Aileen Hernandez has grown up navigating multiple minority identities. Phrases such as “first-generation American” and “woman in business” are not just buzzwords; they describe Hernandez’s life.
A senior in the entrepreneurial management program at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Hernandez works to help other students celebrate their own identities while coming together in unity.
Hernandez’s first-generation background motivates her to find a career where entrepreneurship and social justice overlap. When Hernandez first applied to BYU Marriott, the entrepreneurship website spoke to her. “The homepage said, ‘Do you want to change the world?’ And I thought, ‘Yes!’” she says. “Even then I knew I wanted to solve social problems in profitable ways backed by business principles.”
The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Hernandez was born and raised in Chicago. When she moved to Provo to attend BYU, she wanted to become more involved in on-campus diversity initiatives. She decided to join the Marriott Inclusion in Business Student Society (MIBS) at BYU Marriott. MIBS has teams dedicated to supporting diverse students, including women in business, Latinos, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and more. Currently, Hernandez is part of the leadership of the Latino-focused team of MIBS.
“I wanted to give Latinos at BYU Marriott a community, and we worked to build that community from the ground up,” she says. When Hernandez originally joined MIBS, the club was in its pilot stages and the business school had just hired its first diversity director. Now MIBS events are scheduled every week during the fall and winter semesters.
“The Latino students of MIBS love hosting events,” says Hernandez. “One of my favorite events we planned happened at the beginning of the fall 2021 semester. We hosted a joint party at the Wilkinson Student Center with all of the Latino clubs at BYU.”
Creating a community where people can gather, interact, and become informed is important for Hernandez. “MIBS creates a space where people can learn and grow without feeling embarrassed about what they don’t know about diversity and inclusion,” she explains.
Hernandez credits BYU Marriott's dean, Brigitte Madrian, with the push for a more unified effort toward diversity and inclusion. “That’s where MIBS evolved,” she says. “Instead of dozens of clubs trying to address different aspects of diversity and identity, Dean Madrian created a unified organization focused on working toward shared goals.”
One of the goals of MIBS is to prepare students for a diverse workplace. Hernandez expresses a concern that some students at BYU Marriott may leave the school feeling ill-equipped to deal with conversations about diversity. In response to this concern, Hernandez explains that MIBS has become a resource to inform students and give them the opportunity to be involved in communities that will prepare them for different work environments.
One way Hernandez helps people become more exposed to diverse situations is through training targeted at conducting diversity conversations or confronting bias at work. “During one of the first trainings we held, students practiced addressing different scenarios in the workplace. I loved seeing how focused people were and how much students already knew about working to change biased and discriminatory workplace policies,” she says.
Hernandez resonates with and loves one of BYU Marriott's values—“respect for all.” For her, this principle encompasses respecting people regardless of the paths they choose to take and respecting that success looks different for everyone.
“I love that Dean Madrian supports values focused on diversity and belonging because as the first female dean, she brought more diversity to the business school,” says Hernandez. “BYU Marriott looks different now because of her efforts. The school has more shapes, sizes, and colors.”
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Writer: Liesel Allen
