In her first month on campus as the new Assistant Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Chemical Sciences, Raylene Gomez Hernandez continues to meet with various faculty, staff, and students to get acclimated to her new position.

“The most exciting part of this new journey is the wonderful opportunity of meeting students and collaborating with all the awesome staff and faculty in all kinds of programming and initiatives. I think of myself as a highly social person so any space to interact and work with new people is always a thrilling experience for me,” said Gomez, who will assist the departments of Chemistry and Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering with the recruitment, retention, and advancement of graduate students – with a specific focus on traditionally underrepresented groups in both areas – and serve as an advocate for them on campus.

Previously, Gomez was involved in DEI work as the Assistant Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois. Gomez has a Bachelor of arts from Illinois State University in Spanish Linguistics/French Linguistics/Language Education and a Master of Arts, also from ISU, in Linguistics/Cultural Studies.

As a scholar and as a professional she has dedicated most of her career to helping break the barriers of disadvantage and bias for students from underrepresented and historically excluded sectors of the population.

“I firmly believe that DEI work is the essence of respectful, nurturing and enriching human interaction, so for me, doing work in this field is just an extension of my professional goal of helping students, faculty, and staff to have the best inclusive, diverse, and encompassing experience during their time here at Illinois,” she said.

Initially, Gomez said she is centering her focus on two areas, recruitment, and assessment.

For recruiting, Gomez will be attending multiple national conferences this semester to network and talk with prospective students, beginning this month with the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE), then the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Sciences (SACNAS) in October and the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS) in November.

And for assessment, Gomez said she is working on reviewing and analyzing past and current climate surveys, specific data, and different perspectival points to better understand DEI and its role moving forward in the School of Chemical Sciences so she can plan accordingly for future initiatives, programming and assistance to students, staff, and faculty.

Gomez said the opportunity to dive into “the extremely interesting and intriguing field” of chemical sciences and STEM as a DEI professional was a very enticing opportunity.

“In my professional career I have seen DEI at work in fields like Humanities, Fine Arts, Performance Arts, Cultural Studies and such, but when it comes to STEM, I believe there is a plethora of possibilities for good and amazing work to be done, and a myriad of paths to explore and develop,” Gomez said.

Outside of work, Raylene loves watermelon, Japanese culture and attending anime, manga, pop culture conventions and events.

“My love for Japanese culture started with my first anime experience introduction with the show “One Piece” when I was in high school. Ever since then I was so enamored with the storytelling and components of not only this specific show but of the genre as a whole that I dedicated a big portion of my informal professional career to academically write about different series, whether anime or manga,” said Gomez, who has been invited to be a guest and presenter on discussion podcasts and to formally present in panels of conventions like C2E2 and New York Comic Con, about her take on anime as an academic tool and a resource for educators.

“I quite enjoy Japanese cuisine, especially sushi, and I am fluent in the language as well as in Spanish, French and English given that I love the opportunity of communicating with as many people as possible,” said Gomez, who added that her favorite movie of all time is “Legally Blonde.” “So, you will probably always see me wearing something pink.”