Lucia Loza-Lara Galezewski

I came to the United States as an immigrant with $120 in my pocket, sent by my mother and grandmother who believed in what I could do. I thought I knew English, but quickly learned I didn't when I couldn't even ask for sugar in my coffee on the plane. I was treated like the older Mexican kid in a very white school, even though I'm from Ecuador. I lived with an American family for 5 years while going to school at UWM, helping with their kids - they became like family to me. I switched from journalism to business and fell in love with accounting when everything just made sense in my first class. As an international student, I had to volunteer for internships just to get something on paper while everyone else was getting paid. I spent years learning how to be a Latino in the United States while learning American culture so I could belong and have conversations in corporate. I've always been different in finance - leading with relationships, living in operations with finance insight, never the stereotypical bean counter. I had 12 roles throughout my career, progressively filling my toolbox with tools like a plumber who gets more experienced. In 2015, a boss told me I didn't seem confident when presenting, which shocked me because nobody had ever said that. I realized I had been trying to become a white male in finance, and I was terrible at it. After receiving a national award from the Hispanic Associations of Corporate Achievers and going through what I call Latino Leadership Bootcamp, I came out as a Latina leader. I stopped trying to be someone I wasn't and started showing up authentically - with my big earrings, bright dresses, and big hair - giving the head nod to other women and minorities that they belong here too. In 2018, I had a vision that I would be a CEO of an organization helping minorities, which terrified me because corporate America had taught me I couldn't be that. I started purposefully taking on projects and positions to build toward that vision. When my company had a workforce reduction in 2024 and my role lost sponsorship, I took the severance and launched ALSA. Now I provide corporate-level finance teams to growing organizations that can't afford us full-time, and I'm building an ERG consulting practice with other minority women here in Milwaukee who understand the segregated experience. This is mission work - providing access and resources to people like me, built by people like me.