,
that's , that's their choice and that
we need to trust them and not be upset
with them and , and you know , that
they feel , um you know , that they're
coming to you , not necessarily to , to
tell them what to do , but , you know ,
to , to , to give them opportunities .
Um And when it comes to mentoring
individuals such as , you know ,
Hispanic culture backgrounds , uh be
open about what , what you do and don't
know about , about those cultures . Um
You know , and try and make connections .
Um I , I'll be honest , I , I get a
little open with some of the
individuals that I've worked with .
I've , I've asked pretty blunt
questions and not to , not to put them
on the spot and it's , it's more things
to kind of show my ignorance or my lack
of understanding . And I feel like we
come to a better point and , and at
that point , I feel like they are no
longer feeling like they are just
receiving advice or receiving
mentorship , but at that time , they're
contributing . So if you can build a
relationship where I think the , the
mentee is uh also providing and , and ,
you know , you know , it's not just a
one way street . Um You know , a lot of
times I , you know , I work with a lot
of younger officers um , you know ,
various backgrounds , but regardless of
their background , they , they come up
to me and it's always , hey , sir . Yes ,
sir . Major Snow . Um , and I , and I
try and get , you know , it's , it's
good to have that level of respect ,
but I also need them to feel
comfortable that , you know , if
something goes wrong or something
happens that they , they know they can
come to me and that we'll work through
it together . Um And I feel by being
somewhat vulnerable with them and
expressing what I do and don't know ,
um has allowed them to feel like , yeah ,
they can come and talk to me and that I
am will be part of the solution and not
one to just , you know , uh you know ,
dictating what needs to be done and ,
and , and show like a disappointment so
building that relationship of trust .
Um And then the other , you know , I
always fall back , fall back to , you
know , you gotta get out of your
comfort zone . Um I've a lot of leaders
that I've had um are very focused on
the mission and that's what they know .
And , you know , you know , we come in
especially at the military so that
anybody who's out there that's military ,
you know , we come and go and it's very
obvious to military leaders , you know ,
they don't even get to know your name
and they're very focused on the mission .
And uh I think it's very important um
that we look and observe at those
relationships , I think as at leaders ,
as leaders um and mentors that we need
to look just as equally at the mission
as , as we do at the people and the
relationships that are around and
trying to identify those who may not
feel like they fit in or feel like
those who may need to be a mentor .
Don't wait for mentees to , to come to
you . Um especially the Junior Force .
Um They don't necessarily know how they
don't feel comfortable , they don't
have the confidence . So reach out to
them and tell them that you're
available . And when we say open door
policy really mean that and almost at
times drag them into your office and
say you are coming into my office and
we're going to talk about stuff and ,
you know , let's tell me where you're
at and I think that right there sets
sets a tone that you care about them .
Um But it requires the leader to get
out of their comfort zone . And um you
know , like , like Mr Garcia was saying
how he had to get out of his comfort
zone and learn about new things . And I
think that is the way a team grows and ,
and expands and , and uh you know , so ,
so those are my , my thoughts on it .
Thank you so much . No , I , I do
particularly resonate with a um the
portion of getting out of your comfort
zone . By my own experience . I
remember when I first started working
at uh Wright Patterson Air Force Base ,
I couldn't come out of my shell for the
life of me . Um I couldn't , I could
barely talk to people . So when
initially I wanted to get a mentor , it
was really hard for me to try to
express what I wanted to do with my
career . Now , 15 years later , it's a
completely different story . I know
what I want . I want what I'm going and
um I know the benefit of us having this
type of discussions . So other people
that were probably in my position that
are probably in my position 15 years
ago , can resonate and try to look for
the tools that we're providing and
talking about here . Uh So thanks again ,
Mr Garcia . What advice do you have for
other Hispanic employees entering into
their first cross cultural mentoring
relationship ? Well , this is
a good one as I just wanna make a an
initial encapsulate of , of how small
the world is disregarding your Hispanic
or not or whatever other background .
Mrs Rivera says she's from , right ? I
had no idea , no idea whatsoever . Uh
Daddy Ortiz , as she knows when she
came in , I met her when she was young
and vibrant and , and , but I tell you
though that she want to go back home
immediately , but now she is today and
vibrant and both young ladies , both
young ladies , OK . Are still Aria and
Daddy are still here , doing great
things for , for the community . So
they have established who they are ,
right ? So they feel good about
themselves . So when you ask that first
encounter , you have to be good with
yourself . First , you have to find
what your niche is and what you really
want to do . And then from there , you
can start moving forward to the things
that are important to you and also to
your surroundings . Um I , I like to uh
to talk with based on experiences . Uh
I was in the F-16 as a GS 11 , I
was the only reciting Hispanic left in
the program office in a booming time of
the year 16 where they're , we call
block 30 . They're making about 30 of
those airplanes every month . Uh It's a
Friday afternoon . We're automatically ,
we go into the Gulf War . Um I'm a GS
11 . I , you know , they didn't know
what to do at the time and they needed
some information to be able to release
some aircraft , aircraft to continue
with their missions . Uh I had to go
back , sit down and gather myself and
be able to say , ok , I don't know much
about this . So I have to not be the
big guy on the hill , but I got to get
other people to be with me on top of
the hill . And I gather that
information . But the only reason I was
to do that is because the people that I
met , the people that I told you like
Mrs K , Mr Kuo and uh and Mr
and uh Mr Woodcock , they told me to be
self assured about myself . So I had to
go and going down to be humble and get
the assistant we had for the war fight
at a given time and we able to deliver
that in a couple of hours , but it was
really critical , the information that
they needed out there uh overseas . So
when you're gonna have that first
encounter and mentoring relationships
gotta be feeling good about yourself .
But you also have to be yourself . Uh
When I talk to people , I like to and
sometimes they make fun book . I talk
in Spanglish because half of my words
in English , I from in Spanish . Uh a
lot of times when I'm talking with my
wife , they know I'm talking to my wife ,
we talking in Spanish on the phone .
But it doesn't matter to me what people
think about me is really who I am and
what I want to do and how I do things
and that's how I convey myself . So
when you , when you're going into that
relationship , you're trying to go and
help somebody new that may be different
from the backgrounds that you have or
look different than you or so forth .
So on , that should not be important .
What's important is that we're all just
human beings that we have , we're in a
place like in this case , working for
the government , for the United States
Air Force , we have a mission to
fulfill . Uh and Mr Snow and uh and
Nathan Snow , like he said , he , he's
in the military aspect , I'm in the
civilians world . But if we were to
combine both our resources , we may
come with a common goal to support the
war fighter and to , to support the war
fighter who supports the our nation .
So it , I , as I said before , be good
about yourself , think good about
yourself . Try to find ways to improve
yourself . If , if it's going to the
gym , if it's uh reading more uh going
to courses , uh uh giving speeches ,
writing articles , going to different
events within your community or outside
to be able to explore . So like that ,
that is , that is a key element to it .
So if you're going to do it , just go
and do it be self assure and I will
guarantee you that disregarding how you
think the end , what you see your point
of view is at the end , there's gonna
be somebody who's gonna benefit from
the mentorship and the help you give .
Great . Thank you for that Howard . Um
So we have one more question that I
want to ask to all of the panelists and
please keep in mind that we have nine
minutes left . So I'm gonna allow a
minute and a half for each one of you
to uh answer this question and I'm
gonna start with snail . Uh How do you
feel differences in and experiences
based on ethnicity should be discussed
in a cross cultural Mandarin
relationship ?
OK . Um
In a cross cultural mentoring
relationship ,
I'm trying to get it come up with a
good way to answer this . So if someone
else has uh something already to go ,
feel free to jump in or if any other
Panelist wants to jump in , please feel
free .
Let me , let me take a hack at that one .
That's a doozy . OK . Uh Because most
of the most of the time espe especially
now , uh we , we basically are in an
environment that we are not in close
contact with , with one another . So
conversations of , of this type uh are
are conversations that need to happen
in an environment where trust as major
now mentioned have to have to be in
place because in order for any person
to be able to fully share uh
his or her background , what are the
things that are important to them and
so forth , you have to feel that that
vulnerability is something that is not
gonna be mistreated . I if , if , if ,
if you can , if you can follow my
maternal thought . So , however , is
that authenticity , what becomes
important ? And sometimes , you know ,
we can express it in words and we can
express it in our , in , in our own
actions in our proud , being proud of
our own heritage that it has been
mentioned before , becomes very
important in our ability in , in in one
on one conversations to say , you know ,
you mentioned that you have difficulty
here . Let me share with you what
happened to me X number of years ago
when I was in that same situation and
how uh I address it . So the fact
is that we bring every single person ,
bring a unique perspective in into the
table and by opening the door uh to
other , to other inputs , basically
makes , makes that case uh important
last , but not least I can tell you the
date that the first female colonel sat
in the big table with all the , with
all the big colonels and , and , and
that moment resonated with me , even
with that , she's saying a word , her
own presence there spoke volumes as the
ability to bring a different
perspective to the table . So , uh I
will leave that I would , I , I can
speak about this for four days . But
let , let , let's say that having the
ability to share , having the ability
to instill a trusting uh workforce
environment and having the ability to
listen becomes critical in this level
of mentorship and conversations . Thank
you . That was great . Thank you so
much . So , so take me a second to
think . But uh this actually reminds me
of uh of a , a story that I heard from
a chaplain when I was deployed uh
several years ago . And uh so he was in ,
he was in a class uh university . So ,
you know , you can , I guess assume
that the , the teacher is the mentor
and he was given an assignment to write
about a location in Iraq where he was a
marine and he fought , it was one of
the , I don't remember the exact
location , but it was one of the
locations that had heavy fighting . Uh
Several members had , had lost their
lives there . And he need to describe
that location . Um You know , and of
course , he , he describes it , you
know , it's , filthy , it fires and ,
um , you know , it's just , um does not ,
didn't paint a very pretty picture of
it . Now in the classroom , there was
another individual who was from Iraq ,
who actually was from that city , uh
that he fought in and she had a very
different perspective and a very
different picture of that where she
talked about how her brothers played
soccer in the , in the , in the fields
and how she loved that place . And I
think it's important that , you know ,
and , and , and that we acknowledge
that there are differences between
individuals and some of those
differences are not necessarily , you
know , gonna be an agreement or , or
peaceful . And we need to learn how to
acknowledge that and how to get past
that and how , and , and helps us
understand our own biases and I think
that will help individuals um come to
some hopefully uh uh a better working
relationship and , and it is up to the
mentor to , to guide that , that mentee
and , and , and those , he , he leads
to make sure that those cross cultural
differences um are discussed and that
those , those bridges are gap or those
gaps are bridged um in order to move on
and uh work as a team .
Great . Um Mr Garcia , do you have any
additional comments to that question ?
Yeah , I'm gonna be really , I , again ,
I'm gonna use another experience . So
uh uh as when we came into hit the
States and work in our right path , we
had a couple of friends that we met uh
and they invited us to go to their ,
couple of their Christmas activities at
their home and a couple of friends and ,
and one of the things that was very
prevalent was Christmas carrots . And
uh again , I'm Hispanic . I wanna go ,
you know , do a different thing . I
wanna go high volume , stuff like that .
Uh And the , and , and I did , I felt a
little bit deflated because it was
really passive uh Hispanics we like to
do which is equivalent to Christmas
Carols uh have the same intent , but
there's a lot of more energy , but the
energy was not the point . That's the
point that I was missing . The point
was that with the Christmas Carol when
I sat down eventually and I thought
about a little bit more . I recognized
that there was very beautiful words and
messages within the Christmas carols
and , you know , the , the energy and
the , and the excitement that provides
is also different message because
you're singing to for a different time
of the year and a different , a
different uh given purpose , but they
all meant the same in a different way .
So when we asked about this and
differences based on this , so I'm
talking about , you know , Christmas
Carols being 111 group and then uh ran
being another one . So at the end of
the day , we're all the same . So we
have to be , you know , very , very
careful that , that you get to
understand both of them and then both
of them still , even if they're
different on baselines still do the
same in nature . Uh And when you get
into that mentoring relationship ,
that's the same thing . If you're
mentoring somebody from a different ,
there's a different gender , you still
have to recognize that still , even if
they're different from that perspective ,
still we are people that are here to do
something , something good . And as ,
as soon as we recognize that I will
tell you and I will guarantee you 100%
that things will be much easier . And
that's right . Now , a lot of times we
miss , we tried to get into the
victimization of things versus being
the cannibal things . And we just have
to be prepared . If we get more
prepared , the victimization goes out
the window and then the , the
responsibility of really what we gotta
do stays in focus and then you'll be
able to accomplish what you want . And
I think that's a great thing . A great
question to ask is specifically at
right pat . In the area we live , we
have so many backgrounds that we
integrate just to form 11 purpose , one
mission . Well , thank
you , panelists for your feedback and
sharing your uh your knowledge and your
experiences . Uh Do you have any final
closing comments ? We got 30 seconds .
This was a lot of fun . I appreciate
the opportunity to do this and
hopefully that the words that we
presented is gonna be helpful for those
out there in need and those that don't
need it , that they can use it for
future benefit . Same here . Thank you .
Thank you for the opportunity to uh
participate . And I would like to leave
you with one comment and you're gonna
hear my telephone ring in the
background . Uh Please . Uh II , I
love sports and going uh to see a sport
event in person is so much different
than watching it passively uh over
cable . So think about your career that
way , how active you , you wanna be in
your career and how uh how you can take
basically the bull by the horns and ,
and decide that this is what you wanna
do and take full advantage of the
opportunities that are afforded to you .
Again . Thank you very much for the
opportunity part of the panel . I look
forward to uh any questions that , that
you may have
any final comments . Yes . Uh Thank you
for the invitation . Um And uh yeah ,
if there's , especially if there's
military individuals , uh I think I ,
you know , and you , you're looking for
a mentor , please reach out . Um You
know , I'm a 62 background . Uh But I
don't care what your background is . I
can , you can find me in the global .
So , um yeah , so just reach out
great . So in closing , we would like
to thank all members on the panel for
their participation today and for
sharing their experiences , thoughts
and advice . We also want to thank to
thank the A sl interpreters for joining
us today . Um Brianna and
Brianna Ross and Jasmine Turner from ,
from our headquarters A F MC diversity
inclusion and accessibility team and
Mandy Smith and Mr Joseph O for always
supporting the Hispanic community . And
thanks to all others who have assisted
in making this cross cultural mentoring
panel possible . We encourage everyone
to go in to my Vector and register to
become a mentor or mentee . Lastly , as
mentioned earlier , please complete the
short online assessment . The link
address is listed on this closing slide
and posted in the chat . We want to
hear your thoughts on this event as it
will help you help us improve for
future events planned throughout the
year . We hope to see you again for the
rest of this cross cultural mentoring
series . Thank you so much .