Giving It Her All

Read time: 4.5 minutes

For Judy Mendivil, “first” has almost become a cliché. The daughter of immigrant farm workers from Sinaloa, Mexico, she’s a first-generation U.S. citizen, the first in her family to earn a college degree, and one of the first members and local chapter founders of one of McKesson’s first employee resource groups (ERGs), the Professional Association of Latinos, otherwise known as PALMa.

“I come from a humble family where challenges could have been the perfect excuse to not succeed, but that was never the case,” Judy said. “Instead, my parents instilled in me that nothing would ever just be given to us, so we had to work hard to accomplish our goals. Although we couldn’t afford things others had, I took that as motivation to be able to provide more for my family.”

“Being Hispanic means being strong and prevailing in challenging situations.”

That’s why when a former colleague suggested she check out opportunities at McKesson, she didn’t hesitate. McKesson didn’t hesitate either, hiring her in 2004 as a customer service call center reimbursement specialist. Working on cases from start to finish allowed her to see the full magnitude of McKesson’s impact on patients’ lives, and she knew she’d found the place where she wanted to grow her career.

Indeed, Judy felt McKesson was invested in her from the start. For example, she and her husband had decided to forego college to focus on their daughter, so McKesson’s tuition reimbursement plan was an attractive benefit with the potential to position her on a management track. She earned her bachelor’s degree in business management and her M.B.A. in just five and a half years – with no breaks.

At the same time, she embraced every opportunity at McKesson, volunteering for special projects and participating in training and leadership programs that gave her enough credits to cut six months from her undergraduate degree.

“That advanced education was a big win for me,” she said. “Being first-generation, I felt the need to get these degrees. No matter what your background is or where you come from, you can do it. It's just a matter of giving it your all.”

A Leader Who Knows the Way – and Shows the Way

Fast forward a decade, and today Judy is a Hub Services operations supervisor with CoverMyMeds, a McKesson business dedicated to helping people get the medicine they need to live healthier lives.

“As a people leader,” she says, “I oversee 20 individuals who provide support throughout the patient’s therapy journey, helping doctors navigate insurance processes and get patients their medication more rapidly.”

It’s a role that fits well with the values her parents taught her.

“It’s about helping others,” she explains. “I’ve received a lot, especially in developing my career, so when I became a supervisor, I made a commitment that I would do the same for others.”

It’s a process she calls “polishing unpolished diamonds” – helping people get the resources they need to grow and achieve their vision.

“I try to identify individuals who have that hunger, and I match them with online training courses or job shadowing or other tools to get to that next level,” she says. “It’s integral to McKesson as well. If people feel anything is preventing them from developing, McKesson always has something to offer. That’s why I wake up every morning and do what brings me joy at the end of the day – the opportunity to contribute to the well-being of patients, and to contribute to the development and career of my colleagues.”

And for Judy, doing so is all about teamwork.

“We support our patients and doctors’ offices, and also each other,” she says. “It’s just part of our I²CARE values such as integrity and putting the customer first. At the end of the day, when we close that computer, we can think about how many lives we’ve touched, and how many lives we’ve helped make better.”

It’s not just in her role at CoverMyMeds that Judy is helping touch people’s lives. She’s also doing so through PALMa.

When Judy first learned about PALMa, it seemed like an ideal outlet for both her passion for giving back to the community and her love of her Hispanic heritage.

“Being Hispanic means being strong and prevailing in challenging situations,” she says. “It means family, culture, and unity. It means helping each other. It means knowing the beauty of diversity.”

Judy working a community event.

Since she helped launch the Scottsdale, Ariz., PALMa chapter, she has served as the ERG’s communications leader and is currently in a three-year term as chairperson, leading PALMa’s efforts to support McKesson colleagues and bring awareness to the local Latin community about McKesson’s services, such as patient assistance programs, as well as employment opportunities.

She also helps organize opportunities to give back to the community. Two years ago, PALMa sponsored a family through a “McKesson in the Community” event benefiting the Arizona Cancer Foundation for Children.

“The family needed basic items while the child was receiving treatment,” Judy recalls. “To see how the 100 members of PALMa came together and poured out gifts was beyond anyone’s expectations! The sense of togetherness this event brought was so heartwarming that it felt as if we were all one large family.”

Activities such as these also set a high bar for other ERGs to follow.

“It’s gratifying to know we helped set the example of a unified team with a clear goal,” Judy says, “and that we’ve inspired the development of additional ERGs, serving as a guidebook on how to recruit new members, host volunteer activities, and so on. I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of this organization that’s making such a big difference today.”