I am the current ambassador of the Wisconsin Hispanic Scholarship Foundation, proudly holding the Ms. Mexican Fiesta title. I was elected into this role in August 2019, and am now the first ever to hold a two-year term.

Aside from my work with the foundation, I am heavily involved in community outreach, especially with organizations focused on educational equity and racial diversity. As a first-generation college graduate, I know first-hand how difficult it can be to not only get into college but also make it through to graduation. I mentor both high school students with Chicago Scholars and college students with Anitab.org in an attempt to give back to students like myself. At work, I bring these passions to life by serving as a national co-lead of our Latinx employee resource group, Adelante, and contributing to the planning and execution of corporate citizenship initiatives in the Midwest region.

As I reflect on my first year as the ambassador, I am very proud. Aside from the standard ambassador role, which is to represent the organization with grace and be a role model to students within our community, I hoped to bring a business take to the role while bringing awareness to careers in STEM and technology. Through many community events, public speaking engagements, and networking, I not only learned so much but also solidified my identity as a young leader. The role has helped me overcome feelings of imposter syndrome and encouraged me to go after more opportunities with confidence. I also feel more connected to my Mexican heritage than ever before, and that it truly a great feeling and brings me so much pride in all that I do.

One initiative I am especially proud to have contributed to is the foundation’s digital transformation. I brought a fresh perspective to our digital footprint and look forward to continuing to work with the wonderful Mexican Fiesta team to make our online impact even greater. As a full-time remote consultant at my company, I was very prepared for the COVID impact and digital workplace that came along with it. I hope to capitalize on this environment in the upcoming year through a series of virtual workshops for scholarship recipients and local students. These online ‘cafecitos’ will cover an array of professional development topics and college life best practices, that will aim to set more students up for success after both high school and college graduation.

I will close with a favorite quote and mantra of mine that is: “We cannot lead where we are not willing to go.”