Leadership Women Texas

TTUHSC El Paso Team Selected for Leadership Women Texas

Leadership Women Texas is Celebrating its 40th Anniversary

Leadership Women Texas, a program that helps develop female leaders in the state, has accepted two team members from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso into its 2022 class.

Daphne Griffin

The class includes Daphne Griffin, senior director of marketing & creative services, and Lori Navarrete, senior writer for corporate and foundation relations, both from the university’s Office of Institutional Advancement.

The year-long program provides educational and professional development opportunities for Texas women seeking to advance their leadership skills. Throughout the program, participants have the opportunity to broaden their perspective on our state by exploring various issues in four Texas cities and learning from recognized experts about cultural, social and economic topics.

The 2022 program includes virtual and in-person gatherings in Houston, Amarillo and Austin.

At TTUHSC El Paso, Griffin oversees marketing and creatives services, including advertising, graphic design, social media management, photography and videography. She also guides marketing and creative services for Texas Tech Physicians of El Paso and the Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic. She is part of the university’s leadership team, which works closely with faculty, staff, and the university’s medical, nursing, dental and biomedical research students.

Griffin has nearly 34 years of extensive marketing and communications experience, including 22 years in higher education. Prior to joining TTUHSC El Paso in 2021, she developed recruitment, capital, and alumni outreach campaigns for Eastern Illinois University, as well as multimedia and mobile collateral for the entire university. After returning to El Paso, she served as a speechwriter for University of Texas at El Paso presidents Diana Natalicio and Heather Wilson. 

Griffin described TTUHSC El Paso’s combined service of higher education and health care as the best of both worlds and looks forward to putting El Paso on the map through Leadership Women Texas.

“It’s an honor to join this remarkable group of women leaders and follow in the footsteps of so many other brilliant women who have broken the glass ceiling for me to do so,” she said. “Participation in Leadership Women Texas allows us to provide colleagues across Texas with insight about our institution’s mission. With that comes the larger story about our region and ensuring El Paso has a seat at the table during discussions about issues impacting Texas as a whole.”

Lori Navarrete

Navarrete’s major roles at TTUHSC El Paso include assisting with the grant writing process for private funders and donors. She has been instrumental in securing increased funding over the past three years for the university, community outreach programs and faculty conducting research.

Prior to her position at TTUHSC El Paso, Navarrete served as a binational operations coordinator for the U.S. Section of the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission, where she provided expertise on border health programs and policies to a range of stakeholders. She also has experience in the nonprofit sector, addressing issues including HIV/AIDS in minority communities, teaching independent living skills to disabled adults and teens, and providing resources to displaced individuals and families.

The class of 2022 convened for the first time in Houston in early March, and Navarrete is ready to see what the rest of the year’s meetings bring.

“It was amazing to see more than 80 professional women from throughout the state gather as strangers and two days later leave as friends,” Navarrete said. “I’m looking forward to the remaining meetings and soaking in the moment, whether it be listening about issues and engaging in lively discussions, or exploring the city, creating memories with colleagues and friends, sharing how awesome El Paso is, and stepping out of my comfort zone a little bit.”

Leadership Women Texas’ 2022 class includes seven others from El Paso, in addition to Griffin and Navarrete. TTUHSC El Paso continues to partner with Leadership Women to grow and build the leaders of our community and institution through the organization’s impactful programming.