Join the Massachusetts Apprentice Network for the one-year anniversary of its launch.
03/27/2023
9:30am - 11:00am
Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
This event will explore why in-game advertising is becoming the next big advertising channel and how companies can tap into the gaming ad space.
03/28/2023
5:30pm - 7:30pm
Mediahub
Thank you for joining us for our second Government Affairs forum of the year that featured Ronald J. Mariano, Massachusetts Speaker of the House.
03/30/2023
9:45am - 11:00am
Colonnade Hotel
Designed for mid-level managers and supervisors, this new certificate program addresses workplace well-being through unique, innovative, and actionable methods.
Join our Transformational DEI Certificate! Our comprehensive learning & development offerings are designed to connect and grow strong leaders who lead both inside and out of the office.
Our Women’s Leadership Program enables you to take your leadership to the next level by arming you with the most in-demand leadership toolkit.
Expand your DEI professional development with a virtual workshop focused specifically on LGBTQIA+ identities and inclusion.
Our Economic Inclusion Committee provides strategic support around research, policies, and programs that are focused on building equal opportunity.
We are developing an ecosystem of corporations and partners with the influence and buying power to transform economic inclusion for minority business enterprises (MBEs).
The Fierce Urgency of Now Festival brings Boston’s diverse young professionals together with business leaders, organizations and their peers to build connection, advance careers and ignite positive change.
09/12/2023 -
09/15/2023
Greater Boston
City Awake empowers young professionals in a variety of ways that encourages these rising leaders to stay invested in the region’s future success.
BIMA (the Boston Interactive Media Association) serves a vibrant community of like-minded professionals from agencies, brands, publishers, and ad-tech companies with business interests in the New England market.
For more than 25 years, the Chamber’s Women’s Network has connected female professionals of all background and career levels. Today, our Women’s Network is the largest in New England, strengthening the professional networks of women each year.
Through MITX (the Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange), we’re building valuable connections between the people and ideas behind technology and its impact on the future of customer experiences, all to create a community that’s finding tomorrow’s solutions together.
We support small business through public policy initiatives, events designed to connect small businesses in Greater Boston to their peers and established business leaders, professional development offerings, and free small business advising.
Explore our mission and values to better understand how we are leading the business community forward.
Our member directory is your resource to discover, connect, and engage with Boston’s businesses from every industry and sector.
Our City Awake intern, Domingo Rivera, shares his personal life and career journey, encouraging us all to see obstacles as opportunities. Wherever you are in your own journey, Rivera reminds you that tenacity, vision and the belief that all things are possible will help you accomplish your goals.
There are moments in our lives where we feel like Sisyphus as he pushes the boulder up the hill only to have it roll back down in an eternal exercise in futility. We all begin our journeys at different moments and places in life with a variety of tools, advantages, and opportunities at our disposal. Some may struggle more to achieve what comes easy to others. Some may have to juggle multiple balls in the air, while others may just have to toss one ball in the air and catch it with minimal effort. Regardless, whether a person has had to overcome many obstacles or push forward with an infinite number of responsibilities or none of the above, obstacles will arise at some point in our lives. How we deal with these obstacles, as well as how we utilize them to advance our families, our careers, and ourselves, will determine how productive and successful we are in our lives. Such obstacles have been a hindering reality in my life since I was young, but perseverance, motivation, faith, and the ability to take advantage of certain situations have allowed me to rise above them all.
As a Puerto Rican born on the island but raised in Boston, I was blessed with the knowledge and influence of two different cultures. However, at the age of four, I was left without a father in my home, as my father left my mother, my sister, and me in order to return to Puerto Rico. Raising two kids on her own, my mother did the best she could and fought to give her children the most opportunities and best education possible. I was accepted to Boston Latin Academy, which was an honor, but did not live up to my potential due to my lack of focus on my studies. I graduated on schedule and went briefly to the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I continued to lack focus and motivation and soon dropped out in order to join the workforce and help my mother pay the bills.
“How we deal with these obstacles, as well as how we utilize them to advance our families, our careers, and ourselves, will determine how productive and successful we are in our lives. Such obstacles have been a hindering reality in my life since I was young, but perseverance, motivation, faith, and the ability to take advantage of certain situations have allowed me to rise above them all.”
Over the next 16 years, I worked odd jobs that ranged from security guard to call center representative to construction site cleaner to janitor at a homeless shelter. During these years, I met and married my current wife, moved to Philadelphia for six years before returning to Boston, had two beautiful children, and was hired as a file clerk at Pond Lehocky (a prominent workers’ compensation and disability law firm). Upon returning to Boston, I was hired as Document Control Specialist at Commonwealth Financial Services (a well-known national broker-dealer) before my ambitions and aspirations began to change. I knew there was more I could offer the world, more that I could achieve, and more I could give my young family.
My eldest son, who is now seven, was born on the autism spectrum. Learning how to raise and teach our son, working with various therapists, and coping with the stress and sadness that comes with observing the limitations the condition has placed on our child have all been boulders we have barely been able to push up to and maintain on the summit of this proverbial hill. However, in the midst of this arduous responsibility, I was forced to accept unemployment benefits to provide for my family. It was while contemplating the future of my sons and the mark I wanted to leave in the world that I decided to fulfill my first goal of returning to college. In all sincerity, my wife’s words, advice, and call to action were the impetus for my contemplation.
“I knew there was more I could offer the world, more that I could achieve, and more I could give my young family.”
I had tried once before in Philadelphia to return to college, but financial issues and lack of time caused the pursuit to stall. Having to receive unemployment benefits, I decided to return to college by first securing the ability to provide for my family and my schooling while studying. Since I would need a part-time job that would allow me to attend classes during the day full-time, I decided to take the opportunity offered by the state’s unemployment services and attend a 16-week culinary institute that would be provided free of charge. Thus, I would earn a Certificate in Culinary Arts that I could use to find evening and weekend employment and continue my studies while assisting my wife with the bills.
As I was nearing the completion of the certification, I applied to Bunker Hill Community College as a History and Government Concentration major. This would later become a Political Science concentration. (Since childhood, my mother and relatives had instilled a passion and interest in history and politics within me that had finally emerged upon the world.) Upon graduating from the New England Culinary Arts Training (NECAT) program, belatedly ready to return to college at the age of 35, I was faced with a dilemma concerning the care of my three-year-old son and the scheduling conflict it would cause with my autistic son’s therapy sessions- since my wife worked full-time and daycare services were too expensive. My graduation took place on January 2020, the month Covid-19 first arrived in the United States.
Covid-19 has brought so much grief and hardship to the world, but if there is any silver lining that can be observed in this dark cloud, it is that this virus made it possible for people from around the world and all walks of life to attend school remotely and fulfill their dreams. As the world shut down, I continued to submit documentation and choose my courses for the 2020 Fall semester, unsure of what would happen and how things would change. The coronavirus pandemic allowed me to attend classes from home while caring for my youngest son during the day and assisting my eldest son during his sessions. Financial and federal aid during the pandemic, as well as state tuition assistance programs, have allowed me to focus almost exclusively on my studies. As a result, I have earned a 4.0 GPA every semester, along with appearing every semester on the Dean’s List, become a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, and am currently participating in the school’s Commonwealth Honors Program.
Currently, I am in my fourth semester at BHCC (not counting this past summer semester, during which I took three courses in order to be able to graduate this coming May). I am currently taking five courses, taking classes on Monday nights from a local biblical institute for the third year in a row, and interning at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. While working at GBCC, I have been able to work with an exceptional supervisor, teacher, and leader that has permitted me to give my input and work alongside her in planning and creating programs and events that have a long-ranging impact on the current and future young professionals of Greater Boston.
As I reflect on my journey, the pain and struggle are there; but what stand out the most are the great achievements that have come from seemingly nothing and the irreplaceable people who have helped me reach these heights. My family has always been the first source of motivation and support; however, supervisors who have seen potential in me and given me a chance have been a source of encouragement and opportunity. Interviewers who have looked past age or inexperience and accepted me as part of the team have given me hope and dreams. The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce has given me all of this in spades. My supervisor has taught me patiently and trusted me beyond anything I could have imagined. The GBCC team has created a warm and welcoming culture and family, as well as a passionate and hardworking organization, that would rival the very best throughout the nation. They march on tirelessly and passionately to match the current reality around them with the dream they share of what will be for our community and our people.
I am currently on the verge of earning my associates degree while working to plan and coordinate events for City Awake for 2022. This was a distant dream of mine only a short time ago. The thought of how many young professionals we may be able to reach and empower to achieve greatness by the work we are currently doing and planning is moving and humbling. It is an honor to be able to assist in helping young professionals reach higher and achieve greater, as I have done and will continue to do. This realized potential encompasses the future of our city. Memories flood into my brain of a Boston that was looked down upon and discarded by many; but dedication, vision, and hard work have completely transformed our beautiful and powerful city. I cannot help but compare my story to the current story of this city of endless possibilities.
“As I reflect on my journey, the pain and struggle are there; but what stand out the most are the great achievements that have come from seemingly nothing and the irreplaceable people who have helped me reach these heights.”
My current goals for my future are ambitious and seem quite difficult to attain; but life has taught me to reach my hand high and grasp towards the stars, because there is no telling what I might be holding when I open it. Obstacles are ever-present and come in all shapes and sizes, but it is how we face them and utilize them that determines the effect they have on our lives. I plan to transfer to a four-year university and graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. Afterwards, I plan on attending law school before entering public service. I hope my story can motivate and inspire others to keep pushing that boulder up the hill; for unlike Sisyphus, we will eventually place our boulders at the summit and stand tall upon them. Some may have many obstacles, some may have few; but we should never give up when they come upon us, as life is full of surprises, and as many have said for centuries: “Fortune favors the bold.”
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