Her Story
About Mariana
As a first-generation college student, college graduate, and working professional, I have dedicated my career to serving communities and creating pathways for others. My parents are immigrants from Mexico, and I was the first in my family to graduate with my bachelor's degree and master's degree. A lot of the support I received, even as a child growing up in education and throughout my career, was around community development, and specifically around skills around reading, writing, and communications. This opened my career path through an internship I did at the college level to work with young adults around college and career readiness. I completed my Master's in public administration and found a passion to be able to help and serve communities, especially either those that were similar to me, or even those who had not had access to the systems that we know exist that can be difficult to navigate. After 15 years in nonprofit higher education leadership, I am now pivoting into cybersecurity because of lived experiences. In elementary school, very early on, even though I excelled in math and science and reading and writing, I had a teacher who told me, you can't do STEM, math, and science because you're a girl. I took that as I'm not supposed to do that, and my parents told me, listen to your teacher. It wasn't until I became an adult and realized what other opportunities may be out there for me that I thought, oh my gosh, I completely forgot that that happened, and I don't want to limit my skill set. I'm now looking for a way to creatively include STEM fields, specifically around cybersecurity, to provide these resources to students and communities that haven't previously had these opportunities. I completed a cybersecurity boot camp through the University of Chicago and am currently preparing for my Security Plus exam through CompTIA. I continue to serve as a chief program officer for a nonprofit organization focused on student development, mostly in a volunteer capacity, staying connected to the nonprofit space while building my new career in cybersecurity.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Mariana
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I received was that you have to believe in yourself first, because if not, no one else will. This stuck with me because if I can't even decide that this is the pivot I want to make, how is anyone else going to be able to support me in that way? The main theme was around having confidence in myself, believing in myself, no matter if people did or did not, because at the end of the day, it's what I'm able to do for myself. This was really helpful, having been someone who was dedicated to service and helping others, someone who cares deeply about what other people think and how it impacts others.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My best advice for anybody, really, especially pivoting into cybersecurity, because it has been tough, is that you can do it. Sí se puede is what that means, which is a phrase popularized by Dolores Huerta. Against all odds, whatever might feel difficult, if you want to do it, you can do it. It's changing the narrative around my experiences, where so many people told me, you have to do this specific thing, you could only do these things because of who you are. Being able to change that narrative is so important. And additional to that means that, of course, it's going to be difficult. There may be some barriers, roadblocks, things that you will experience. But again, it goes back to the belief and faith in yourself that you can do it.
Keep Exploring
More Influential Women · Illinois
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.