By Jovit D. Caballero

The beauty of the world lies in the diversity of its people – same with any organization, embracing one another’s uniqueness is a very essential tool in building a culture of belongingness. One of the most well-liked diverse employees in NLEX Corporation is no other than Juliard Dio Mejia of the Compliance and Business Excellence (CBE) Department.

Tagged as “Everyone’s Beks-friend”, this 31-year-old Kapampangan and an ECE graduate from UST, currently assigned as a CBE Senior Specialist, is well-known for his undeniable charisma and social capabilities. He is admired by almost everyone that knows him. His extroverted, fun, and friendly nature paved the way to develop connections with various employees from different walks of life.

His quirky personality seems to shine even back when he was still a kid. Since elementary days, he has been an active student when it comes to every extra-curricular activity in school.  He joined all events, contests, and performances with overflowing confidence and enthusiasm. He is also engaged in several church activities such as being a member of the chorale and youth performers. These various kinds of environment helped him to strengthen his natural sense to socialize.

When he entered the corporate world, he was beyond grateful to be hired as one of the Technical and Professional (TAP) trainees of MPTC back in 2014. This platform enabled him not only to familiarize himself with the overall business operations but also to meet a lot of people within the organization. Whether a newbie or a tenured employee, a junior staff or a leader, everyone is fond of his distinctive character. Even in his current role, which is to disseminate information and spread awareness regarding CBE campaigns and programs (which requires a lot of communication and influencing skills), his colleagues think that he really fits the position he is currently in.

As the interview progresses, it became more evident that his identity was not just a result of his environment and his chosen group of peers at school, church, community or even at work. This falls back to a deeper relation to his family’s structure. In his family of six, 3 out of the 4 children are proud members of the LGBTQ community. His older lesbian sister, who is currently a part of the US Army based in Hawaii, already married her long-time girlfriend recently. His two other siblings, a younger lesbian one and the youngest straight girl, also permanently moved to California with their mother just two years ago and joined their father who migrated first last 2007. It was also unraveled that his father had a first family residing in the US as well. On a lighter note, it is very fortunate that Dio’s father and the first wife with their two straight sons (Dio’s half-brothers) are all still on good terms with Dio’s whole family. Every time Dio flies for vacation, they spend most holidays together without any reservations. This family set-up undoubtedly created an unusual surrounding but definitely built a home revolving in diversity.

Being the only one left in the country at the moment, he needed to adapt abruptly to necessary adjustments and changes in his way of life. One of the hardest responsibilities given to him is when his Tito Albert (his father’s cousin) and his Tita Neneng (his mother’s mentally challenged sister) who are currently living with him, became one of his biggest obligations. He faced numerous challenges supporting and taking care of them, especially during the height of the pandemic. Nonetheless, he is quite happy with the way he is handling his duties now especially if these efforts are given to these people who can now be considered new members of the family.

To sum it all up, Dio was clearly born with his passionate nature, matured with a supportive and diverse family, and flourished with the types of environments he was meant to be in. As a member of the LGBTQ community, he used his identity to his advantage and proudly treats everyone equally as how he expected himself to be treated too. Indeed, diversity starts with opening our true selves by sharing our similarities and celebrating each other’s differences.

---

---