Hispanic Heritage Spotlight: Ana Larrea-Albert

Inspiring Latina Leader, Educator, and Mentor

When Ana Larrea-Albert, FAU alumna and double Owl, completed her Executive MBA, little did she imagine that in less than a decade, she would go on to earn a second master’s degree from the Kennedy School at Harvard University and return full circle to stand in front of her own class of FAU MBA students. 

As a new faculty member teaching Leadership and Organizations, Ana draws on her 20 years of consulting and coaching experience at organizations such as PayPal, NASA, Office Depot, First Data, Littler, ALPFA, National Association of Hispanic Nurses and universities like Georgia Tech, Florida International University, the UN’s World Maritime University in Sweden, and, of course, Florida Atlantic University among others. 

"Having Ana as one of our successful alumni now teaching for Executive Education provides such an example to our students. She inspires by her achievements, passion, commitment, inclusivity, and generosity."                                                       

                            ~Sybil Alfred, Director of Executive Education

With just over 5% of post-secondary faculty in the U.S. represented by Hispanics, and 2.7 % by female Hispanics, Ana is keenly aware of her role as a Latina educator in changing the narrative of Latino/a/xs.  

Born and raised in Quito, Ecuador, Ana’s passionate support of the Hispanic community stems from her Latin roots. While working full-time in executive roles, including serving as Vice President of Marketing and Customer Experience for a European multinational company, Ana founded the Latina Leadership Collective (LLC), her company dedicated to equipping Latinas to step into leadership roles. 

Just as she gives back in her teaching, she has also been an influential leader in the business community, and her volunteer work includes serving as Board Member, Marketing Vice President and Director for Latino Professionals for America. 

She also gives back through one of her greatest passions: mentoring. Ana shares her perspective on mentoring…

"Over a decade ago, I was a young-ish professional, moving up in my career, furthering my education, and full of ambition, but I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t find a mentor: that magical fairy godparent that was going to help me become the next Latina CEO.

I felt entitled to one. After having excelled in school, performed well at my previous jobs, and with <what I thought> was the right ambitious attitude, I knew I had the potential. Why hadn’t it happened already?  

But then, I did a 180-degree shift in my mind and in my heart and started thinking—Why NOT me? Why couldn’t I be that mentor to someone else? I did have quite a few lived experiences, struggles and successes under my belt to share. 

This paradigm shift happened to me while doing self-reflection work with an executive leadership coach during my MBA. All that introspection gave me the insight to trust that I can be of service to others, and mentoring was a great way to do it. Instead of demanding a mentor from the universe, I decided to become a mentor to others. That’s the power of coaching, and that’s one of the reasons why I also became an executive leadership coach: to help catalyze paradigm shifts.”

Ana’s shift in perspective led to her seeking out opportunities to mentor at FAU including her involvement with The Mentoring Project to establish the Future Latina Leaders mentorship program for students along with her one-on-one mentorship of female professionals in FAU’s Women in Executive Leadership (WEL) program. 

In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, we want to recognize Ana for her outstanding accomplishments, contributions to FAU's students, the College of Business, and our South Florida Hispanic community: 

• Founder of the Latina Leadership Collective, International Speaker and Author
• Latina of Influence distinction
• Everyday Hero Award nomination
• 2021 International Latino Book Awards for Most Inspirational Children’s Picture Book- Honorable Mention.
• Published Author of bilingual children’s book series that encourages children to dream big, take action, and make a difference:
  • “ZeeZee Can | ZeeZee Puede”
  • “ZeeZee Can Make the World Smile | ZeeZee puede hacer sonreír al mundo"

Congratulations, Ana, we are so proud of you as a student and alumna, and now as faculty!

-FAU-