How Isolation Led These Latinas To Build Powerful Support Systems In Their Communities

For so many of us, the height of the COVID-19 pandemic was a period marred by isolation and sorrow. For Sophia Zarate, the founder of Corporate Pero Latinos, it was the first time she got to take a break from the busy rush of her corporate accounting career and reflect on who she had become in the years since she graduated from college.

She was immersed for so long in a predominantly white corporate environment, in the diversity-challenged finance industry, that she felt had grown disconnected from her Mexican roots. 

So, she started posting about her experience on TikTok as a corporate Latina living in New York City in hopes of reaching those who could relate to what she was going through. She was vulnerable and funny, and her videos drew a growing audience of viewers who understood her. 

When she put out a call for other Latinas to meet up and commiserate, dozens of women answered. The response was overwhelming, but encouraging, and led to the formation of Corporate Pero Latinos, a national non-profit with four local chapters and dozens of social, philanthropic and networking events a year. 

One post ballooned into a band of thousands and introduced her to a sense of community she hasn’t felt in a long time.

“I’m not very close to my family, but when thinking about family, I think about this big community that I have, and all the great people that are a part of it that are like my family,” she said to Healthy Vibras. 

She feels grateful to be able to “help and give back to those who are often overlooked and marginalized, and just become that person that I feel like is able to pay it forward.”

Esther Nuñez, founder of Dominicanas in Corporate, similarly built her social group online.

Growing up in Washington Heights and the Bronx, her life was saturated by her Dominican culture and the multicultural experience that New York City has to offer. 

“The truth is, I saw myself represented basically all throughout my life in the communities that I was in, and it wasn’t until I started getting into higher education and entering the corporate professional world that I didn’t see myself in the room as often,” she said in an interview with Healthy Vibras. 

It was an isolating experience: “I’m getting homesick, even though I’m still in the same city I grew up in.”

When she posted her experience on LinkedIn and TikTok, other Dominican women felt the same. More than 160 women signed up for her first meetup. Her second meetup sold out 80 tickets in just three days. 

Zarate and Nuñez represent just two of the growing list of safe spaces for Latinos across the country in a time when community support systems are needed most. For every hobby and every niche Latinos are looking for, there’s a club for that, like: Latinos Run, Amigas Latinas, Latino Outdoors.

Zarate and Nuñez shared tips for others looking to build a community of their own:

Fill The Gaps You See

Nuñez was hoping that more Dominicans might one day join her company. But after some time, she decided to take matters into her own hands and it paid off. 

“I actually got a few comments from people out of state, even out of the country,” she said. “I think there is a genuine need.”

But someone needs to take the first step to host a get-together – even if it’s small – to show support and feel less alone. 

Be Intentional

Zarate knew what kind of organization she wanted to run when she began organizing events. She didn’t want to be a space that’s stiff or transactional, even if it’s geared toward Latinos who work in corporate spaces. She focused instead on the informal, cultural and social nature of the events.

By organizing them into three different areas like community building, professional development and philanthropy, she was able to cater to all kinds of participants.

For Nuñez, she adds structure to her social events to ensure all participants get the most out of their time in the space.

“I have a natural mingling time where everyone’s just trickling in and coming in and getting settled and getting a feel for the vibe and the atmosphere,” she says. “And then I go into my structured networking portion, where I come up with the questions… But the purpose is that there is some kind of guideline for people to follow, because I’ve been to networking events where people slip through the cracks.”

Open Community Is Key

“Authenticity goes a long way,” said Zarate. 

When she was developing the group into a nonprofit, she would talk candidly about the challenges and happenings that were impacting the organization. It’s not easy to build a group from the ground up, and she tried to be open about the inner workings of what it takes to plan events.

“I think that I built a lot of community trust,” she says. “I think people really saw the passion for what I was creating come through, just like in terms of bringing people together and allowing them to have this space where they can create friends and be themselves.”

Leverage Your Resources

Social media has been a vital tool for so many people looking to connect with others just like them. 

Nuñez recommends reexamining the tools in your toolbox and to ask how you can use social media, your company, other local clubs, other local resources to build and connect with the people you’re looking for.