Page 8 - Education Issue

Women of Distinction

they had an excellent program for inter- 21 I had to find a way to get him out of know how to be gritty and determined
national students. the deep rainforest and back to the US to get things done, and that diversity of
While at Pepperdine, Silvia met a for treatment to save his life." thought is essential. You have to be able
man who would eventually become her As I mentioned earlier, this is not to pivot and to listen to your custom-
husband. Their unique similarities were your typical San Diego Woman profile. ers; women are very good at doing this.
part of what brought them together. So what was next on Silvia's life plan? That’s my rational, scientific brain. My
Silvia, appeared like a white girl on the With a particular love of Marine Biology investment thesis is so much more emo-
outside but was Venezuelan and Italian Silvia decided to continue on to obtain tional through the impact I must make.
on the inside, so when she met a fellow her Ph.D. at the Scripps Institute of My dad was rather old school and
biology student who was Chinese on the Oceanography, UCSD. During this time, never imagined the inroads that wom-
outside, but Mexican on the inside they pursuing her Ph.D. Silvia gave birth to en could make in the business and
two children, and so the program took science world; providing for a distant
her a bit longer than anticipated to com- father-daughter love. By investing in
plete. After seven years she had succeed- women, I felt it was a way to use this in-
ed in obtaining her Ph.D. One of her heritance to help women prove this was
three children, her son Matteo had spe- not the case; to help create a world for
cial needs and spent sometimes 3 days my children’s children that is innovative
a week at Children’s Hospital. Although and accepting of the power of women &
she had been working as a director of a diversity."
service-learning program at the Jacobs Silvia is the youngest of four
School of Engineering, UCSD, called children, she has two brothers and a
Teams in Engineering Service, the pres- sister who is special needs, and this
sure of work-life integration hit home. alone has given her a unique insight
Silvia now felt she needed to slow down into life and what can be accomplished
to care for her children. Silvia decided even when obstacles stand in your way.
it would be an excellent time to obtain "Growing up with a sibling with special
her MBA in a part-time program, since needs humbles you. I watched my sister
she felt a sincere desire to understand accomplish so much in her life. She has
the business world and knew that she held down a job with Bank of America
possessed the entrepreneurial spirit as in a special program. She is always the
had her father. first in the office and one of the last to
She pursued her MBA at Rady leave; on task and with a smile. I always
School of Management at UCSD. This told myself, If she can do so much with
was an easy decision after attending an limited function what could I accom-
admission meeting and experiencing the plish?”
total dedication to the student and their Silvia has been personally respon-
totally understood each other. Neither desire to mold the program experience sible for assisting in giving life to the
felt they were hot enough for the other around the students and not the reverse, business ideas of hundreds of women
but soon learned that the attraction was as was the case in many MBA programs. over the years. Her company Hera Labs
mutual. Her training at Rady’s led her to the is a business accelerator for women who
“I graduated with a degree in biolo- startup world, and she loved it. want to launch a business or grow an ex-
gy. What I loved about Pepperdine was “When my father passed away my isting business. If you have only an idea
that they allowed their students to make inheritance allowed me to become an in- but no knowledge of how to bring it to
huge strides in experiential learning. vestor overnight. I decided that I wanted market, Hera Labs can help. If you have
I spent time in the deserts of Arizona to invest in startups as a good use of an existing business and want to grow it,
and California trapping rats and bats his inheritance. Based on my research, they can help you too. You can go onto
and learning how to skin them. When I made the conscious decision to only their site at
an opportunity came for me to go on a invest in female entrepreneurs. Through www.heralabs.com and submit an ap-
research trip to Guyana to trap rats and the data, I ascertained that I wanted to plication. They even offer scholarships
bats with the Smithsonian Institute, I focus solely on women since I believe to help all women have an opportunity
jumped at the opportunity. During our they are a better investment for my to live their dreams. They now have
explorations, my advisor contracted a money. Women tend to be more frugal, two locations one in Solana Beach and
severe case of Malaria, and at the age of they manage money very well, and they the other in National City through a

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