Name: Mia McGuin
Fund Program:  GAB
Year: 2014-2015

Where are you now: Mia graduated from Loyola University of Chicago in 2021 with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications & Public Relations. Following college, Mia began her career in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion space and worked for a Fortune-250 company based out of Philadelphia as a Senior DEI Analyst. Currently, she works for a private Tech-company as a DEI Business Partner where she focuses on supporting the company’s Employee Resource Groups, and works as a consultant to HR-teams and other business verticals to influence positive change and create equitable policies and practices for all associates.

How did your Fund experience shape your future: As a member of GAB, Mia had her first hands-on experience with understanding how life circumstances impact different communities. Exiting GAB, she had a strong understanding and calling to advocate for individuals whom have been historically underrepresented.

Going into college at LUC, Mia continued to sharpen her advocacy skills through being a Board Chair for the colleges Office of Student Conduct & Conflict Resolution. In this role, she worked as a liaison between students and faculty to facilitate discussions surrounding student misconduct and how Loyola rather than disciplining individuals, could operate from a restorative-justice lens to understand the driving motivators behind misconduct. As a result, rather than students being given a fine for misconduct, they were instead aligned with service projects that would help them to reflect and better understand the impact of their actions.

Ultimately, when entering the workforce, Mia reflected back on what her passions were – equity, advocacy, and restorative justice. During her reflection, she was able to identify that her experience with GAB was the impetus of learning to use her voice through advocacy, which eventually led to her career in the DEI space.

What was your favorite part of GAB/GirlGov: Mia’s favorite parts of GAB were the consensus-building exercises and discussions when deciding where to allocate grants. She thinks that consensus building is a skill that makes you an effective individual in both personal and professional environments. Had she not been exposed to the concept of effective consensus-building during her experience at GAB, Mia does not believe that she would have learned and applied this fundamental life skill to her toolbox, leading to her eventual career success.