Spotlight on Diversity September 2022
For National Hispanic Heritage Month, IESNYC profiles Neri Diaz. She’s an NYC “Lightina” with a warm cultural heritage and a remarkable journey to our community.
After growing up in Mexico and living in Europe, Neri Diaz has fallen in love with New York City and our lighting community. Currently East Coast regional manager for Lindsley Lighting, she credits her success to her culturally inherited, natural interest in other people and a shared passion for lighting.
Originally from Mexico City, as a teen Diaz moved to Monterrey, which is a large industrial center with a strong US influence. She entered the Tecnológico de Monterrey where she earned a bachelor’s in architecture. The Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in Spain offered a master’s in sustainable architecture and her next adventure. Sustainability remains at the core of the work Diaz does today with Lindsley Lighting.
Choosing to stay in Europe with her (then-future) husband brought Diaz to the Aosta Valley in the spectacular Italian Alps. Aosta is a small town with a rich history, and it offered widely varied work as an architect: commercial, institutional, and historical renovation… a lot of churches. After a few years as a practicing architect, a chic lighting showroom called Light Center opened in town. “I was looking for another type of experience and this showroom grabbed my attention. The product collection was very high-tech and high-design: Artemide, Flos, Ingo Maurer… The displays were all beautiful and all digitally controlled,” she described.
It's common in Europe to offer lighting design services as part of sales. The showroom owner, Andrea Zorzi, became a mentor, training and encouraging Diaz to expand her lighting skillset by attending classes and factory tours in Milan and Florence.
“I loved it! And there was so much potential in working in the lighting field. I was there 6 years working mostly on residences and learning the new LED technology. Andrea was a young guy with a lot of ambition, expanding his family’s business. The high-end showroom was his vision.” The work also included commercial and outdoor lighting, some local retail and cafés, and still churches.
A sabbatical?
In 2013 Diaz and her husband determined to take a sabbatical year in a new culture – not Spanish and not Italian. “We selected the US because we had some friends with a house in Upstate New York. We dedicated that year to having a US experience, which has lasted 9 years already! We both fell in love with New York City.” Her husband had a student visa at first, and Diaz started networking. She contacted European manufacturers she knew that were doing business here.
Fabbian, an Italian lighting manufacturer, offered her a job in sales and helped with her visa. That’s where she met Elizabeth Panagiotidis (now with Estiluz) who has been a mentor and remains a great friend. After a few years, Diaz moved to XAL, an Austrian lighting manufacturer that she was very familiar with from her work at the Aosta showroom.
Diaz landed at Lindsley Lighting in 2019, and has since become a Permanent US Resident. The California-based company is family-owned and focused on sustainability. “Most of the materials we use are red-list–free and recyclable. Certainly, that is something from my background in sustainable architecture that excited me.” Diaz describes the company as flexible, which makes for interesting work. “They are open to helping designers find something specific or custom and helping them meet challenges…. As an architect, I am motivated to puzzle out the right solution and excited to help realize a designer’s beautiful concept.”
Lightinas
Diaz explained that she would always be grateful for her Latina heritage and believes it to be a boon to her career in sales. “We are warm people, who love to socialize and find the sunshine in every difficult situation,” she described. “It just comes naturally to find that warm aspect of a person and connect with them to learn and communicate. I can’t control it. I’m driven by that interest in people.”
Three years ago, Diaz began organizing informal gatherings for Latinas in the NYC lighting community: “Lightinas.” “We get 35 ladies easy. We gather just to talk about our backgrounds, share our stories, talk Spanish, and laugh! It’s very much on a personal level. It’s a network of support, so we reach out to each other when we might need something.”
That desire to connect and support each other drives Diaz’ work with the New York City Chapter of WILD as well. “I’m learning from these women always. And I can offer something to my community and do some charity work for organizations that focus on women,” she said. “My Latina background is women helping each other, and I am proud to be part of WILD.”
Diaz said she has found work she loves, and she plans to stay. “The lighting community here in New York is wonderful. You have the chance to know people from all over the world. We share the same passion for lighting. It’s creative, open-minded, and warm. That’s for me!”
