On September 20, the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA) hosted an event in the UCC Gallery room where Stephen Rivera, Vice President of Global Technical Accounting Advisory for Johnson & Johnson, spoke about his career path as a Latino.
ALPFA is a Latine-based national professional business society that aims to empower underrepresented Latine individuals and help develop them as leaders in the corporate world in every sector of the global economy. It also aims to support the development of similar organizations on our campus. ALPFA is not just limited to Latines—anyone can join!
According to Arlene Reynoso, president of ALPFA, the goal of the event was mainly to inspire other students, particularly those from racial minority groups, to see another Latine individual overcome his struggles and become such a prominent figure in corporate America. Rivera explained the story of his career path, and how he struggled to get to where he is now. He started at the telecommunications company AT&T, but while working there he felt that he wasn’t moving up within the company. Faced with a difficult decision, he made the ultimate choice to leave the company. He decided to veer into a different career by getting into the pharmaceutical industry, and finding his way to Johnson & Johnson. From his work at Johnson & Johnson, Rivera was awarded both the Industry Award and the Trailblazer Award.
After Rivera finished presenting, a multitude of students took the time to answer various questions. “What advice do you have for people to advocate for themselves?” one student asked. Rivera said that for people to advocate for themselves, never threaten, but always make a case for themselves whenever possible. Another student asked, “Did you ever feel like a minority affected your workplace experience, and if it did, how did you overcome it?” Rivera explained how he did experience discrimination, but that only made him work harder. He was motivated to prove that he deserved to be there, as some companies only hired diverse people so they could say, “well, we knew he was going to fail, so don’t bother hiring people like him.” Another question asked was “As young leaders, there is always room to grow, so how do we do a better job at supporting our peers through struggling times?” Mr. Rivera said that we must be compassionate and patient with those around us and work at their own pace.
When we hear stories like Rivera’s, we should reflect on the discriminatory practices that plague American society and we should explore their negative impact on people of racial minorities. Overall, we should reassess the way we, and the people around us, act. At the same time, we should take inspiration from people like Mr. Rivera to overcome our struggles to achieve our dreams and do our best, no matter how much the bigotry and bias from other people tell us otherwise, and help others that suffer through similar experiences. Rivera’s experience paints a story of a man willing to take risks and work hard to achieve his goals, one that can inspire millions of others.
Be First to Comment