Our Executive Mentors

L. Diana Trujillo

Diana Trujillo is an aerospace engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she currently serves as a Flight Director and as the Robotic Arm System domain lead for the Mars Perseverance mission.

Born and raised in Colombia, Diana immigrated to the United States at the age of 17 to pursue her dream of working for NASA. She enrolled in English as a Second Language courses, working full-time to support her studies in community college and later at the University of Florida and University of Maryland. After graduating, she worked on the Cygnus International Space Station resupply vehicle before joining JPL.

Prior to her current roles with the Perseverance mission, Diana worked in several roles on the Mars Curiosity and Constellation programs since joining JPL in 2008. Most recently, she served as the Mission Lead, Deputy Project System Engineer, Deputy Team Chief of the Engineering division for Curiosity (also known as the Mars Science Laboratory).

In addition to her technical roles at JPL, Diana also created and hosted #JuntosPerseveramos, NASA’s first ever Spanish-language live broadcast of a major mission milestone, attracting a global audience of millions. She continues to provide English- and Spanish-language updates on the Perseverance mission via NASA’s Martes de Marte weekly video series and via her Twitter account.

A personal friend of Brooke Owens, the namesake of the Brooke Owens Fellowship, Diana has been involved in the program from its earliest days as a leader, mentor, coach, and selection committee member. She joined the Fellowship’s executive team in 2020.

Outside of her work at JPL and her role with the Fellowship, Diana is also a board member of the Columbia Memorial Space Center and of the Children’s Center at Caltech. She is also a passionate advocate for diversity in STEM, having pushed for more inclusion of the Latinx community in venues ranging from the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics to the educational program Plaza Sésamo (Sesame Street).

In 2017, Diana was named one of “Los 22 Más,” the 22 Colombians who best represent Colombia and all Colombians in the USA. In 2021, Diana was honored with the Cruz de Boyacá and named a Comendador of Orden de Boyacá by the President of Colombia, the highest honor Colombia awards to civilians.

Trujillo earned a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland, with additional studies at the University of Florida. She is also a graduate of Miami-Dade Community College and of the NASA Academy.