BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Met with applause and cheers from the crowd, women leaders in the Lehigh Valley shared how they overcame racism and ageism in the workforce.
Close to 200 attendees showed their support during a luncheon in celebration of International Women's Day on Friday.
Among the speakers were Benita Draper of the Easton Area School District; Lin Erickson, executive director of the Da Vinci Science Center; Atty. Yudelkys Rodriguez de Vargas; Allentown School Board member Zaleeae Sierra; and Jovana Villanueva, owner of JV Construction and Consulting.
Jacinth Headlam served as the moderator.
The event, held inside the Ben Franklin TechVentures, was hosted by members of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce's African American Business Leaders Council, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and Women’s Business Council.
Advocating for immigrants
Rodriguez emigrated to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic 15 years ago, when she was in her 20s.
While obtaining her undergraduate degree at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, she studied English before applying to law schools.
"I put a lot of work into learning English. I know my accent is really strong, but my writing is really good. When I write, [people] do not know that English is my second language."
Rodriguez, an immigration attorney, owns a law firm in Allentown.
Because of her accent, she was bullied in college and even today is treated unfairly.
"Only 39% of attorneys are women. And then Latina women, of color, is only 2.5% in the United States," she said. "So many times when I go to places, I'm not seen as the attorney at the court, even the judges think the first time they see me, that I'm the client and then when I speak, they really think I'm the client."
Breaking down barriers
Villanueva runs her own construction business based in the Bronx, New York. She said it can be challenging working in a male-dominated field.
"When I first started there were not many women, definitely not Latina women. If you were a Latina woman, you were either flagging or you were sweeping," she said.
"Everybody thought I was either married to someone or I was someone's daughter. They could not imagine that I was actually a construction project manager. Most of the women I met in the field that were in construction were actually architects or engineers."Jovana Villanueva
"Everybody thought I was either married to someone or I was someone's daughter. They could not imagine that I was actually a construction project manager.. Most of the women I met in the field that were in construction were actually architects or engineers," Villanueva said.
She hopes to one day own her own development company as the industry continues to grow and diversify.
"There are more Latinos, more African American women getting into the field, especially a lot of women that started off as licensed real estate brokers or salespeople. They're starting to go into the development world and learning how to do their own construction, which is helping us open up doors for other women," she said.
'Representation matters'
Draper is the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in the Easton Area School District.
Growing up, her family and loved ones encouraged her to work in business or finance.
"I recall being in first grade, in my room, with my dogs, with a chalkboard, and I was teaching. And I didn't know then that I was going to be where I am today," Draper said.
She expressed gratitude for attending elementary and secondary schools where Black educators held high-ranking positions such as superintendent — something she sees a lack of in the region.
"I knew I could because I saw people in those roles who looked like me in those positions. And I think there's only so much to say about that. Many of our youth don't have that," Draper said. "Just recently, visiting a couple of schools, when I see African American students, they look at me, it's almost like they're puzzled, like, "Who are you?" So representation matters, and I'm going to say for our youth, for Black girls to kind of see people in their roles where they can aspire to be."
Lifting up the youth
At 20 years old, Sierra is the youngest school board member in the state.
She also serves as the youth director at Promise Neighborhoods.
"I realized the majority of the issues that our youth go through and what our families go through is funding. So I wanted to figure out a way, how can I help our youth and also be able to be in a position of power to create change," Sierra said of her role in the school district.
"Joining the board, believing in myself, and having the support that I have here has really helped me. So I wanted to give that support to other kids and also to inspire them that they can do this as well. And it doesn't matter if you're 18, 19, 20," she said.
"You have a voice. Your voice matters and your voice needs to be heard, and that's honestly why I ran, because I saw that was, that was an advantage to our youth.....as I'm building myself up in these positions, I'm grabbing the hand of the youth with me and bringing them right with me." Sierra said.
