Worcester Business Journal

16 Worcester Business Journal | October 17, 2022 | wbjournal.com Elizabeth Cruz President Latin American Business Organization (LABO), in Worcester Residence: Shrewsbury Education: Associates degree in science, computer and information systems & management from Central New England College of Technology What are the keys to success for women in the workplace? Have confidence in your business, work, and leadership skills. Be authentic and don't be afraid to speak. Find a mentor, mentor others, and most importantly, build relationships. What is the biggest obstacle you had to overcome? Being a woman, Latina, and facing unconscious bias, especially being in computer science, commercial real estate, and being a president. Not only do women need to fight for equal pay, but we have to work harder to prove we can get the job done and lead. Who inspires you? Linda Cavaioli became executive director of YWCA Central Massachusetts 30 years ago and created a surplus, becoming a great leader/shaker, and community collaborator. Also, Michelle Obama has been vocal and honest about some of the harsh realities faced by minorities in America. F O C U S O U T S T A N D I N G W O M E N I N B U S I N E S S BY SUSAN SHALHOUB Special to WBJ B orn in Puerto Rico and moving to Southbridge as a toddler, Elizabeth Cruz lived in Pennsyl- vania briefly, but has mainly been in Central Massachusetts all along. During that time, she's made her pres- ence known as a business leader. Team leader of e Cruz Realty Group, she has been a Realtor for 30 years, helping more than 500 Hispan- ic families own homes and become investors. Cruz also owns Cruz Con- trol Property Management, which she founded in 2014, overseeing 26 units in Worcester County. So what does real estate have to do with computer science? Nothing, and that's OK. Cruz earned a technology degree before going into real estate because she loves numbers and data, breaking the mold of what fields Latinas traditionally are known to work within, which are caregiving professions such as healthcare, she said. Cruz oen uses the phrase, "Rewrit- ing the narrative." at's exactly what she has done in her career. When she earned a computers and information systems & management degree from Worcester's Central New England College of Technology, she was the only woman in her class. She went on to achieve tech certifications from Clark University, Boston University, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. "I had to work harder than everybody else to become a soware engineer," she said. "Some [of the other students] didn't make me feel welcome. I felt like I didn't have a support system. I felt as if I would fail." Cruz rewrote the narrative But Cruz graduated with honors. For a time, Cruz worked as an IT consultant, providing services such as project management and soware engi- neering to Fortune 500 companies like Dell EMC and Fidelity Investments. Now, she makes it her life's work to spread the word to girls, especially Latinas, to talk about computer science and real estate, so students know what opportunities are out there for them. ey can do anything they want to do and change the narrative. is leadership puts Cruz front and center within many different commu- nity realms. She founded Empowering Women rough Real Estate; is pres- ident of the Latin American Business Organization, and has been involved in the Realtor Association of Central Massachusetts. Cruz works to dispel the idea that girls have to work for money, and introduces the idea that money can work for them, especially in real estate. Passive income, such as becoming a landlady, is empowering. "ey have to have good systems in place," she said, "A crew to help with plumbing, electrical, a property manager, and buy something that will increase in equity and bring in a passive income, not just earned income. Instead of working for money, women can make money work for them." It's a personal theme dovetailing nicely with the mission of LABO. With more than 200 members, its goal is to grow that to 350 by 2023. Cruz wants more Latina girls to be financially savvy and be inspired to give back to their communities, just as she has. Linda Cavaioli retired last year aer 29 years as executive director of YWCA Central Massachusetts. Hired by Cruz, a board member in her 20s at that time, she said Cruz has remained steadfastly involved, mentoring girls. "She'd not only give her own expertise, but also connect them with other groups she was connected with," said Cavaioli. "She was fully involved, exposing them to professionals in IT and real estate." Cruz's challenges now? "Not enough hours in the day," she laughs, with a lot of work to be done not only to help the general population realize the spending and voting power of Latinos based on the way they are seen, but to help this population realize it themselves. "We have to educate them on the contributions they make," said Cruz. PHOTO | MATTHEW WRIGHT W

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