Hundreds of Latinas gathered in Hartford Thursday for the Latinas and PowerSymposium to exchange entrepreneurship ideas and get inspired.
This year the organization celebrated its 20th anniversary with women leaders from all over the country.
Marilyn Alverio, CEO and founder of the event, says more opportunities are needed to help Latina women start businesses and advance their professional growth.
"When the Latinas come to this event and make a connection with each other, they stay connected,” Alverio said. “They help each other out. They support each other.”
Deborah Rosado-Shaw is a business strategist, advisor, and coach for businesses, including Fortune 50 companies. She spoke at the event, saying that Latinas are providing opportunities to others living in a prejudiced world.
“There’s people underestimating who we are, what we can do and what we are about. But beyond that I think it is the structures that have not allowed us to get the resources that we need," Rosado-Shaw said. “And so access to capital, access to resources, access to training, access to people that are truly going to support you."
Elizabeth Erazo Baez is a Black Latina artist who paints about the Latino experience, mainly in Puerto Rico. Her art was displayed during the symposium.
Erazo Baez said that as a Latina she’s encountered discrimination in a male-dominated industry.
“It’s been very difficult, because as a Latina, they don't seem to value you as an artist versus a male artist," she said. “They give them more importance. That’s what I always felt. And being a woman of color on top of it. People have turned me away.”
Those experiences fueled Erazo Baez to bring her full self not only to her artistry but also her work as an elementary art teacher in Miami.
“In a lot of my work, I show women of color, families of color, because I never see it — I want to represent,” Erazo-Baez said.
Sonia Alvelo is the CEO and founder of Latin Financial in Connecticut; she said her company is setting an example. But in the beginning, her business faced a rocky road.
“In my industry all the companies were male owners and white owners,” Alvelo said. “So being a Latina minority woman, that's a triple X. But I knew what I wanted and I went for it.”
Jackie MacKnight works at the Connecticut Better Business Bureau. She said Hispanics are exponentially opening businesses in the state, with more presence in cities such as Bridgeport, Waterbury and Hartford.
“We’ve seen both a lot of husband and wife teams coming together and opening their own companies, especially in home improvements,” MacKnight said. “And we’ve also seen a lot of Latina women opening homecare companies, that’s definitely grown in the last five years as well.”
Erazo Baez encourages Latinas to pursue those dreams.
“You have to try,” Erazo Baez said. “The hardest part is getting past the fear. The first word you have to tell yourself is: I am whoever I want to be. So if it is a writer, a singer and artist, whatever it is, once you say the words, it is the truth."
The Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development says over the last two decades, women-owned businesses have grown by 56%.
