2023 Diversity and Entrepreneurship Research Symposium

ABOUT THE STUDENT PRESENTERS: 

Beck Tran, 24'. Click here for Beck's Bio!

Ethan Kim, 24'. Click here for Ethan's bio!

Fatima Martinez Jara, 23'. Click here for Fatima's bio!

Matthew Aini, 25'. Click here for Matt's Bio!

Sofia Greenwald, 24'. Click here for Sofia's bio!

Tristian Keene, 24'. Click here for Tristian's bio!

Vivian Vu, 24'. Click here for Vivian's bio!

About the Panelists:

Mar Y Sol Alvarado, Small Business Owner, Arlo Window Coverings

Mar Y Sol Alvarado (she/her) is a first generation college graduate, and proud East Palo Altan. She immigrated from Michoacán, Mexico at age 10 and was raised by a single mother; the eldest daughter with two siblings.

With over 15 years of management experience in the non-profit sector, her career began as a Program Director for Catholic Charities in East Palo Alto. After 10 years of service to the East Palo Alto youth and family community, she transitioned from non-profit management to the private sector joining her husband, Alfred Robledo, as president of Alro Window Coverings (ALRO). Alro is a full service window treatment contractor, servicing both commercial and residential clients in the Bay Area since 2008.

As a full time business owner, she finds time to stay active and engage in her community. She serves as the Treasurer for her office condominium HOA and is part of the small business ambassador team for the City of Mountain View Chamber. As a native Spanish speaker, she serves as a business advisor for San Mateo County Small Business Development Center, proudly supporting Spanish speaking entrepreneurs and business owners. She partners with Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center to share her story as a small business owner, and a woman of color in business. She is a member of the Parish Council for St. Francis of Assisi Parish in East Palo Alto, where she actively supports bringing resources to the Parish and community members. She’s been a guest speaker for local non-profits that highlight the importance of educational achievement among local youth and social support programs for local families.

Mar Y Sol was recently nominated for Entrepreneur of the Year award by InStyle Latina Magazine.

Xomara Peña, Vice President, Programs & Engagement, Small Business Majority

Xiomara Peña is responsible for organizational visibility by leading Small Business Majority’s Outreach and Engagement departments. Working with other senior executives of Small Business Majority, Xiomara plans, develops and drives initiatives for the organization towards building a more inclusive and equitable economy that directly benefits entrepreneurs in underserved communities. Alongside the organization’s small business engagement team, she works collaboratively on strengthening relationships with policymakers, small business owners, and organizations across the country to amplify our equity lens in all areas of our work. Xiomara has extensive experience supporting small businesses, particularly those run by people of color, women, and immigrants.

She currently serves on the Advisory Council for Support Latino Business, Steering Committee for Policy Entrepreneurs Awards Program led by Common Future and she is a co-chair for Small Business Majority's DEI Council. She was one of 10 leaders selected as a LinkedIn Top Voice in 2019 under the Entrepreneurship & Small Business category. In 2019, Xiomara served on Governor Newsom’s Paid Family Leave Task Force. She's also fluent in Spanish.

Xiomara serves as Co-Chair of Small Business Majority’s DEI Council.

About our Wells Fargo Partner:

Christopher Galang, SVP, Chief Strategist, Diverse Customer Segments, Consumer & Small Business Banking, Wells Fargo

Christopher Galang is senior vice president and chief strategist for the small business diverse customer segments team. In his role, Galang is responsible for leading new product development, assessing policy and procedure enhancements, developing, and managing external partnerships that have a primary focus on increasing equity for women and diverse-owned small businesses to access capital.

Galang, a sixteen-year veteran of the Company, started his career as a personal banker. As a product manager, he launched the Company’s first real-time ATM advertising platform then as regional marketing manager for the city and county of San Francisco was responsible for the Bank’s local marketing programs and sponsorships.

A former small business owner himself, Galang joined the Bank’s Small Business Group in 2013 where he held several leadership roles including diverse segments implementation leader, head of sales enablement and chief of staff for the small business branch strategy team.

Galang has served as a Board Member for the Golden Gate Business Association (GGBA) and holds an undergraduate degree in Law and Political Science from the University of California at Santa Barbara and an MBA from the University of San Francisco.