Latino Professionals Association Celebrates Yo Soy: Engineering Success for Others
Monica Caldwell is a native of Cali, Colombia who moved to the U.S. and Madison to seek opportunity that she could not find in Colombia in spite of having a college degree.
By Jonathan Gramling
Monica Caldwell came a long way to find her professional calling and passion. After graduating from college in her native Cali, Colombia, Caldwell realized that her mechanical engineering degree would not earn her a job in a male-dominated field. So she pulled up stakes in 1999 and came to Madison and the United States, risking everything as an undocumented person.
And Caldwell had the training and skills, but she didn’t have the certificate.
“Most of our immigrants and people in the Latino community come from different countries with different professional backgrounds,” Caldwell observed. “They come here and they must start from zero and the idea is to transfer those skills. For example, I came here as a mechanical engineer. But I wasn’t able to apply for that kind of position.”
Caldwell also had to remove another barrier.
“At the beginning, I wanted to continue on as a mechanical engineer when my knowledge was fresh,” Caldwell said. “I was impressed with the United States. And I wasn’t able to work because I didn’t have documents and my English wasn’t the best. When I started Madison College in 2000, it was to learn more English and learn how to communicate with others and how to write. I would go for one year and the next year I would come back. But I never went back to the school because I wasn’t able to pay the fees. I wasn’t eligible for any scholarships. And I didn’t have the information that we provide right now to the community.”
Caldwell was able to find a job at UW Hospital.
“My husband and I used to work together at UW Hospital,” Caldwell said. “We met there. We started dating and a couple of years later, we got married.”
And Caldwell was always interested in helping the community.
“I started working as a volunteer with the Worker’s Rights Center. I applied to the Latino Academy as a student. Baltazar offered me a job as a career specialist. I worked with them for six years or so. After that, I moved forward to Centro Hispano as a career pathways specialist. At the beginning, I was leading the CNA Program. I then moved to Caminos Progreso, which is a program that helps our community in a unique way. We help people find jobs in new fields and in a unique way. We do company tours and then participants get a perspective on the jobs and information on jobs they would like to apply for to build a new career.”
Caldwell was perfect for the job as many of her students face the same barriers as Caldwell did.
“They can’t start that career right away because one, they don’t have the certification related to this country,” Caldwell said. “Or English is a barrier for them. We help them find a job where they can study their skills. They can get promoted. And some go to Madison College and study for the career that they have already.”
And Caldwell is at the perfect site to spur her students forward.
“Working at Centro, I take my students across the street and do a tour of Madison College,” Caldwell said. “I say, ‘Here is your future.’”
By having one door close to her, Caldwell opened up another to find that the other side of that door was where she wanted to be all along.
“Later on when I started working with the community, I saw the mechanical engineers,” Caldwell said. “It was part of me, but it wasn’t the career that I wanted to follow. When I was working with the community, I had the passion and the heart to help others. And so this is what I have the opportunity to do now. I’m starting back to college and so far, I have been working with the community for so many years, I can see now what my career is in words and how I have been doing this for so many years just as a human being to help others. With this career, they ask what is, ‘What is human services? What is being able to support someone with mental health and other needs? What resources are there to help other people?’ I had those tools. I had learned step by step working with Centro, working with organizations. I had learned starting from zero. And now it’s like, ‘Wow, this is really my passion. This is what I want to do. And this is what I want to continue to do with the community.”
Caldwell hasn’t been satisfied with just working in the human services field. She wanted to be the best that she could be within the field. By going back to school, she became a certified career specialist. And by trying to be the best that she could be, Caldwell was named a Madison College 2022 Exemplary Learner of the Year of the School of Human & Protective Law & Education.
Caldwell has also prepared herself professionally by getting involved with the Latino Professionals Association.
“I’ve been with the Latino Professionals Association since 2017,” Caldwell said. “I took some of the professional development courses or presentations and then became a member. I’ve been taking their classes just to grow professionally. And I come to the other events that they have in the community.”
It’s been a hard row for Caldwell, but it’s a road that led to her finding her passion in life and would do it all over again if she had to. And she urges others to continue to move forward as well.
“It’s never too late to continue working and find the dream job and move forward in life,” Caldwell said. “Life is hard. But we have to be strong. We have to continue working. As a Latino, we have skills to survive. We have become resilient. And we harness life and want to fight for it. We must continue until we get our dream.”
And at Centro Hispano, Caldwell is engineering pathways for others to follow their dreams.
