The Yale African American Affinity Group (YAAA) co-chairs Maya Martindale and Lakeisha Robinson are developing programs that engage their members and build community, including providing professional development, networking opportunities, and outreach within Greater New Haven.
As an events specialist at the Yale School of Management (SOM), Martindale manages a roster of large and small events for the Office of Inclusion and Diversity. She works closely with student and other affinity groups to develop, plan, and promote cultural events. Before coming to Yale, Martindale worked as a manager at New Haven Job Corps and heard about the New Haven Works program when looking to make a career change.
Yale employees are invited to attend YAAA events and become part of the YAAA community. Steering committee meetings, which occur the second Friday of every month from 12-1 pm, are open to the entire Yale community (registration required).
After working at IBM just after college and then at Goldman Sachs in New York City, Robinson took some time off to start a family. At Goldman Sachs, she developed software that supported the backend applications of its trading system; at IBM, she worked on hardware programming firmware. In 2012, Robinson started working at Yale as a programmer analyst on the Digital Library and Programming Services team. Today, she continues to be part of that team—renamed Software Engineering—and was recently promoted to engineering operations manager. Robinson leads a team of IT engineers who develops software on different systems that support Sterling Memorial Library and other Yale libraries. They helped develop FindIt and Quicksearch, two applications that allow users to search across all the library’s online resources.
Martindale and Robinson sat down with YourYale to discuss taking on the role of co-chair for YAAA.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed.
How did you get involved with YAAA?
Martindale: I initially learned about all the affinity groups during new employee orientation. Not long after that, I was walking across campus and bumped into a friend who also worked at Yale, and she invited me to my first YAAA meeting. That was in 2015, and I’ve been an active member ever since. Over the years I’ve been on different sub-committees, eventually becoming co-chair for our Read Aloud Day. It was a proud moment when I was nominated to be YAAA’s co-chair. It’s a good opportunity to be in a leadership role.
Robinson: In 2018, a former co-chair invited me to a steering committee meeting, and I’ve been an active member ever since. Over the years, I’ve been involved in several sub-committees and have managed the YAAA website. Throughout my membership, I got increasingly involved, and I look forward to being co-chair for the next two years and working alongside Maya.
What kind of support does this affinity group offer, and who is it for?
Martindale: We seek to provide a sense of community and inclusion for everyone at Yale, and specifically for those individuals who identify as Black. We provide networking and professional development opportunities, support the New Haven community, and partner with other affinity groups on programming. We offer a Belonging at Yale series that encourages and guides individuals on how to grow their careers at Yale and beyond. Our events provide members opportunities to meet people from other parts of the university that they might not normally encounter.
Robinson: Many of our members volunteer to do community service within New Haven. We actively support and partner with local organizations like the Boys and Girls Club, the NAACP, the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, and local black sororities and fraternities.
How has your experience with YAAA affected your career?
Martindale: Transitioning from committee member to co-chair has provided me more leadership opportunities and exposure to the wider Yale community. This experience is also a great addition to my resume. I’ve gotten real life experience managing a committee, budget planning, and developing programming. As a result of this role, I’ll be more marketable inside and outside of Yale.
Robinson: This is a wonderful volunteer opportunity. It has opened opportunities for me to meet people from across campus I would not typically have met. In addition, I’ve gotten to work with and organize programs with many of these individuals. Overall, it’s been a great personal experience.
What do you hope to accomplish as co-chair of this affinity group?
Martindale: I hope to encourage more people to get involved. I like to meet with and talk to new members. I’ve had job experiences in different areas of the university, and I’m happy to offer some advice, coaching, or mentorship. I work closely with new hires to give them a sense of community and support outside of their department, and I act as a resource for them, as Yale has much to offer. We’ve found that new members or people new to Yale aren’t always aware of what is going on outside of their offices. At YAAA we like to fill in those gaps.
Robinson: I want to get more people from across the campus to participate in our events or get involved in developing new programming. I’d also like to encourage more engagement within the New Haven community. We are trying to get more unionized employees involved and are scheduling meetings during lunch hours to make YAAA more accessible to them. I hope to work with Maya and the steering committee to strategize other ways we can get the unionized staff involved.
Yale’s affinity groups are supported by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion under the leadership of Deborah Stanley-McAulay, associate vice president of employee engagement and workplace culture. Each of the nine groups supports recruitment, retention, education, advocacy, and community building.
