The Latino Student Organization (LASO) proudly promotes and supports Harvard Business School’s Latino students and works alongside the Latino Alumni Association (HBSLAA). Representing a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, interests, and Latino heritage, LASO members spearhead initiatives related to MBA Admissions, alumni engagement, career development, and more to advocate for and empower the Latino community on campus and beyond. The LASO Board is led by the club’s three Co-Presidents – Camila Diaz, Evelyn Ramirez, and Maiky Iberkleid Szainrok – who are all excited to continue LASO’s legacy this upcoming year.
LASO Priorities for 2022-2023
Our priorities this year are focused on community building, sustaining and celebrating LASO history and tradition, fostering a strong pipeline of diverse applicants, and giving back to the broader Latino community.
We plan to meet these goals through several approaches. First, we plan to bring back in-person traditions and institute new events; we recently hosted our second Taco Tuesday of the semester and it was wonderful to see new and old LASO members all together! Second, we will continue our partnership with HBS MBA Admissions to encourage more Latino prospective students to apply.
Lastly, we will leverage the power of the Adelante Conference, our annual Latino professional conference that brings together current and future Latino/a leaders. This will be hosted on campus on April 22nd, save the date!
Meet the LASO Leadership
The three of us represent Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Bolivia; hail from Los Angeles, New York, and La Paz; and worked in tech, finance, and startups before business school. We all bring excitement, passion y sabor to LASO’s leadership.
Evelyn Ramirez
I first heard about LASO when I was connected to MBA students at HBS through MLT (Management Leadership for Tomorrow), a nonprofit dedicated to growing the network of diverse leaders. When I visited campus for Admitted Students Weekend in 2019, which coincided with the Adelante Conference, I was welcomed by the Latino student community and walked away with a greater appreciation for the thriving Latinx community and friendships LASO members made at HBS. During my first year, I served on LASO’s Admissions Committee because I wanted to encourage more diverse candidates to apply and to pay it forward for the coffee chats that I had the benefit of learning from when I was a prospective applicant. I ran for Co-President because I wanted to further strengthen the Latino community at HBS and to ensure pre-pandemic traditions carried forward for future LASO members.Camila Diaz
I initially experienced the HBS Latino community’s reach and strength at the 2019 HBS Latino Alumni Association’s annual banquet. That year, Mina Pacheco Nazemi, Paul Francisco, and others spoke about their achievements and efforts to promote the Latino community beyond HBS. That first experience at the Harvard Club of New York reaffirmed my desire to be an active member of this community on and off campus if I were to be admitted to HBS. Upon receiving my admissions letter, the first joyous phone calls were from the LASO community, offering both congratulations and support. As I arrived on campus, LASO members guided me as I navigated the difficult transition from the workforce into a hectic RC (first) year. I subsequently joined LASO's leadership team as the VP of Career Development and helped plan our annual Adelante Conference. With my classmate’s encouragement, I decided to run for Co-President of LASO to continue advancing the Latino community’s legacy, rebuild the in-person community, and foster engagement throughout the identity cross-sections that exist at Harvard.Maiky Iberkleid Szainrok
I first interacted with LASO during the application process when they co-hosted an “Ask Me Anything” session with the African American Student Union. I remember being amazed about how open and welcoming everyone in the panel was. After that I got connected with other LASO members and got on zoom calls with LASO alumni like Eric Calderon and Professor Alvarez, the LASO faculty sponsor. It was ultimately all these conversations with different LASO stakeholders who deeply cared about the club and its members that helped me decide that HBS was the place for me and that I wanted to be a part of LASO leadership which is how I ended up on the board.Under last year’s leadership LASO was able to navigate out of the remainder of the pandemic, and being a part of that showed me the true value of the Latino community at HBS, while also the untapped potential we had given the disruption that COVID brought. I decided to run for LASO President to help reignite the flame and help to take LASO to new post-pandemic heights by focusing on building community and relationships and working with other Latino groups both at Harvard and in the greater Boston area.