Hispanic Heritage Month Spotlight Series: Betsy Pichizaca

As part of our Hispanic Heritage Month celebration, we’ve asked our colleagues to reflect on the significance of this month.

Cleary Gottlieb alumni relations and career services coordinator Betsy Pichizaca shares some of her thoughts below.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Cleary.

My name is Betsy Pichizaca, and I am currently the alumni relations and career services coordinator. Since joining the firm in June 2021, I have supported the ongoing engagement and stewardship of our alumni network, which is composed of over 7,000 alumni. Some of the many ways we stay in touch with our alumni include in-person and virtual programming, career services and counseling offerings, and managing the dedicated alumni website, to name a few. I am thankful to work with amazing, knowledgeable teammates and great colleagues firmwide.

What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you?

Representation is seen, felt, and experienced in a plethora of ways. For the longest time, the narrow definition of Hispanic/Latine and lack of inclusivity prompted folks to selectively highlight those who “fit the mold” during this celebratory time, with little to no acknowledgment of the depth, complexity, accomplishments, and successes of the broader community made up of different diasporas and intersectional identities. I remember flipping through history books in grade school, and the very few that mentioned the Hispanic/Latine community featured watered-down stories about trailblazers like Justice Sotomayor and framed hurdles she and others encountered as minor inconveniences that felt inauthentic and invalidating.

Over the past couple of years, seeing the growth to be vibrant and inclusive has been exciting, yet we still have ways to go. In this polarizing society, as Professor Lima described, the “minority majority,” we should not turn away but rather invite each other to take an introspective look at the community at large and harness the voice and power we have for change that will benefit underrepresented groups at large.

Are there any leaders, activists, writers/artists, professionals, or family members who have inspired you?

My mom, Carmen, is the most fearless person I know and a constant source of strength and humor. Growing up in Cañar, Ecuador, in a single-parent household with three other siblings and in extreme poverty, her upbringing was nothing short of challenging. After having my older brother at the age of 20, like my grandmother, she was stigmatized for being a single mother and barred from pursuing her academic career, thus repeating the cycle of scarcity she fought hard to avoid. Her resilience in the face of such adversity is truly inspiring.

Meeting my dad offered was a new beginning, and they both made the arduous decision to leave behind their families to cross the southern border in hopes of a better life in the United States. Our society often looks down on immigrants, downplaying their sacrifices as well as contributions to the country. It’s important to remember the sacrifices they make, leaving behind their families and familiar surroundings, to start anew in a foreign land. Even a sanctuary city like New York doesn’t minimize the daily obstacles that immigrants face, no matter their status. My parents, like generations before and after them, have learned to thrive under these constraints and heralded the way for their children to succeed in the country they now call home.

When you’re underrepresented in your chosen field, why is it important to have mentors and sponsors who are invested in you and your career?

The opportunities I’ve had along the way wouldn’t have been possible or even on my radar, if it wasn’t for someone believing and taking a chance on me. Some of my earliest memories of this include a prior Community Engagement Specialist recommending me for the Alumni Relations and Career Services internship, a position I was unaware until I began participating in the Washington Irving Campus Partnership Program during my sophomore year of high school in 2015/2016.

I’ve (like many other Latines) often navigated a web of unknowns, whether that while traversing through the higher education system and/or the corporate world. These spaces are home a myriad of unwritten rules, expectations and standards very rarely discussed (if ever) but that many of us are supposed to know. Perhaps the most surprising thing I encountered when I entered the workforce was the focus on individualism vs. the collective. So much of the Latine culture revolves around family, putting others needs ahead of your own which is not as apparent in prominently white spaces where the primary focus is on the self.

Having mentors/sponsors, especially early into your career, whether that is someone with a similar background and identity or not makes all the difference. I am fortunate to have Elizabeth Claps, Global Director of Alumni Relations and Career Services in my corner who listens, advocates, and provides constant reassurance and validation that I am where I belong and deserve to be since I was an intern on the team almost a decade ago.

Are there any programs at Cleary that you have been part of that have contributed to your professional journey and feeling included at the firm?

I am actively part of are the Washington Irving Campus Partnership Program (WICPP) Advisory Board, college admissions coaching, Legal Outreach, and managing two excellent Union Square Academy for Health Sciences students through the WICPP internship program. These initiatives have allowed me to reconnect with my alma mater to varying degrees but be part of a broader mission that others across the firm are passionate about. It’s great to see how invested Cleary lawyers and professional staff are in supporting students with their post-secondary journeys and giving them invaluable tools/skills to take with them for years to come.

What is your favorite thing about working in the legal industry, and why did you choose to work at Cleary?

The legal industry feels so expansive yet small simultaneously, and certainly nothing like Legally Blonde portrays it as (if anything, it’s a lot more exciting). I truly believe that working in law, even as a professional staff, exposes you to other fields, directly or indirectly. You become a mini expert in everything and use that knowledge in unprecedented ways to further inform your work.

Cleary is where my high school freshmen orientation was held, where I first interned, where I realized I did not want to go on to dental school, and where I had my first full-time job – talk about a full-circle moment!