Viviana Ramirez

I've been very fortunate to have mentors in my life from the day I started law school through every place I've worked, people that have laid the groundwork for me. I attribute my success to a supportive family and the values instilled in me as a child. I was the first person in my family to go to college, and my parents instilled the desire to achieve more than they were able to and to value education. From an early age, I knew I wanted that. Because I've chosen work that I have found very rewarding at every stage of my career, it has helped further the passion that I have for service. There's something about leaving anything you do better than you found it. That value propels me to keep achieving, to keep serving, and to keep giving more. It's about social responsibility, the ability to keep serving and giving back, and mentoring the way that I was mentored.

The best career advice I ever received came from the federal public defender for the District of Utah, a female who came into that role while I was still with the office, around 2000. She told me, 'Viviana, find women mentors. They will speak your language, they will understand a lot of the hurdles women in the law profession face. They will be a wonderful resource.' I took that to heart, and it is one of the things I'm extremely proud of, to be a Latino woman in the legal profession and now in city government.

I think young women should believe in themselves, truly find their voice, and use their voice. Trust their instinct and develop that inner compass. Never give up, really. The first step of any dream is the dream itself. If you can think about it, if you can visualize it, you can achieve it. That goes with the belief in yourself. Don't sell yourselves short.

I think anytime you're identifying gaps and trying to better serve any segment of the population, challenges include the fact that there are different schools of thought on how better to serve the needs of a community. You have to meet people where they are. There are financial constraints at times and a variety of factors. I'd like to say challenges are really opportunities. It involves being creative to take something that could be a challenge and figure it out so that you don't stagnate.

Being ethically grounded is first and foremost. I believe in being guided by an ethical and moral compass to try and make the best decisions personally and professionally. If you falter, learn from the mistake. Secondly, surround yourself with people that complement your highest self, your best version of yourself, so that every single day, you try to work on being that best version of yourself and really challenging yourself to do so through hard work.