User:Lauradrain1

Women In Business –

““I like change, the adventure of learning, the anticipation, the desire to know what’s around the next corner. I love challenges and when I don’t have one, I invent one just to have a future.” –Laura Drain. Those words actively describe who I am, a woman driven by an immense desire to succeed and overcome obstacles that was instilled in me at an early age by my parents.

Laura Ramirez Drain wanted to develop an association that assisted the position of professional women in the U.S. Ms. Drain also wanted to create a place for more women to get together and share information, resources, and professional insights. So in 2003Ms. Drain founded the Hispanic Professional Women Association (HPWA), which is a group of women who try to make a difference. As a business woman, Ms. Drain know how difficult it is not to have contacts who relate to your field .Ms. Drain wanted to teach more Hispanic women how to create networks for their career development, to meet other women in the corporate arena. In the HPWA, women from many nationalities, not only Latinas, have had the opportunity to meet and network with each other. The association’s board, too, shows a diversity that includes more than Hispanic women. With the support of many women around the country, this organization has opened fourteen chapters. For this effort, in 2005 the Alabama Women Exchange Association recognized me as one woman who has improved the life of the people in Alabama.

Ms. Drain believes that my work has had an impact on many women beyond Alabama. In 2005, with the support of NASA, Ms. Drain set up a new program to support Latina/Hispanic Youth in Alabama, all with the support of HPWA and with Lawson Community College in Birmingham. The main objective was to increase the students’ understanding of mathematics and science. With that program, my partners and Ms. Drain helped forty high school students prepare for college. Ms. Drain learned then that education was my passion, and thatMs. Drain could make an even bigger difference in the lives of Hispanic women by focusing on young Latinas. In 2005Ms. Drain moved to the Washington, D.C. area to tackle an even larger need among young Latinas. The youth in the city of Washington and the Hispanic women that didn’t have a place to get together.

Ms. Drain decides to create a new foundation based on the program model established in Alabama. So Ms. Drain set up the Alcanzando Metas Foundation (reaching goals foundation) as a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, to foster the academic excellence of young Hispanic women. The foundation's mission is to support academic success in science, mathematics, and technology, with attention to English language proficiency as it impacts academic progress. With support from the Mayor’s Office of Latino Affairs in Washington, D.C., in 2006,Ms. Drain set up the first high school after-school program for the Alcanzando Metas Foundation. By the end of that school year in May, 2013, the program helped all 120 seniors attending the program to graduate from high school, and assisted several students in winning acceptance to local colleges or universities. The program also helped to train a dozen other students in effective study habits that will help them graduate from high school. With the success of this seven year, the foundation has started to improve a wider circle of Hispanic women. Students have been graduated and become part of the society.

Today Laura Ramirez Drain is the director of the Eureka Latino Marketing Research Center, a new division of EurekaFacts LLC. Laura brings more than 20 years of experience working with the Hispanic community in corporations and nonprofits. Ms. Drain directs culturally sensitive research in English and Spanish to help organizations better understand the diverse populations grouped under the labels of Hispanic or Latinos. Ms. Drain's corporate experience includes marketing positions with Verizon Wireless, ATT and Hewlett Packard. Ms. Drain holds a Master's degree in Marketing from Universidad Iberoamericana and a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana in Mexico

Ms. Drain is an active member of the American Marketing Association. Involved in the community, he also serves as a board member of the Virginia Latino Advisory Board (VLAB). She is an active member at the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and is a co-founder of the Hispanic Vote Organization.

PUBLICATION Culture Shock: The Rise of Hispanic Immigrants in America: How Latinos Can Adapt Yet Preserve Their Heritage By Laura Drain “Culture Shock: feelings and experiences Hispanic immigrants endure when adapting to life in the United States. Readers get to personally travel along as Laura adapts to learning a new language and new way of living in a foreign environment, yet focuses on ensuring that she and her children preserve their language and customs. Extra bonuses that make the book special include the recipes of famous Mexican dishes and margaritas and in depth description of Mexican holidays, which allow readers to experience some Mexican culture in their own home. "Culture Shock" is a must for any business wanting to learn more about how to appeal to the growing Hispanic consumer and better understand Hispanic workers who are playing such an important role in the U.S. labor market today." -- Roy L. Williams, reporter for The Birmingham News

Honors and Awards •	Selected to be Class 2007 of the Leadership Greater Washington (LGW) •	Selected to be Class 2008 of National Hispana Leadership Institute •	Selected as Outstanding Woman in 2005, by Women’s Exchange as a recognized role model for young women. •	Selected to be one of the Latino Leader Magazine, Women’s Issue, No. 82 April 09, 2012 •	Selected for 4 year consecutive to be at the Women issue Birmingham News •	Her success has been published in different news paper around US: •	www.laprensa-sandiego.org/archieve/july22-05/oficios.htm •	www.washingtonhispanic.com/Passissues/paper8_12_5/html/gente.html •	www.shelbycountyreporter.com/articles/2004/06/29/news/news02.txt •	www.womens-exchange.com/profiles.html •	www.nshp.org/?q=node/456 •	•

Thanks to give me an opportunity to be better.