HECTOR HERNANDEZ | staff writer

Ginny Dadaian is the common factor in the APU and Azusa communities.

Ginny Dadaian creates the bridge between APU and the city of Azusa thanks to her loving personality which helps her fulfill her role as the Director of Community Relations.

Dadaian was born and raised in Glendora and has lived in Azusa for 10 years. She went to Fresno State University, Citrus College and graduated with a degree in public administration from the University of La Verne.

She then got her masters degree in public administration at Cal State Northridge.

Being a local of Azusa and Glendora, Dadaian loves this area and its people. Dadaian is currently a member of Azusa’s Women’s Club, a board member at the Homework House and is on the Azusa Chamber of Commerce.

“I love being able to partner with the community,” Dadaian said. “We have the greatest people. They really care they care about each other, their neighbors, their neighborhood and how things look.”

Before coming to APU, she spent nine years in city government. For seven of those years she served in the city of Azusa as the Administrative Analyst.

“She knows this place and she knows Azusa. So if you take someone with that kind of knowledge, that kind of history and then partner that with a package of someone who works really well with people, it’s a great marriage of confidence, competence and who she is as a person,” Senior Director of Strategic Communication at the Office of University Relations Maureen Taylor said.

Taylor first met Dadaian when they worked together for the city.

Dadaian came to work in the Office of Student Financial Services in November 1997. When asked how she came to APU she laughed, smiled and said, “It was God.”

“I had written in a journal in 1994, that I would love to work at APU someday. I didn’t know how God was going to do it; I didn’t know what I would do,” Dadaian said.

Then in September 1997 while seeking a reference for a job at Cal Tech. She was told to apply for the job at financial services. After extensive interviewing, she received the job.

One of the main projects she has helped with is the restoring and lighting of the drive-in theater marquee.

She fondly remembers watching movies at that theater when she was growing up.

“That was a great project. I was really excited,” she said. “You know what was so great? The community was so excited.”

She jokes about not being able to leave home without makeup because she walways runs into people she knows, such as co-workers and friends.

Dadaian supports Azusa and APU by encouraging the support of local businesses.

“I probably go to Azusa restaurants four to five times a week,” she said.

Director of Auxiliary Services Aaron Bartholomew works with Dadaian when she organizes events on campus and also sees Dadaian at the restaurants she suggests for him.

“I go there and she’s there as well and I see her talking to everybody in the restaurant and that’s her personality,” Bartholomew said.

Taylor also points out Dadaian’s gift in people skills.

“She has an uncanny ability to work with people,” Taylor said. “She is amazing to watch.”

Dadaian’s ability to listen has played a major role in maintaining positive relationships.

“She has a great listening ear. I think that has meant for the members of our community that they feel heard because she’s someone absolutely committed to advancing the relationship between this university and this city,” Taylor said.

Dadaian spends much of her time outside her office visiting people and making the connections that make her so successful as a community relations director. For this reason, Bartholomew said many of her hours are “hidden hours.”

“Along with being a good coworker, she’s a good friend and that’s the best combination you can have,” Bartholomew said.