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Marilyn Alverio: Powering Up

Marilyn Alverio thought she was a poor student when she attended school in New Britain in the late ’60s and early ’70s, and her grades supported that conclusion. She was in the bottom quarter of her class. Her teachers told her that she was not college material, and she believed them.

Then, Marilyn recalls, something totally unexpected happened. A University of Connecticut representative came to her high school expressly to encourage Latino students who were struggling with their grades to apply to college.

Marilyn did that, and she says it changed her life. For the first time, Marilyn did well in school. She ended up on the dean’s list and was a member of the student government at UConn.

“It’s been such a trajectory, such a career journey,” she says.

Marilyn’s parents migrated from Puerto Rico. Her mother had a 3rd-grade education, and her father had a 5th-grade education.

“Affirmative action opened the door for me,” she says. “If that had not happened, I do not know what I would have done. When I got on the dean’s list, it was just like Pygmalion.”

Marilyn recalls that her parents wanted her to get a good education, but they had little idea of how the system worked and were unaware of the importance of things like attending parent-teacher nights and establishing relationships with the schools their children attended.

Now, three years retired from a corporate career, Marilyn, an Essex resident, is heading an organization which she founded to help other Latina women climb the ladder to business success.

“There are other Marilyns out there,” she says. “I want to continue the progress, to put a hand back down. I came from nothing. Now, I can give tools to other women.”

In 2004, Marilyn started Latinas and Power, an annual conference which brings together Latinas who had already achieved success in fields ranging from business to entertainment with young women who want to follow their example.

“There was no advertising. Just word of mouth,” she recalls.

Still, there were some 186 attendees.

“People said to me, ‘Please don’t stop.’”

Marilyn has certainly not stopped. Over the years, speakers at the conference have included such well-known personalities as actress Rita Moreno; singer Vikki Carr, who was born Florencia Vicenta de Casillas-Martínez Cardona; and business executive Deborah Rosado Shaw, who is the head of her own consulting firm specializing in diversity and engagement

In 2018, under Marilyn’s leadership, Latinas and Power became a charitable foundation. In 2023, it started a new program, Latinas in Leadership Institute, a six-month program which combines an in-person group discussion with online classes and an individual capstone project—all focused on mastering the skills needed both for advancement in the both business world and the community at large.

Marilyn points out that Latins are far from a homogeneous group.

“They come in every color, but they are united by language,” she says.

Marilyn says that her own ancestry is evenly divided between African, European, and Taíno, the latter of which were the indigenous inhabitants of Puerto Rico.

The challenges which Latina women face, Marilyn says, include prejudice reflected in attitudes about accent, color, and the constant battle against stereotypes. In her own case, those stereotypes even included height.

“People said to me you are Puerto Rican, but you are tall,” she recalls. “That’s microaggression.”

Marilyn’s own professional career included leadership positions in marketing at American Airlines and Aetna, but she says she never advanced to her career goal of becoming a chief marketing officer.

“I never got to apply,” she says. “I was overlooked.”

According to Marilyn, her background didn’t look like executive-suite material.

“I was an inner-city kid. I didn’t belong to a golf club, a country club. Those things open doors. We were not even at the table,” she says.

When she looks back, Marilyn feels she lacked the type of support which she hopes groups like Latinas and Power can give to young women today: providing mentorship and the kind of executive grooming necessary to advance.

Marilyn sees the diversity which different groups bring to the executive suite as a potential strength. Different voices, she contends, bring different solutions to problems.

“When you are homogeneous, you lose diversity of thought. Inclusion benefits all people. Excluding a lot of people means excluding a lot of solutions,” she says. “Diversity adds value. It never takes it away.”

Equally, Marilyn points out that the occupants of executive suites need to see the opportunities involved in widening their circle.

“Nobody should have to leave their culture at the office door,” she says.

Marilyn moved to Essex five years ago because her daughter Briana and her granddaughter lived nearby. Those two have since moved to Colchester, but Marilyn says she is in Essex for life. Looking toward the future, she even made sure the house she now lives in had halls and areas wide enough to accommodate the kinds of physical-assistance equipment people may need as they age.

“I am done moving,” she says.

At the moment, Marilyn’s recreation for both physical fitness and enjoyment is salsa dancing. In New Haven, she like Alisa’s House of Salsa and, when she travels, she looks for a salsa club. Exercise also means a daily walks with Lily Pad—her very small but active dog.

When she retired, Marilyn was not sure what the future would hold. However, in working to make the corporate world a more welcoming place for Latinas, she has found all the purpose she needs.

“Now, I think to myself, ‘Wow, I have another act,’” she says.