Her Story
About Socorro
I serve as the Executive Director for Latina Leadership Initiative, a role I've held since October 2025. My work focuses on facilitating and executing events and programs, and I'm very attentive to detail and understanding different types of personalities when people come into a space where they may not know who's going to be there. One of my most notable professional achievements was at my previous job, where I was their in-house interpretation specialist. I created that position and that department from scratch, implementing protocols and reports, and figuring out how to weave in with all the other departments. I hold an associate's degree in interpretation and translation with a focus in healthcare from DMAC, which I obtained in 2016. I'm a member of the Iowa International Interpreters and Translation Association (IIITA), and I'm also involved with a group I created called Bilingual Moms of Iowa, where the purpose is to support parents who are, or would like to be, teaching their children a second language.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Socorro
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think I'm very community-oriented. I realized the importance of having people that challenge you in a good way around you, and that uplift you after becoming a mom. Just having that village. And I want to, if I can't be part of somebody's community, I want to help them find a community. I think just being people-driven. We all want the best for our families and for ourselves, and just to be a spearhead in having a thriving community where our children feel safe and confident, and just all around enjoying life. I think that's a factor that we're missing out on in this busy, busy world that we live in. I think you have to be very intentional about it.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received is that sometimes it's more helpful to be effective rather than to be right. It just saves you sometimes. You know you could say something, and you're right, but is it really worth it? Will that person be receptive? And you're like, meh, it's alright.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think working in the nonprofit sector, if you find a cause that you're passionate about, that you feel that you're doing real work for, it fulfills you. I don't believe that there's one sole purpose in this world. I think it just comes down to closing chapters, and right now, my chapter's to help people, and specifically with LLI, the nonprofit I work with, is to help Latina women. After our leadership sessions, I just leave very inspired and motivated, just in my personal life, to keep learning and growing. So if people do want to work in nonprofits, it definitely has to be something that calls to them, because this is about helping people.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think challenges, just like with nonprofit, is it's a lot of uncertain times in regards with funding and just sponsors, that's always kind of hard. But with opportunities, I think there's a lot of people that we just want to be involved, and we want to help, and we volunteer. Like, some employers in corporate, they give vacation time, or PTO specifically to volunteer for a cause. So that's always nice that nonprofits are being taken into consideration. I think the opportunity is there for people to volunteer and to not only find a cause that they like, but just to give some of their time freely to help others that are in need.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
My number one value is kindness, and being intentional. Those are the two that I always fall back to.
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