Tonya Dixon-Muraguri won a 2011 TI Founders Community Service Award for her wide-range of volunteer efforts that positively affect the community.

Growing up in a single-parent household gave TI employee Tonya Dixon-Muraguri the ability to understand the value that helping others can bring to individuals and the community.

“I remember my mom was always working and trying to get my sister and I involved in activities that would help us learn and grow,” said Dixon-Muraguri, a supply planning analyst at TI.

“We were very involved in the Girl Scouts and it meant a lot that I was able to progress through all of the levels into adulthood.”

Dixon-Muraguri said this experience gave her an interest in participating in activities that support the community. Over the years, her interest and commitment have deepened. During the past decade, she has dedicated much of her free time as a volunteer supporting community service efforts that range from mentoring at-risk teens to fighting for a cure for lupus.

“Tonya does not limit her skills, and she is a very loyal and dedicated woman,” said Sharon Clark, a TI analog program manager who supported Dixon-Muraguri’s TI Founders Community Service award nomination. “She puts her community first, beyond her own personal needs.”

Mentoring at risk students
For Dixon-Muraguri, mentoring at-risk students is the volunteer activity that she enjoys most.

During the last ten years, Dixon-Muraguri has given more than 500 girls much-needed guidance, support and encouragement by serving as a mentor with the Delta Academy and Delta GEMS (Growing and Empowering Myself Successfully) programs.

The Delta Academy, a program for at-risk young girls between the ages of 11 and 14, encourages student interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines. Delta GEMS provides African American girls aged 14 – 18 programs that incorporate interactive lessons and activities that offer opportunities for self-reflection and individual growth.

Recently, Dixon-Muraguri also began mentoring undergraduate students as a collegiate advisor through the Delta Foundation. Over the past three years, she has personally supported 17 young adults participating in this program.

“I really enjoy the one-on-one relationship building and progression you see in the young ladies over time,” she said.

“You get to develop a long-term relationship with many of the ladies that you keep after they graduate and begin working, building families and facing new obstacles to overcome.”

Taking on new challenges
Two of Dixon-Muraguri newest volunteer endeavors involve serving on the Board of Directors for the Shirley A. Fridia Development Center, Inc. and Lupus Foundation of America – North Texas Chapter.

At the Development Center, Dixon-Muraguri currently serves as Secretary and Strategic Planning Chair supporting various projects that support the Center’s mission of enriching lives and transforming communities through education and service initiatives.

“This is a new board that is going through the process of understanding who we are and who we want to impact,” Dixon-Muraguri explained. “I’m excited to be a member at this point because I can help the members build on their experience and make their impact even bigger and greater.”

Dixon-Muraguri took on her Board of Director role for the Lupus Foundation of America – North Texas Chapter earlier this year after receiving a personal invitation to do so from the chapter’s President and CEO. Her interest in educating people about lupus was sparked by her uncle, who died several years ago of complications from the disease.

“I have a desire and direct interest to invest my time and skills in an organization that is having a positive impact on the lupus cause,” she said.

Inspiring change
Dixon-Muraguri ‘s wide-ranging community interests drive her to remain active in many capacities that positively affect the community where she lives and works.

“She strives to continue her commitment to social, environmental and economic issues and encourages her peers to be accountable to do the same,” Clark said. “I can think of no better TI employee than Tonya to receive this recognition.”