The second recipient of the Embracing Diversity Excellence Award is Doreen Lopes-Smith, Senior Development Assistant in the Office of Leadership Giving. Doreen, her colleagues say, somehow manages to be—at the same time—cheerleader, coach, and team player.
Doreen goes to great lengths to make new employees feel welcome and included. She nurtures them in their first days on campus—but also forever after. If you work with her you know you always have an advocate in Doreen.
She has taken it upon herself to mentor the development assistants—many just starting their careers—and created the Development Assistant Working Group to help them build skills and collegial relationships.
Doreen strives to ensure that all staff, from the newest assistant to the longest serving gift officer, feel like they have equal say, are valued, and are vital to the department’s success. As one nominator shared, "Doreen is a wonderful ambassador of MIT. She has deep institutional knowledge and connections across the Institute. The depth of her knowledge has been instrumental for us to conduct our work and achieve our fundraising goals. She also maintains relationships with many former employees, which helps to preserve these connections with the Institute. A number of these individuals have even returned to MIT."
Doreen, your colleagues say that because of you, Resource Development is a place where everyone feels included and valued. Now, with this award, those same colleagues want to express just how much they value you. Congratulations!