The Association of Latino Professionals for America has officially established a chapter at Ithaca College, with the aim to provide a vital platform for Latino students to connect, grow and thrive professionally.
ALPFA is a nationally recognized Latino professional association with a membership base of over 100,000 professionals and students. It offers Latino students across the country access to professional development resources like fellowships, grants and scholarships and career networking.
Senior Jesus Noriega and junior Alexis Arias are the founders and co-presidents of ALPFA at IC. Arias said he was already a member of ALPFA through the Morgan Stanley chapter because he was a retirement solutions sales business analyst at Morgan Stanley in July and August. He said he brought the idea of starting an ALPFA chapter at the college to Noriega at the start of Fall 2024.
Noriega and Arias worked to recruit people to join the executive board, and have been coordinating with the college and ALPFA to establish a chapter. Noriega, a senior business administration major, former president of El Alma Mexicana and current co-president of Brothers for Brothers, said he has always strived to advocate for the Latino community at the college.
“This is the activist role that I play for Latinos, getting that representation, getting rid of stigmas that we have and just being a good representative of the community,” Noriega said.
Noriega also expressed enthusiasm for the chapter’s potential impact.
“This is such a great addition to this college, and I just hope everybody in my community here at the college will be able to access it,” Noriega said. “We hope this club will have a pretty strong longevity.”
Junior Natali Muñoz is the club’s public relations liaison and emphasized the importance of representation on campus.
“I’m Colombian, I’m a daughter of two immigrant parents and I also grew up in a very white neighborhood, so I never really had a strong connection with other people that are of my ethnicity other than my family,” Muñoz said. “Being able to lead this, being able to show my passion for it through these initiatives and working with the other e-board members makes me feel so happy because it feels like we’re doing something good for the campus and building a community and it’s really exciting to see that.”
Muñoz, who recently created an Instagram for ALPFA at IC, said she and the other e-board members have been working to spread awareness about the new club and the opportunities it will provide.
“We have been reaching out to other POC clubs on campus through Instagram, and have been looking at the people following our account and seeing all these people that are interested in our club,” Muñoz said. “It gets us excited for our introductory meeting.”
The chapter’s adviser is Duncan Duke, associate professor of management in the School of Business. Duke, who had previously advised El Alma Mexicana when Noriega was the president, said Noriega and the e-board reached out to him about being the adviser for ALPFA at IC. Duke said those in the business school are always looking for ways to support students in developing their networks.
“It’s another tool for helping our students be professionally successful, and have the careers that they want to have,” Duke said.
Another member of the e-board is senior Alexis Troncone, a politics major and the club’s treasurer. Troncone shared her excitement about the initiative and said the club will be a useful resource for students.
“We want to create a welcoming environment and a space for Latinos and Latinas to be with others who have had similar experiences and are looking to build connections,” Troncone said.
Troncone said the chapter plans to host a variety of professional development activities, including resume workshops, guest speaker events and networking sessions, all aimed at enhancing career readiness for students.
“We are also going to bring in guest speakers, professionals in different industries to speak to students and to give them advice on how to be professional in the workplace,” Troncone said. “It is really helpful to be able to build those connections with other members of ALPFA.”
Additionally, ALPFA at IC plans to collaborate with other chapters in New York, including the chapter at Cornell University. Noriega said he hopes the partnership will strengthen community ties between the two schools and their Latino populations.
“I’ve always wanted to connect Ithaca College and Cornell by their Latino populations,” Noriega said. “For Cornell, their Latin population is so vast and our Latin population is ever growing, we’re the largest minority on campus … so hopefully with ALPFA, we’ll be able to connect in a professional sense.”
Latino and Hispanic students are the largest and consistently growing BIPOC student population at Ithaca College. Hispanic or Latino students made up 10.1% of the student body In Fall 2023 and 11.1% in Fall 2024.
Duke said the club is designed to serve whatever the interests of the students that get involved are, whether they are from the School of Business or from other parts of campus. He said that while it is great that ALPFA at IC wants to collaborate with other chapters in New York and plan specific events, they should also gauge where interest for the club is coming from, and plan based on that.
“My advice to [the ALPFA e-board] was to wait, see who’s interested in doing the club and then design the activities that serve the greatest portion of people,” Duke said.
All the members of the e-board said they believe ALPFA at IC will be a significant resource for Latino students seeking personal and professional growth.
“I’ve never been a part of a club of color on campus before, so this is all very new to me as well, but it’s cool starting it and experiencing it for the first time, because it feels so fulfilling to experience a Latin community outside of my family,” Muñoz said. “I’m just excited to get people involved and get people excited for kick-starting their career.”
