race and identity

Multicultural Greek Life: More Than Just a Social Scene

A girl in her greek life academic regalia standing in a field

As a first-generation college grad, I had little to no expectations of what college would be like. I came from a home where my mother had a third-grade education, and my father had a first-grade education.

They were extremely supportive and even enthusiastic about my decision to attend college. They were even more excited to find out that I had chosen the local university and I’d be able to make the 20-minute drive to visit them regularly.

I grew up in South Dallas, in a small community called Pleasant Grove, and the running joke was that there was nothing pleasant about the grove. Pleasant Grove was and continues to be an underserved community, a step-child of Dallas where few see opportunity. Even as one of the fastest growing communities of Dallas, it continues to fail to prepare mostly Latinx and Black young people for college. So once I got to my local university, a predominantly white institution (PWI), not only was I ill-prepared, I was in complete culture shock. I constantly asked myself how two vastly different communities could exist within 17 miles, a mere 20-minute drive.

The Journey of a First-Generation College Student

​My first semester in college was difficult, to say the least. Even though I had graduated top of my class, my hopes of seamlessly making the transition from high school to college were crushed as the semester continued. Not only did I not know how to study, I didn’t know how to make friends with people who had experiences completely different from mine. The conversation topics ranged from traveling abroad to the type of luxury vehicle they were driving or wanted at the moment.

On weekends I’d turn around, drive back home, and feel like I no longer belonged there either. I didn’t get why my community wasn’t progressing and questioned my place in between these two worlds. As I continued to have an internal identity struggle, I came across student fairs and multicultural Greek-lettered organizations (fraternities and sororities). I identified with them not just in the way I looked but in the way we dressed, the music they were dancing to, the cultural references that were made, and even the struggles of feeling lost in between worlds.

A New Family and a Beacon of Support

As time went on, I began to invest more time and energy into my relationships with members of Sigma Lambda Gamma, and in the Spring of 2011, I made the decision to pledge and become a member of the organization. This decision not only granted me the opportunity to share commonalities of identity and cultural struggles, but it also gave me the opportunity to use the organization as a space for growth. When I had struggles, questions, or just a case of imposter syndrome, I had hermanas to lean on. As cheesy as it sounds, from the time I made the decision to join until now, I’ve had a constant support system, and it was one of the best decisions of my collegiate life.

It didn’t take long for me to realize what Sigma Lambda Gamma and other multicultural Greek organizations like ours were doing. We were creating a bridge between students of color and low-income students, and postsecondary institutions. As I look back, I realize that we were doing the job of our institution in helping our peers graduate and oftentimes graduate within four years. By the time I graduated, I’d seen over 40 women of color, predominantly Latinas, graduate within four years. During my time with the sorority, only 3 members didn’t’ graduate; a 93% success rate.

The Role and Impact of Multicultural Greek Orgs for Latinas

Girls from the Southern Methodist University, Pi Chapter posing for a graduation photo. Image via Facebook.

Specifically for Latinas, since 2018, postsecondary institutions have seen an increase in college enrollment to 40% from 25% in 2000. Yet, since February 2019, graduation rates for a postsecondary institution averaged 32% for Hispanics within four years and 54% within six years. These numbers are underwhelming, considering the increase in college enrollment for Latinos and the exponential growth of the Latinx demographic in the United States.

That begs the question, what experience do multicultural Greek-letter organizations provide for students that help them stay on track to graduate?

In my personal experience, we created a space of accountability and support. We did it with a cultural competency that postsecondary institutions fail to provide for vulnerable students. While many enroll with goals and aspirations to graduate within four years, setbacks like financial issues, academic struggle, and even identity crises can lead students to drop out or take much longer than expected to complete a degree.

The True Essence of Multicultural Greek Organizations

A photo of girls from the Southern Methodist University, Pi Chapter holding hands with their backs turned toward the camera. Image via Facebook

College can be an isolating experience, particularly for first-generation students, and joining an organization that provides validation of your experience while sharing similar cultural values creates a safe space where you can share your identity struggles and feel supported. It provides a space of empowerment to focus on academics to be able to remain in college and graduate.

Additionally, an important value of many of the multicultural Greek-letter organizations is community service that they provide as an outlet for students to identify the needs of communities like the one I grew up in and empower them to foster change.

While Greek-letter orgs can oftentimes be seen as partying clubs, paying for friends, and nothing more than a distraction, multicultural orgs have proven time and time again that they are stepping in and doing the job that postsecondary institutions should be doing.

assimilationvoicesrace and identity
mental health

Are They Jerks or Narcissists? There's a Disturbing Difference

a woman giving the side eye to a man

Have you ever met someone who seems overly confident, self-centered, or even downright rude? Maybe they constantly talk about themselves, disregard your feelings, or even manipulate situations to their advantage. And, if you're anything like us and countless other Latinas, you might've thought, is this person just a purebred a**hole, or are they a narcissist?

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impact

Nathalie Molina Niño on Why Latinas Belong in Boardrooms—and How to Get There

woman surrounded by colorful illustrations
Image by Sayuri Jimenez.

Nathalie Molina Niño has never been one to shy away from breaking barriers, and now, she’s focusing her attention on a new mission: demystifying corporate boardrooms for women, especially Latinas. Molina Niño is the President of Known, an asset management and financial services firm, a veteran tech entrepreneur and builder capitalist, and a board member at the iconic lingerie Brand, Hanky Panky, and others.

Like many corporate boards, Hanky Panky hadn’t publicly disclosed its board composition until recently. After the brand survived the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Molina Niño decided it was time for more women, specifically more Latinas, to know what it means to be on corporate boards.

Coincidentally, the decision to finally be more vocal about this topic aligned with the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, which served as the perfect kick-off to the work.

"Something that rarely gets talked about and I think almost gets kept opaque by design is boards,” she explains in a recent Instagram announcement. “[This Latinx Heritage Month], that’s what I’ll be talking about.” Her goal? To equip more Latinas with the knowledge they need to navigate onto for-profit boards, where they can thrive and build multi-generational wealth.

For-profit corporate boards often feel like an exclusive club. And in many ways, they are, especially for Latinas, who hold the smallest percentage of board seats in Fortune 500 companies compared to other racial groups. According to the latest report from Latino Board Monitor, while Latinos hold 4.1% of these board seats (compared to 82.5% held by white people), only 1% go to Latinas. Molina Niño, a first-generation American of Ecuadorian and Colombian descent, is part of this boardroom minority.

When asked about her experience as a Latina board member during a recent Zoom interview, she said, “It’s been lonely. There’s not a lot of Latinas on boards.” She went on to explain that even serving on boards of Latina-founded businesses gets lonely because, “A lot of the times, people who serve on their boards represent their investors and, as a result, [...] you still don’t see a lot of Latinas on those boards.”

This lack of representation drives Molina Niño’s determination to increase Latina presence in corporate boardrooms. By sharing her insights, she hopes to give Latinas a roadmap to claim their seats at the table. “If you don’t know where to go, it’s impossible to figure out how to get there,” she says.

The Road to the Boardroom

Getting onto a for-profit corporate board isn’t an overnight achievement, but it’s not an unattainable dream either. People often think you need to be a CEO or have a certain type of background, but that’s one of the biggest myths about boards in Molina Niño’s experience. What they’re really looking for is expertise — whether that’s in finance, marketing, sustainability, or even technology. If you have that expertise, you’re already an asset. It’s simply a matter of which road you should take.

Understanding what boards are and how they operate is key to unlocking opportunities. For-profit boards serve as the governing body for companies, overseeing direction and financial stability, and guiding CEOs and executives in decision-making. But Molina Niño emphasizes that not all for-profit boards are created equal.

“There are two kinds [of for-profit boards] [...]. There’s the publicly traded business board and then, on the privately held side, there are, I would argue, two types of boards [...] the traditional business board and the venture-backed business board,” explains Molina Niño. Traditional businesses are often family-owned or long-established and may only form boards to meet requirements, like securing financing or transitioning through an ESOP. Venture-backed boards, on the other hand, are typically filled by investors who hold major stakes in the company.

According to Molina Niño, understanding the difference between them is how you can create a successful strategy. With publicly traded business boards, the whole world is privy to them, so, “The way that you get in there is a little bit more transparent. Sometimes those publicly traded companies will hire a recruiter to help them find new board members,” explains Molina Niño. For private companies, on the other hand, there’s no legal requirement to make announcements. As a result, most people don’t know anything about them or their inner workings.

“Usually what happens in traditional businesses that don’t have venture-capital investments is that the Founders, Executives, or the board members, if one existed already, they usually go to their friends,” and people they deem experienced to fill board seats. In other words, it’s the founder’s decision, and that’s an entirely different approach than hiring recruiters. When it comes to venture-backed business boards, the seats on the board are filled by whichever investor writes the biggest check.

This is why an understanding of the different types of boards and acknowledgment of their own strengths is what will help Latinas define a sound strategy. Whether that’s working with a recruiter, networking and connecting with founders to build trust, or making the biggest investment.

The Path for Latinas

For Molina Niño, the key to getting more Latinas into corporate boardrooms is education. Knowing what a board looks like and how it functions is how you can position yourself to get on it. In openly talking about this, without the mystique it’s usually shrouded in, Molina Niño is providing women, especially Latinas, with invaluable insights. “If we had Latinas understanding what are the three types of for-profit boards I think that, on their own, they would be able to figure out what their best chance is and adjust their careers to make themselves more competitive,” states Molina Niño.

When asked about the impact of increased Latina representation in boardrooms, Molina Niño flips the narrative. “Boards don’t help Latinas by offering them seats; Latinas help businesses thrive by being on their boards,” she says. “The whole point of sitting on a board is that you have experience and expertise, and as Latinas, you also have some cultural experience that everyone wants. [...] At the end of the day, we [Latinas] have to realize that we have a ton to offer and we have to be selective about where we put that expertise,” she explains.

As demand for access to the Latina consumer rises, Molina Niño predicts that more Latinas will find themselves recruited into boardrooms. But she’s not content to sit back and wait for that moment. By openly sharing her journey and insights, she’s making sure other Latinas know their worth and have the tools to claim their place at the table. “I realized that quietly being on boards that helped me personally is not helping other Latinas. [...] I was lucky enough to have friends who could advise me and share their experiences, so that’s why I’m doing this,” she stated.

With Hispanic Heritage Month as the backdrop, Nathalie Molina Niño’s mission is clear: “My goal is just to give Latinas enough information so they can make a plan for how to eventually get on a board that they’re paid to be on and that will eventually help them build generational wealth.”

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traditions

September’s Latino Independence Days: A Month of Freedom

flags of latin american countries fly behind performers wearing culturally traditional clothing

Ever noticed how September in Latin America is just one big celebration? As we wave goodbye to summer and avoid winter as long as we can, the streets come alive with parades, music, and festivities. Many Latin American countries celebrate their freedom this month, commemorating their hard-fought battles for independence from colonial domination. Let’s dive into these significant days and understand what makes each unique.

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