As BioSTL’s director of workforce strategy, Justin Raymundo is exactly where he wants to be.
Since joining BioSTL in 2021, Raymundo has led the innovation hub’s strategic efforts around developing and retaining bioscience talent locally.
Raymundo began his career at Monsanto, where he held roles focused on corporate responsibility and international partnerships. He began his tenure at the agriculture giant as an intern while studying at Webster University. Before joining BioSTL, Raymundo most recently was head of marketing at Olathe, Kansas City-based fashion brand Amanda Blu & Co.
Outside of work, Raymundo competes in Taekwondo and earlier this year finished in ninth place in the USA Taekwondo National Grand Slam.
Are you from St. Louis originally? I say that I’m a St. Louis native by generation. Both my parents immigrated from the Philippines. My dad's family, when he was 10, came over because of the physician visa. There was such a shortage at the time that my dad's family came to America. The U.S. was basically importing doctors from around the world. They ultimately landed in St. Louis and then my mom's family similarly immigrated to Columbia, Missouri, first and then settled in St. Louis. They met as high school sweethearts. St. Louis has always been “home base” for my family. That's where my parents met and I have a lot of extended family here, but we sort of bopped around all across the Midwest. I did go to elementary school here and came back for high school. I went to Eureka High School and then I went to Webster University.
You began your career at Monsanto. How did you end up there? It’s a little joke that I say I got the job because I led a protest on campus. My freshman year of college was the same year that Webster gave former Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant an honorary doctorate. A lot of students, particularly because of the reputational perception of Monsanto, and because Webster is a school where so many progressive students want to go and learn as a liberal arts college, were very concerned that there was a lack of connection between the students and who we were awarding our honorary doctorate. We felt like students that are paying to go there and that are taking out loans to basically keep the school running, that we should have more involvement in deciding who we give our doctorate degree to.
That sort of led to our associate dean at the time inviting Monsanto General Counsel Brian Lowry, who ended up being one of my mentors and bosses at Monsanto. He gave a little presentation and he talked to a lot of the same problem sets that I was really interested in when I was a student. He didn't tell me which company he was from, but I needed an internship as part of my program. So I was like, “Hey, I'm really interested in working with you” and it was before they did the reveal at the end of where he was from. So our associate dean said “You're gonna die when you hear where he’s from." I said “OK, that's fine. But I still need an internship.”
What attracted you to the role at BioSTL? At this point in my career, I only wanted to come to an organization where I felt like I could have impact outside of just the four walls. Right before my job at BioSTL, I was working at a startup in fashion and global merchandising. It was great to really drive diversity, equity and inclusion within an organization and I had really helped create what an inclusive product development process looks like. I've got to go around the country and as a young, queer person of color, be the face of the brand to many. It was nice to see that inclusion actually does have demonstrated financial gains or impact and that it helps keep your company more innovative and helps keep your company more financially resilient. Thinking about this role, I wanted to be in an organization where the impact you made wasn't just in the four walls of your organization. But to really work on regional or ecosystem-wide racial equity work, as well as thinking about how to really make the talent structure work for St. Louis.
How did you get into taekwondo? I got into it when I was nine years old. We had moved around a lot in my early years in elementary school. We moved to Las Vegas and my dad had said “Justin, you really love the buffets.” I kind of became a kid who loved to eat not the most healthy, nutritious food and I didn't really have an activity or a sport. I just really liked to play video games. We moved again to Overland Park, Kansas, and it was just a different school system. I sort of struggled in the transition early on. My grades were dropping. I was sort of disengaged. My dad was just like, listen, you're chubby, your grades are bad, and I think he sort of knew like there's a little sparkle to me, so I'm worried that you're gonna get bullied. So let's get you in something that will help you with some of those things to be physically fit, to feel confident, to feel comfortable in defending yourself and to really get you back engaged in your body and your mind.
More about Justin Raymundo
Title: Director of regional workforce strategy at BioSTL
Age: 32
Family: Justin and his partner, Aaron, live in the Central West End
Education: Justin has a bachelor's degree in international human rights and communication studies from Webster University
What he enjoys doing in his free time: I live in the Central West End, just blocks from the BioSTL building, so I do like to walk to work most days, I like to enjoy what's happening in the urban core by going to different restaurants, going to City Foundry. My partner and I, I'm not ashamed to say this, but we go through about two pints of Jeni's ice cream twice a week.
