Hispanic Heritage Month Employee Spotlight
In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, OFCCP is highlighting employees of Hispanic heritage throughout the agency. Join us in honoring the rich culture, history, and contributions of our colleagues through this Spotlight Series.
This Spotlight features Adriana López, our colleague from the Northeast Region. Adriana was born in Los Angeles, CA. At age two, she moved to El Salvador with her family and returned to the United States at the age of sixteen.
Adriana’s family returned to the United States leaving their beloved El Salvador amid a civil war. “After the war, the economy was in shambles and the situation was really bad in El Salvador. My mom did what was best for me in that moment. She wanted me to have better opportunities, so she sent me back to California to live with relatives.”
Adriana still remembers returning to California and not knowing a word of English until she started her college career. When she started her undergraduate studies, she found that remedial classes were not readily available to her, which made her college experience a challenging one. Adriana powered through all the hardships, learned English, and completed her undergraduate studies.
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Most of her family still lives in El Salvador. Adriana shared, “Those of us that live in the United States are very proud of our Hispanic heritage. We came to this country with the hope of having better opportunities and we have found ways to continue to contribute to our country and family back home.” The picture above shows Adriana in front of the Palacio Nacional in El Salvador. She is proud to see El Salvador has continued to grow and heal after the war. Adriana celebrates holidays from El Salvador with her family, attends Independence celebrations, enjoys gatherings with friends where they share traditional Salvadorian dishes. These are just some of the many ways Adriana likes to keep her connection to El Salvador.
Adriana has been working as an Assistant District Director in the Boston office for eleven years. One of the things she loves most about her work is having the opportunity to represent OFCCP in different events that foster Hispanic heritage and that provide much needed resources for the Hispanic community. Adriana believes that OFCCP is on a great path with assisting the Hispanic community and should continue to connect with those community-based organizations that are providing services to Hispanics. When Adriana thinks back at how far she has come, she realizes that her mother’s hope that she would have better opportunities was spot on. She has had better opportunities in the United States and continues to work hard every day to serve as an inspiration to her colleagues, to the younger generation in her family and, most of all to represent her country proudly. She encourages us all to participate in events for Hispanics because through our participation we continue to inspire, motivate and foster relationships that will help the community.
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