Her Story
About Lugenia
Lugenia is a strategic administrative leader and organizational culture advocate with more than 20 years of experience supporting executive leadership, enhancing employee engagement, and driving operational excellence across complex corporate environments. With a Bachelor of Science in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the University of Phoenix, she combines evidence-based principles of human behavior, organizational effectiveness, and leadership development to help create workplaces where people feel valued, supported, and empowered. Her expertise spans executive operations, employee experience, organizational communication, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and cross-functional collaboration.
Throughout her career, Lugenia has built a reputation as a trusted partner to senior leaders, providing strategic support that strengthens organizational alignment and business performance. In her current role at Alcon, she manages global executive operations across multiple regions, coordinates high-level initiatives, and serves as a key contributor to employee engagement, internal communications, and culture-building efforts. Her professional background also includes human resources, leave administration, workforce support, training coordination, and compliance, giving her a well-rounded perspective on the employee lifecycle and organizational success.
Passionate about creating human-centered workplaces, Lugenia is actively evolving her career toward organizational development, culture transformation, and employee experience strategy. She is deeply committed to advancing belonging, psychological safety, and inclusive leadership practices that enable individuals and organizations to thrive. A lifelong learner, she plans to continue her graduate studies in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and remains dedicated to helping organizations build stronger cultures through empathy, accountability, and intentional leadership.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Lugenia
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to resilience - just hanging in there and being my authentic self, even when it's been difficult. Knowing the different changes that our company has gone through, and the different changes that I've come through dealing with racism, which is very rampant, I've had to be resilient. Just being able to be my authentic self with caution, and being able to speak up for other people that are like myself, for the unheard, and yet still be a part of the group - although I'm in the support role, I still make a difference. I've had people come to me to say that I've made a difference, and I've seen some changes among the dynamic of the different people of color that are being hired. I remember probably about 2017 or 2018, when the company had started mandatory diversity training, and I know a lot of my colleagues were upset about that. They didn't understand why it was necessary, but it was very much so necessary for me to be able to have those uncomfortable conversations but still keep my position. I think that takes a lot of resilience, and I'm really grateful for that. I recently wrote an article about being resilient, and that's what I'm most proud of.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would advise young women to not just look at the position, but to look at leadership. Look at the people they're going to support, and look at the group that they're joining, because they're going to be an extension of that. It's really hard to support anyone that you don't believe in. I think the reason why I've been in my position for so long is because I've been very blessed with a great leader - that makes the world of difference. If they're looking to move up within that organization, make sure that they are in a position where they're not just support, but where they are there to show up. Make sure that when they're giving credit to the managers or whomever that they may be supporting, make sure that they're included. Make sure that they put their name on that document as well, so that they can receive the recognition that they need to move on. They need to build not an audience, but build a support team or somebody that's going to remember them when they're not in that room. But it depends on what they're there for. If they're there to move around and grow, then of course look at the organization, but really focus on themselves. Focus on what's going to make them stand out, not just be in the background.
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