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HARTFORD — Jennifer Doran is used to being first. She is the oldest child of a first-generation immigrant family and the first in her family to go to college. Now, she is in the first class of students admitted into the new Latinas in Leadership Institute launched by nonprofit Latinas & Power Corp. in September.
The institute is a six-month virtual certification program that targets early- to mid-career Latina professionals and aims to give participants skills for personal and professional growth.
Doran has been working for Hartford HealthCare for 16 years and is now senior director of practice strategy and operations for digestive health and surgery. As she was advancing her career, she was looking for mentors. She found people willing to help her, but none that looked like her.
“Why don’t I see more Latinas in C-suite roles, executive roles, that I could tap into their knowledge, into their experiences?” she asked. “It’s really hard for me to work with a sponsor or mentor, or a coach that has never felt hunger, has never felt like they were the youngest in the room and people are doubting them, maybe not even facing impostor syndrome.”
The gap in mentorship is not exclusive to health care. Even though about 15% of the workforce is Hispanic, about 5% of high-level executives that report directly to the CEO are Hispanic and only about 2% of executives are Latinas, according to the 2023 Corporate Inclusion Index from the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility. The report aggregated data from 92 participating corporations and also found that almost half of the surveyed companies had no Hispanic executives at all.
Finding ‘comadre-ship’Last summer, Doran attended the annual Latinas in Power Symposium hosted by the Latinas and Power Corp. and heard about the Latinas in Leadership Institute. She thought she wasn’t investing in herself enough and decided to apply.
After an in-person inaugural summit and about three months of intensive virtual classes, she said she values the “comadre-ship” of her cohort. A “comadre” is a uniquely Hispanic term that goes beyond conventional friendship. It’s a kind of sisterhood in which individuals become confidantes, offering unwavering encouragement and empathy.
“I make sure that I show up because if anything is going on in my life personally or professionally, those women know how to get me out of the funk and reassure me,” she said. “I don’t have it together, but it’s OK. This sisterhood, this comadre-ship, they have me and that helps fuel me and helps balance me.”
Importance of mentors, authenticityEven though the impact of cultural authenticity is not as easy to report as quarterly earnings, it does impact Latina careers. For example, 43% of Latinas felt the need to compromise their authenticity at work to conform to executive or leadership presence standards at their companies, according to a 2016 report from global nonprofit think tank Coqual. Because of this, many Latinas felt the need to cover or downplay who they are by modifying their appearance, body language, communication style, and leadership behaviors to be seen as leadership material.
The think tank’s report also found that repression, slights and snubs, and a lack of advocacy conspire to make Latinos feel unwelcome, unheard, and underappreciated at their jobs. Sixty-three percent of Latinos do not feel welcome and included by their team, do not feel free to express their views and opinions, and/or do not feel that their ideas are being heard and recognized, according to Coqual. For employers, these figures can translate into diminished engagement, lower productivity and flight risk.
As a response, the Coqual study points to sponsorship and senior-level advocacy as a key strategy in retaining and advancing Latino professionals. The report also found that Latinos with sponsors are 42% more likely than those without sponsors to be satisfied with their career progression. However, a mere 5% of full-time, high-earning Latino professionals in large companies have sponsors in their corner.
Adriana Rodriguez, executive director of the Spanish Community of Wallingford and part of the first class of Latinas in Leadership Institute, said she appreciated the knowledge, experience and insight of the other members of her class.
She said the institute has given her a platform to continue her own leadership development and personal growth all while engaging in important topics such as civic engagement and advocacy. Through the institute, she said she has identified her strengths, leadership competencies and confidence to continue embracing her authenticity.
“Being part of this select network has fostered a new sense of community and support for me and my fellow cohort members. This network is truly exceptional because of the inspiring women selected to participate. Learning that I am not the only one who has faced imposter syndrome and similar obstacles has allowed me to heal and move forward,” she said.
Finding second cohortNow that the first class is wrapping up its academic courses and moving on to their capstone project, CEO of Latinas & Power Corp Marilyn Alverio, a Meriden native, said the institute is looking for a second class. The institute is fielding applications until Dec. 31 for a second cohort to take the program from March-September of 2024.
Tuition is $6,500, although the Institute can provide partial scholarships, offered on a competitive basis taking into account need. After filling out the application, Alverio said the institute moves on to an interview process. She explained that the institute is interested in Latinas who are willing to invest in themselves and who have a passion for growth.
“During that interview process, we really want to learn: Are you the right person for this program? Because it does take a commitment and there is a certain profile, like do you really have the desire to level up in your career or your business?” she explained.
Origins of Latinas inLeadership InstituteThe curriculum at the Institute was developed from scratch based on a 2022 report that compiled a series of in-depth interviews with Latinas in different parts of their careers to figure out what Latinas needed to advance their careers. Because of the report, Alverio explained that the curriculum is centered on a growth mindset, leadership, influence, emotional intelligence and civic engagement.
“What this institute has done for them is expose them to powerful Latinas who encourage and exemplify what they have been working toward in their own career. They’ve been inspired by this institute to reach for more and to share their voices in the community,” she said.
She said the first cohort is made up of a group of 16 women from Connecticut, New Jersey and Massachusetts, from both private and nonprofit jobs. After an in-person summit, the first part of the institute is a 10-week online class that meets for three hours once a week. The second part is more independent as participants collaborate on a capstone project.
Each of the five groups tackles a different central issue, such as disparities in education, health equity with a focus on mental wellness for Latinas, financial literacy for high school students, wealth management, and the unrealized power of the Latino voters. With their team, they develop writing and storytelling skills to present a report on the issue.
Doran is assigned to the group working on a report on wealth management and financial literacy. As the first in her family, she said this is a personal topic for her as she’s working on making a generational change for her family and changing the circumstances that she grew up with.
Doran saw working on the report and being part of the institute as the chance to have a larger network of very strong, determined Latina servant leaders and also have the opportunity to collaborate with other Latinas to change a competitive mindset.
“I think a lot of the time, there’s so many limited seats,” she said, “that we have to compete with each other, versus, ‘Let’s collaborate and work together so we can just drive sustainable change and be as authentic and as unapologetic as possible.”
Twitter: @lguzm_n
Latino Communities Reporter Lau Guzmán is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. Support RFA reporters at the Record-Journal through a donation at https://bit.ly/3Pdb0re. To learn more about RFA, visit www.reportforamerica.org.