Detail image of Monica Negron for June 2023 MAW stories.

Dress, Mónica’s own.

Mónica Negrón: Puerto Rico Lacrosse National Team Captain and Cardinal Elite Lacrosse Academy Owner

Written by Dawn Anderson, Rocko Jerome and Taylor Riley | Photographed on location at the Frazier History Museum by Kylene White | Styled by Christine Fellingham and Melissa Gagliardi | Hair and makeup by Sarah Allen, Kassandra Cazares Aldana, Kayla Greenwell, Breanna Peters and Michaela Reeves

The field narrowed from over 400 nominations to 89 nominees and finally to the 16 award winners you will meet on the following pages. Representing each of their categories with distinction, your 2023 Most Admired Women bring humility, grace and a great capacity for change to their roles as leaders in our community. We asked each of them to reflect on how they got to this moment, what your votes and this award means to them and where their journeys might take them from here.

Mónica Negron’s Puerto Rican roots are an important part of her life, to say the least. The director for Hispanic, Latinx and Indigenous Initiatives at the University of Louisville is a former award-winning student athlete at UofL and is now channeling her high-achieving personality into creating a community for those with similar backgrounds. Mónica was highly involved as an undergraduate student, and when her lifelong dream of attending medical school fell through, she pivoted in her first year of grad school to develop and engage student athletes. She began coaching the lacrosse club program at the young age of 23.

When I was younger, and I think a lot of us will say this, I never saw a lot of people who looked like me, in any capacity. I do these things and I don’t really expect to be recognized; I just do it. It means a lot.”

When the Cultural Center reached out to her to take on a new job, she applied to be the director of the Hispanic, Latinx and Indigenous Initiatives, and it was then that she knew it was time to help connect with the minority community. Mónica grew up in the suburbs of Baltimore, so she’s no stranger to being one of the only people of color on an athletic team, but her passion for the sport allowed her to play at the collegiate level, leading her Cardinals to the Big East Championship, and to the Sweet 16. Mónica, an All-American and Player of the Year, took a break for several years, then she became captain for Team Puerto Rico which finished 11th at the World Cup. “Being able to represent my people and my culture was something that I will never forget,” she says. She is now “happily retired” but will transition to the coaching staff for Team Puerto Rico, which is headed to Hong Kong to compete next year.

“I’ve just met the Latino community in Louisville since I took this job,” she says. “There is a large community of people and the Puerto Rican community is really growing, which is kind of cool to see. But, in general, I have never been around that many Latinos outside of being at home. When I was younger, and I think a lot of us will say this, I never saw a lot of people who looked like me, in any capacity. I do these things and I don’t really expect to be recognized; I just do it. It means a lot.”

Mónica has recently gained the confidence to be proud of where she is in her career. “It’s a challenge for me knowing that I’m in certain spaces for a reason, but then also being able to be my authentic self within those spaces, too, that’s a journey that I’ve been constantly trying to work towards,” she says. “Finding my people was something that was always pretty challenging to me and, when I was younger, that ate at me. Now, (giving a sense) of belonging and being welcoming is what I bring to my job.”

Mónica founded Cardinal Elite Lacrosse Academy as a program that can teach life lessons through the game, strengthening ties to our complete community. — Taylor Riley-Geiser