Herald: Tell me about yourself.
Dorado-Alessi: I grew up in Woodside, Queens, a very tight-knit community, so I was very accustomed to that kind of a world. When my husband and I looked for a new place to live when our children were growing up, Long Beach fit the bill for us. Beyond being a close-knit community, we found a community that was very charitable, giving and open.
I’m of Latin descent from the Caribbean, my dad from Cuba, my mother from Puerto Rico. So it’s kind of in my DNA to be close to the water, sun and sand. Youth development has always been a love of mine because of how hard it was for me coming up. There wasn't any such thing, so I always wanted to be on that side of my work. I have two kids, two grandchildren — (I’m) always out and about with them. I see the future in my grandchildren's eyes and want to make sure that I make them proud with whatever work I am doing.
Herald: What do you do? Why?
Dorado-Alessi: I have my own company called El Dorado Consulting. I work on projects that have helped to broker relationships between philanthropy and nonprofits to get the work done. Right now I’m a consultant to Herstory Writers Workshop, an organization that helps people in jails and schools write their social justice memoirs. We ask people, if your words had the power to change hearts, minds and policies, what would they say? Through that work, I’ve been able to help people have confidence in their voice and their history, their families, their communities, and then share those stories with politicians, with businesses, with others who may not know what it’s like to walk in somebody else’s shoes.
The other thing I do is that I'm the executive director of Long Beach Latino Civic Association. No immigrant is illegal; a person cannot be illegal, but more importantly, their dreams are not illegal. They’ve left some very violent, scary places to come here, to have a life that they could be proud of. If you give people the information and the education, the knowledge, they’re more than happy to be part of Long Beach or New York or the United States.
Herald: What has challenged you in your career so far, and what keeps you going/inspires you?
Dorado-Alessi: The most challenging part of my whole career and life has been this particular time where there’s so much animosity, hurtfulness and bullying. I think also the biggest challenge is, how do we fight misinformation and bold-faced lies? I could see why a lot of people would want this particular person to be running the country. I understand that they have their views. I’m just hoping that people, when they see what is really happening, will take a step back.
I think the parts that really drive me is when I work with young people, and I think that could have been my mom or my dad having just arrived. When I see them succeed, when I see them with a little bit of help, they're going to college, or they’re getting a job on Wall Street. I think other men and women in the field who are fighting as hard as I am and we are, that’s what inspires me. I’m not alone.
Herald: What have been the proudest moments in your life?
A: I have two amazing children, and they make me super proud. My daughter is a special education teacher in the Bronx, my son is a restaurant worker in Long Beach at Brixx & Barley. People come to me all the time and say, I saw your son; he's such a people person and has a wonderful personality, and that makes me super proud. Having run for the Island Park Library made me proud. I didn't win, but I only had three weeks to run, and I had 33 percent of the vote. I think also having been selected for things like Witness for Peace, where I and 20 others from Long Island got to go to Oaxaca, Mexico to understand the roots of migration.
Herald: What advice do you have to offer? What work is left to be done?
A: I mean, that's up to the person. When we meet folks at LB Latino to do college and career readiness programming, the first question we ask them is, what do you want to give back to the world? How many young people get to work in an office and know what project management is, know what people management is, salesmanship? That's what we teach here through our leaders and victory program. We take on students from Long Beach High School, they come and work here for the whole summer; they learn all kinds of things. We have a gala in October that requires selling tickets and journal ads and networking and talking to people. Those are skills that you could use in any work you possibly want to do.
We can fight for workforce housing for young people who are not making $100,000 a year. Typically, if you want to rent a two-bedroom apartment, what are we talking about? Two grand a month? Come on, who can afford that? I do see a lot of hope in the future. I know that this country has an incredible engine, and we just have to stick with it, voice what we feel, and side with the things that we know we will need in the future as a country.
