2022 ALPFA Robert Half Scholars. Top row, from left: Gabriela Forter and Karla Onesto Perez; bottom row, from left: John Solano and Jennifer Reyes.

Robert Half has had an alliance with the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA) since 2006. We continue to work with ALPFA on strategic initiatives designed to advance and empower Latinx talent in the workplace.

Through ALPFA, Robert Half has proudly provided scholarships to promising Latinx students in an effort to assist them with meeting the financial obligations of their degree program. The 2022 ALPFA Robert Half Scholars include:

Jennifer Reyes

Jennifer is currently enrolled at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., studying public relations and advertising. She will graduate in 2023 and is currently president of her ALPFA chapter at Bradley.

“I remember the first week of my freshman year attending an ALPFA meeting and setting a goal of becoming president at some point in my college experience,” Jennifer says. “What inspires me is being a role model for those who have never had someone to look up to. I love helping my Latinx community and making them feel motivated for their future.”

John Solano

John attends Drexel University in Philadelphia and expects to earn an undergraduate degree in finance and accounting in 2024.

“As a first-generation college student and son of two immigrants from Ecuador, I have had issues with self-doubt but now understand that I must believe in myself to realize my true potential. I am most proud of my ability to successfully multitask by working two jobs, helping my mom take care of my younger brother, taking a full course load, staying active in organizations, and maintaining a high GPA.”

John adds, “My future aspirations are to work in financial planning and analysis (FP&A) at a tech firm or in investment management. I just want to be in a good place after college and give back to my parents, who have sacrificed everything to give me the life I’ve lived so far.”

Karla Onesto Perez

Karla is enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she is studying marketing.

“My proudest accomplishment is being the first in the family to attend college,” she says. “The ALPFA Robert Half scholarship will allow me to focus on my studies in my last year as an undergraduate.” As one of this year’s scholarship recipients, Karla says she is now part of a community she can reach out to for assistance with professional development.

“At the beginning of my college journey, I felt like I did not have the resources I could use to acclimate to college and be successful,” she says. “Although it was difficult, I was able to get the help I needed, such as a laptop that I could count on. I hope to help other first-generation college students find resources that can boost their chances of success.”

Karla adds that in the future, she hopes to help her parents find a way to retire and “financially assist my family, including helping my younger sister attend college just like I could.”

Gabriela Forter

A graduate of UCLA, Gabriela has just started her studies at Stanford University’s graduate school of business for her MBA, and at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University for her Master of Public Administration. Her first job out of UCLA was at Deloitte Consulting, as well as at Meta/Facebook, where she worked on machine learning and artificial intelligence while pursuing a dual master’s degree.

“I was born and raised in an agricultural community in California where no one among my family or friends worked in corporate America, so my goal is to create a pipeline of talent from the Central Valley to Silicon Valley, Gabriela says. “Hispanic women make up only a small percentage of the workforce in tech, so my mission in life is to inspire underrepresented communities, especially Latinas, to pursue degrees and careers in STEM.”

She adds, “This scholarship will allow me to study full time for three years.”

Diversity, equity and inclusion at Robert Half

Global talent solutions firm Robert Half and our global consulting firm and wholly owned subsidiary Protiviti are committed to supporting the Latinx community. We celebrate diversity and recognize the importance of our employees’ varied backgrounds, perspectives and talents. Along with experience, education and skills, we welcome people of all ages, races, ethnicities, abilities, sexual orientations, gender identities and religions.

Learn more about Robert Half’s commitment to diversity.