Stronger Together Unidos
An Inspiring Entrepreneurial Story
The music stopped. Students took their seats. The welcoming speaker walked to the podium and spoke. The Stronger Together Unidos Futuro Ready Student Summit began.
As the day progressed the room continued to fill with high school students, university students, and parents. Latino, ambitious, ready to learn how to crush university or trade school, or already crushing it and ready to mentor younger students to do the same.
Photo by Oleg Kovalov, VideoHook
I had the pleasure of sitting in on this event. It was inspiring for me in part because I have known the founders for years. I saw this dream spark up, and now I’ve seen it unfold.
“Stronger Together Unidos is a student-run, student-led, bilingual organization that empowers Latine youth economically, socially, and culturally by providing scholarships, mentorships, and resources.”
Before this event it had served over 100 students and provided over 150 mentoring hours.
The entrepreneurial story.
Dayani Guevara and Irasema Trujillo were high school students in 2019 when they noticed the problem they both wanted to solve: the systemic barriers facing Latino students just like them. Dayani’s family is from Cuba. Irasema’s family is from Mexico.
I met them at that time when they both participated in a leadership program, Pave the Path, that I work with. Occasionally they talked with me about starting a nonprofit to help Latino students.
In 2021, Stronger Together Unidos was founded. By then, the dream had taken form.
Student-led
Student-operated
Bilingual
Focus on creating success for Latine youth in three ways - economically, socially, and culturally.
At Futuro Ready, the first students I met were 2 future attorneys, a future detective, and an HVAC specialist (who as a high school rising senior is already credentialed). Over the day I saw more future attorneys, nurses or other medical practitioners, an industrial designer, and many more ambitious young folks. I didn’t see anyone who was dream-less or goal-less. Some were mentors. Some were mentees. Some were Stronger Together Unidos board members.
In other words, the community that Dayani and Irasema envisioned in 2019 and the organization they founded in 2021 to accomplish this exists today. Bigger and better than the initial dream.
The saying is “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” The founders of Stronger Together Unidos, would agree, but would add “If you want to be stronger and go far, go together.”
They did not want a quick win. They wanted to build a legacy that would live on. After high school, they made themselves the role models that the participants in their student-led non-profit could emulate. Both earned undergraduate and graduate degrees. Dayani at George Washington University and Columbia. Irasema at Notre Dame and Oxford. I’m pretty sure that both still have law school in their futures.
While taking their time, they built a powerful board - all students - and set to work growing their community.
Takeaways for entrepreneurs.
What Irasema, Dayani, and their team have built - and how they built it - give all of us some lessons. Here are a few.
You don’t have to succeed overnight.
You can (and should) learn as you go.
Find your tribe.
Give your tribe freedom to do what they love.
Help your tribe grow its talents.
Model success for your team - and customers.
Having a solid vision keeps you on target.
Staying true to your vision beats compromising.
Making the world a better place is a vision that gives you energy.
We are people - don’t forget the social and cultural elements.
It’s about way more than money.
In conclusion
I know that some of you are thinking, well they ran an event. Why does Steve think this is a big deal?
Here’s why.
For over two decades I’ve coached entrepreneurs. I’ve heard thousands of visions. I’ve seen some of them come true. This one hits differently.
These two young ladies have persevered, didn’t compromise their own education or their vision, and through all of the busyness of grad school, found a group of true believers, inspired them, organized them, and started making the world a better place.
I heard the story in 2019. I’ve now seen Dayani and Irasema bring it to life, inspiring their tribe along the way. That inspires me!
Excellent. Way to Go!