By April Lopez   - Conexión
Motivational speaker Lorena Gonzalez says the first step to help Latinos succeed is having “una familia fuerte.”

“Life wasn’t easy. I grew up not really knowing that I had very little until I was older and saw census numbers and thought ‘oh gosh, I was poor.’ But I knew my family was rich in something more important — life. We were rich in our culture, our familia, in our community and our faith,” Gonzalez said, who grew up on the city’s South Side.

Throughout her career, she has focused in helping Latinos overcome educational, cultural and human rights issues they face everyday. Gonzalez travels nationwide to participate in hundreds of corporate and organizational conferences, focusing on diversity, leadership and Latino issues. She has also taught leadership and cultural courses at our Our Lady of the Lake University and the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Gonzalez says her parents are the motivation and inspiration behind her quest to create a better quality of life for all Latinos. She often speaks of her father, Homer Garza, as a leader in her family, despite only having a middle school educational level when he arrived in the United States.“I always say that my dad has a Ph.D. in life because as a migrant worker, as an immigrant, all those experiences gave him quality education. It’s not formal education but it’s education nonetheless,” she said. One of the momentous honors for Gonzalez was being selected by the National Hispana Leadership Institute to participate in the Executive Leadership Training Program, which allowed her to receive leadership development classes at the Harvard Kennedy School.

 “It was the most intimidating time. I thought ‘how can this little South Side girl go to Harvard,’” she said. “When I finished though, I realized that I belonged there. We belong there and there’s no reason why other young Latinos and Latinas cannot see a school like Harvard as an option for them.”Gonzalez serves on the executive committee of the National Alliance for Hispanic Families, a group working to bring awareness to legislative policymakers about the challenges Latinos face in educational dropouts, teen pregnancy, gangs, and drugs. They want to establish community-based programs and resources that will strengthen Hispanic families.
 

source: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sacultura/Roots_important_to_motivational_speaker_Lorena_Gonzalezs_success.html

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