Raquel Cundiff was born the youngest of seven children on the island of Cebu in the Philippines. Her father was a professional basketball player. When he retired, he moved the family to Missouri, and they became American citizens in 1975.
Throughout high school and college, Raquel always excelled in math, and she liked to help other students who were struggling with math. Before earning a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla, where she was a Varsity Softball Player, Raquel attended St. Louis Community College (SLCC).
She earned an associate's degree in core engineering. She was also a member of the softball, volleyball, and basketball teams at SLCC. When Raquel joined Boeing as a stress engineer, she attended professional presentations.
" As a manager, I bring in those tutoring and mentoring skills and apply them to my team," she told Women of Color magazine in 2016.
Over the last two decades, Raquel has held positions of increasing responsibility. Since 2018, she has served as an integration leader for customer engineering. She is also recognized as a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) advocate and mentor at Boeing.
She has actively participated in the Summer Intern Program and Engineering Accelerated Hiring Initiative Program as an instructor and mentor.
She co-led the professional development section of the Boeing Women in Leadership program and gives selflessly of her time to organize conference workshops and support mentoring and other student events. Raquel regularly mentors college students through the Women in Science & Engineering (WiSE) program, where she helps guide students as they transition from academia to a professional career.
When it comes to community service, there are few people more passionate than Raquel Cundiff. So Boeing nominated her for the 2016 Women of Color Community Service Award.
While her work for Boeing is always center stage, supporting others is never far from her mind. She gives selflessly time to organize conference workshops and support mentoring and other student events. She has inspired countless girls and women in STEM, encouraging them to explore careers in science and engineering.
Raquel is a committed advocate for women in STEM and regularly mentors college students through the Women in Science & Engineering (WiSE) program. In addition, she helps guide students as they transition from academia to a professional career. She is widely applauded for her dedication to the community and early-career professionals at Boeing.
