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Leadership & “Latina Empowerment Through Leadership”

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12 Aug

“Latina Empowerment Through Leadership “ by various (2017) was quoted at a recent Women in Technology Leadership Awards Gala. After the dinner concluded, I went up to the woman who mentioned it to learn her name (Ari) and introduce myself. As I am half Argentine and a woman working in technology, I was interested to learn more about this space. I ordered the book on Kindle and read it over the course of a month, picking up a chapter at a time.

Overview: The book is approximately 150 pages (kindle) and an anthology of female leaders in their own industries. There are stories from real estate, education, sales and insurance. The woman provide an intimate look at their backgrounds and upbringings, and what they attributed to their success.

Key Message: There was a clear common thread across each of the women’s stories- their love for family, helping others, and rising above real and self-imposed challenges. They encourage us readers to follow our hearts, find our belonging, be fierce in going after what we want, and to not take “no” for an answer.

Areas of Strengths: I enjoyed how personal these woman are. They shared their stories in a raw and emotional way, one that many of us can relate to. I particularly liked the first two chapters Mujer, Chingona, Poderosa – This is for You” and “The Classy Chingona’s Guide to Setting Yourself up for Success.” These provided a wonderful “how-to” take your background and passions – and turn them into fulfilling careers.

Supplemental Information:

Where it Falls Short: Like many anthologies, some writers are better than others. This one was noticeable in its variance. It could have had a better editor to keep the quality similar – as it was distracting.  Additionally, the flavor was very west coast USA and seemed sales-y, which I didn’t particularly relate so as a half Argentine born and raised on the East Coast and believe that books should be more educational in nature.

Overall Assessment & Why: I rate it a 7 out of 10 in terms of a personal development book. It is geared very well towards young latinX woman who want to have female role models to look up to. I am glad that the book exists because there aren’t many female self help books out there- especially in minority populations.  I do, think, however, that quality is important and as a writer myself, I sensed it was a “check the box” activity, not a work that was well thought-out for the reader to take and apply to their own lives.