55. What to Do if Your Family Doesn’t Understand You with Sonia Pérez, COO and Former Interim CEO of UnidosUS

You have a dream. Yet your family is completely opposed to it. What do you do?

For this Women of Color Rise episode, Analiza talks with Sonia Pérez, COO of UnidosUS, the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Sonia was the youngest of eight siblings, growing up in the projects in Brooklyn, New York. Despite limited access to quality schools, she was able to enter an elite public high school and then later Brown University. But her father did not understand why Sonia wanted to leave their community to attend Brown. He did not speak to Sonia for the entire summer.

What did Sonia do? She stayed true to her commitment to education and opportunity. She also stayed true to her family. She knew she was not leaving for good. Her plan was to come back.

The day before Sonia left for Brown, her father reconciled with her, “You will always have a home here.”

Sonia shares how this experience helped shape her life choices. She returned to family–caring for her mother in law in Puerto Rico and then back to New York. She also chose a career in education policy after attending the Kennedy School at Harvard. During her three-decade career at UnidosUS, she has served many roles, including Interim CEO.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-55-what-to-do-if-your-family-doesnt-support-you-with-sonia-prez