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A Pioneer for Latinas in Business Darys Estrella Mordan |
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| When former LaGuardia student Darys Estrella Mordan was named Chief Executive Officer of the Dominican Republic’s capital markets exchange Bolsa de Valores in 2007, she became the first woman ever to hold such a position in a Latin American country. A former Vice President at Goldman Sachs, she is comfortable with risk, and eliminated the word ‘fear’ from her vocabulary long ago. She enrolled at LaGuardia as a 17 year-old immigrant speaking little English, but realizing her quest for greater educational opportunity would be full of challenges. “I would not have survived in a four-year college from day one. I needed the intermediate step of going to a community college like LaGuardia,” she says. Classes in critical thought, participation in a learning community and the encouragement of her professors changed her life; acceptance to a transfer program between LaGuardia and Vassar College marked the next stage of her journey. “LaGuardia is a great stepping stone if you want to go to a four-year college.” In male-dominated Dominican society, she is treated like an equal because of her U.S. education and work experience. Now, improving her country’s economy and expanding opportunities for professional women is all in a day’s work. |