User:Marilyn Alcala-Walle

Who is Marilyn Alcalá-Wallé?

Marilyn Alcalá-Wallé born October 7, 1961) is a dynamic and talented women, entrepreneur and wife and has the ability to speak several languages: Dutch, Papiamentu, English and Spanish. Born and raised in Curaçao,an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the  Venezuelan coast, she attended High School at the Radulphus College. She is a graduate of the University of the Netherlands Antilles (UNA) and obtained the title of Bachelor in Business Administration, specialization Public Finance.  She attended her master at the university “Rijks Universiteit Groningen” (RUG), The Netherlands, with specialization in Marketing and  Management of Small Enterprises  followed by various management, financial and administrative courses.

She worked as a Controller followed by Head of the Financial Department at the Government Department of Cultural and Educational Services from 1990 to 2010. She worked a short while as Financial Manager at the Klinika Capriles, a psychiatric clinic, and after a year she served as Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister and she served in different other semi-political and political functions. She taught Management and Reporting Techniques, Management and Organization and Effective Meetings at the Hogere Opleidingen Gedrag en Maatschappij (HOGMA), the higher professional education institute for Social studies, which is nowadays an integral part of the education program of the University of the Netherlands Antilles. Based on her experience as a teacher and facilitator, she wrote the book: Effectief vergaderen binnen Corporate Governance/ Effective Meetings within Corporate Governance in 2006. Based on a fireworks explosion in Curaçao in december 2012 she published a novel a year later in 2013: 15 di dezèmber 2012. “KRUITHUIS”: UN AÑA DESPUES… She is the mother of three children Kevin, May-Ling and Kenny. As the wife of a Medical Doctor and later on serving as the Commissioner of Education, Sports and Culture and Senator, she has become a fashion icon and role model for women. She is also an advocate for poverty awareness and has her own foundation named after her: Marilyn Alcalá-Wallé Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports various charities and individuals, with a focus on helping children and families in need. She also promotes healthy life style and is actually the First Female President of the Road Runners Club Curaçao (RRCK)! Founded in 1981, the RRCK is the oldest national association of running clubs on the island and runners dedicated to promoting running and walking as a competitive sport and as healthy exercise. She is also the founder of Stichting Strix. Strix Foundation Curaçao, a non-profit organization, founded on November 16, 1995 supports social, educational, recreational and cultural activities on the island. One of the mayor issues was the promotion of reading. Many adults and children in Curaçao cannot read in an appropriate way. Strix Foundation empowers the youth, they have to be continually pushed to read in order to develop capable readers in order to provide opportunities for word identification, enrichment the vocabulary, enhancement of fluency, optimalization of comprehension to enjoy reading. Eyes are often conceived as a “window to the soul” and are an important part of our personalities and character. To be true various studies have shown that eye colors do leave an impact on our personalities and dictates our behavior to a certain degree. Green eyes are often considered as having a certain mystery in them. People with green eyes are found to be mostly curious by nature and are intelligent. They go well together in their relationships and are passionate people. They have an incredible zest for life who want to live life fully Marilyn Alcalá-Wallé is well known for her real green eyes (from her ancestors) and teased by local people as the “Cat Eye Lady”. Green eyes are often conceived as having a certain mystery in them. People with green eyes are found to be mostly curious by nature and are intelligent. Marilyn Alcalá-Wallé is a person with a truly magnetic personality. Her personality and natural charisma makes her more compelling to be around. She exudes a palpable sense of self-confidence and positive energy. Marilyn Alcalá-Wallé, to some extend attracted to the people for her green eyes and her charisma has been cited as Curaçao "most beautiful and well-dressed" political active woman, a title for which she has received substantial media attention. In October 2009 she caused much impression on tourists from different parts of the World, result of a survey published by the top and largest Papiamentu newspaper EXTRA in Curaçao. According to the American tourists her profile resembles that of the the first African-American First Lady of the United States Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama.

CAREER HISTORY: Following Business Administration school, she held semi-public as well as public sector positions in the semi-government and government and was responsible for different projects focused on change and improvement. Here is an overview of her career: 1990 		Financial manager, Telecuraçao 1990-1999	Controller, later Head Financial Department, Directorate of Cultural 					and Educational Affairs 1999-2000	Operations Manager, Foundation for Innovation of Education (FIdE) 2000-2001	Financial Director, Klinika Capriles 2001-2002	Advisor to the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs 2002-2003	Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles 2003		Member of the Island Council of Curaçao 2003-2006	Senior Advisor/ Acting director of the Department for Constitutional and                                                                    Internal Affairs 2006-2010	Member of the Island Council of Curaçao 2007-2010	Commissioner of Education,Culture and Sports 2010-2012	Senator/ Member of Parliament of Curaçao 2012-2013      Sabbatical year and Community activities via Marilyn Alcalá-Wallé Foundation and Strix Foundation

HOBBIES Her main focus has always been her work and family. But beyond a career and family a women needs her hobbies. Her favorite hobbies are reading, gardening, cooking, swimming, walking, traveling and lately playing guitar and painting.