Today we celebrate the women at DAABON who inspire us. Happy International Women’s Day!
We celebrate these eight women of DAABON and we’d love for you to hear their aspirational stories. They truly inspire us!
At DAABON, we prioritize supporting female employees and the communities in which they live. We embrace the capabilities of the women of DAABON for leadership in various roles including technical, administrative, field work and management roles. Whatever her profile or capability is, we help the women of DAABON find an opportunity to have a fulfilling career.
The Corporate Gender Policy adopted in 2021 establishes the following objectives:
- To facilitate and guarantee the training and access to education far women, so that they can join and grow within the company’s workforce.
- Ensure equal opportunity access to work groups.
- Promote and facilitate the inclusion of women in our network of suppliers through programs aimed at promoting female entrepreneurship.
Our core company values of inclusion, respect and equality guide our efforts to empower our female employees and encourage their success on the job. This is seen from the top of the organization down, with Mrs. Carmen Abondano de Dávila, co-founder of the DAABON Group, at the head of the company, and, as of December 2021, 23 women of DAABON in management positions.
This International Women’s Day, March 8, 2023, we’d like to congratulate our incredible women at DAABON:
- Patricia Apreza
- Graciela Camargo
- Rocio Rueda
- Lorena Díaz Ensuncho
- Ledys Morellis
- María Amanda Lugo
- Ana Milena Martínez
Here’s a little bit about the women at DAABON that inspire us:
- Patricia Apreza
Empowering women in our communities
Patricia spent much of her youth among vulnerable communities in the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta. Since 2003 she has brought that life experience to the DAABON Group, supporting and developing several meaningful and empowering community projects through the years.
2. Graciela Camargo
Our unique woman in Palm
Pollinating our hybrid palm oil crops is one of the most important agricultural tasks supported by women at DAABON. Graciela is one of the forty women that work to ensure that the essential transformation from palm flowers to palm fruits, through a job that demands dedication, care and special skills in order to achieve the same results as a natural pollinator.
3. Rocio Rueda
The woman behind the wheel at Elogia Logistics Solutions
With over a decade of experience as a driver, Rocio began her life behind the wheel driving a taxi, where she met the person who gave her the opportunity to drive a tractor-trailer, immersing herself in a profession traditionally dominated by men.
4. Lorena Díaz Ensuncho
Strength and temperance in the banana farm
Lorena Diaz Ensuncho is a Food Processing Technician who has worked in the banana sector since 2005. She joined the DAABON Group in 2009, and in 2020, after holding positions as a quality supervisor far exports to Japan and General Quality Supervisor, she was promoted to Administrator of the Don Alberto farm; part of our banana company, La Samaria, with a production area of 203 hectares and a team of over 200 people.
5. Ledys Morellis
First woman in the Daabon Group to achieve a management position
She is kind yet ambitious with a strong and firm voice. She’s been serving at Daabon since 1996. She is the International Trading Manager responsible for our international logistics chain that exports our products around the world.
6. María Amanda Lugo
29 years dedicated to banana production
Maria retired in 2022, after 20 years of work with DAABON. She arrived long ago, looking for work, a single mother with five sons, and had a long and successful career with the company as a banana farmer.
7. Ana Milena Martínez
First Production Engineer
Ana Milena was the first woman to take the position of production engineer in a DAABON Group processing plant and today she is the Director. She is a specialist in Industrial Plant Management and has a Masters in Administrative Engineering.
And last but not least we’d like to share the story of the most incredible woman of them all:
Doña Carmen Abondano de Dávila
A love story that became a business
Her husband, Alberto Dávila Diaz Granados, was a man from the countryside with an agricultural and farming background. Together they raised five children who remain very clase, both as a family and as business owners. They grew up learning about crops, harvests, machinery, imports and exports, as well as the importance of family, friends, loyalty, honesty and responsibility. Carmen and Alberto taught their children to love the land, to respect the people who farmed it, and to work hard to earn what they wanted. “To that, we add a pinch of innovative thinking, and entrepreneurs capable of sustaining, consolidating and resizing a family lite project, such as ours,” says Carmen. Today her five children are the leaders of the DAABON Group. And while Alberto has sadly passed away, Carmen proudly remains the head of this family business.
