From their respective fields, these women leaders are taking the country's future into their own hands. We spoke with them for Punto Aparte.
American anthropologist and poet Margaret Mead once said: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world." The women we introduce here are a clear example that the country we want is possible, if we act to transform it, one step at a time.
They work in fields as varied as food sovereignty, economics, design, activism, sports, winemaking and art. Because change requires showing up on different fronts and daring to imagine a new possible future.
Meet these nine women driving change in Puerto Rico.
Crystal Díaz: "Everything I do, I do out of love for my homeland"
Crystal Díaz has a career in marketing, but her love of the land led her to become an expert in food issues and to launch two projects unique to Puerto Rico:
PRoduce: a digital supermarket that aims to connect local producers with customers across the island and carries nearly 90% Puerto Rico-grown products.
El Pretexto: Puerto Rico's first agro-inn, offering farm-to-table experiences and aiming to introduce the country through its food.
Díaz is also a food security analyst at Espacios Abiertos, a nonprofit that promotes transparency and accountability. For her, the various projects she is part of share a common purpose: rethinking the way Puerto Rico sees food.
Marisé Álvarez: "Art always resists"
Actress and comedian Marisé Álvarez was one of the founding members of Teatro Breve, a cultural company that is now a landmark of the arts in Puerto Rico, providing space for countless local artists and productions.
Since her film debut as Neyshalí in Benicio del Toro's "Maldeamores" (2007), Álvarez has appeared in more than 20 productions, gaining international recognition and becoming one of the few Latinas to take part in the Star Wars saga, playing Nyche in "Obi-Wan Kenobi" (2002).
She is currently promoting the Puerto Rican film "@amor," which opened March 6, and is performing at Café Teatro El Shorty with her show "Una noche con Davidcito," a character who will have you laughing out loud and who we recently welcomed at Platea for the premiere of Un Sipi con Michi.
Alejandra Castrodad: "We are designing energy solutions"
When it comes to envisioning a country with energy independence, economist Alejandra Castrodad has a lot to say. As executive director of Resilient Power Puerto Rico, Castrodad and her team developed the IlumiNACIÓN app, a tool designed to educate communities and nonprofits about electricity consumption so they can design their own energy solutions.
The platform received the Design Award in the Climate Action category from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, an award that recognizes work addressing the urgency of the climate crisis through design.
Castrodad believes in building energy resilience, which she defines as "having access to reliable and affordable energy." Through the organization she leads, she educates people and drives change in Puerto Rico on this important issue.
Michi Negrón: "Agriculture matters and not all wines are made the same"
Michi Negrón studied languages and translation, but while living in Europe, a glass of wine sparked her passion for winemaking. She moved to the historic wine region of Priorat (Catalonia, Spain), where she learned about natural and biodynamic wine, became a sommelier and worked seven harvests at a small biodynamic winery.
After working in restaurants and even making his own wine, Negrón returned to Puerto Rico with a mission to make wines more accessible, focusing above all on the importance of organic, biodynamic and natural farming.
He currently leads the monthly series Un Sipi Con Michi, in collaboration with Platea.
Cristina Villalón: "We want to focus on affordable housing"
Cristina Villalón studied Art History and holds a master's degree in Interior Design from the Pratt Institute in New York. Throughout her career, she has designed projects in New York, Florida, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Puerto Rico, some of which have received international awards.
She founded her own interior design firm, Villalón Interiors Inc., which, after a decade of service, merged with her husband's architecture firm to create Álvarez-Díaz & Villalón | Architecture & Interior Design.
Faced with the affordable housing challenges she observed in her country, she co-founded the firm Valora Ventures with Natalia Guzmán Pérez, where they focus on designing affordable housing with minimal environmental impact. They use a mixed-finance strategy to fund the projects, given the lack of incentives in that area.
Claudia Ramos Zorrilla: "I'm here to do justice for those players"
Claudia Ramos Zorrilla built a career in advertising, but her passion for sports, combined with a conversation she had about the gender inequalities faced in sports tournaments, led her to become the first female franchise owner in Puerto Rican sports.
She did not face this challenge alone. Ramos Zorrilla joined forces with singer-songwriter Kany García, and together they co-own the Gigantes de Carolina in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional Femenino (BSNF).
The advertising executive's goal with the franchise has been to give her team its own identity, independent of its male counterparts.
Mariana Torres and Aliana Margarita Bigio: "Another reality is possible"
Youth is making itself heard, and these two leaders have a lot to say about the Puerto Rico they want. They did not stay silent and encouraged other young people to join the fight for social and political change.
In the last electoral cycle, Mariana Torres was one of the spokespersons for Somos Más, a nonprofit that promotes civic and electoral participation in various political processes, partisan or otherwise. Meanwhile, Aliana Margarita Bigio founded Con(Sentimientos), an independent digital outlet that produced feminist and political content.
The two joined forces to drive youth voter turnout in the last elections, knowing that the change they want is possible through unity.
Odalys Arroyo: "When you're given the opportunity, you have to take it"
Odalys Arroyo is one of the few economists in a leadership position in Puerto Rico, serving as manager of the economic consulting and urban planning firm Advantage Business Consulting. In a field dominated by men, Arroyo learned to make herself heard, drawing inspiration from other leaders who helped her step outside her comfort zone and enter the world of public speaking and leadership.
Arroyo is the guest on our next episode of Punto Aparte. In that conversation, she talks about how she achieved professional growth, what she recommends to other women and how she sees the economic future of our country.
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
