Dr. Georgina Falu
scholar, educator, and entrepreneur
El Barrio… where women and children “came in droves, obstinately pursuing their dreams of education for fulltime jobs.”
The most satisfying time of both my professional and personal life has been working directly with the women of El Barrio-East Harlem to develop job skills. Helping them to develop computer careers, job readiness, study skills, English language skills and life survival strategies has been key throughout this time.
All my previous career achievements represented challenges that drove me to maximize my professional, mental and physical capabilities. However, designing and implementing programs, securing funding, reaching objectives, and the day-to-day interaction in servicing women, youth, children and businesses in East Harlem, remain my most significant experiences." Doing the most with the least" summarizes the dedication and sacrifices that I have seen taking place. The women, who in spite of being single unemployed heads of their households with three children, on public assistance, and in most cases, without money for transportation, dress wear, and especially food and housing for their kids, still came in droves, obstinately pursuing their dreams of education for full time jobs -- For me, witnessing this alone represented a command to fight hard to secure their scholarships, the grants, the donations of business suits, the free text-books and the free day care services they needed to succeed.
Biography
Dr. Georgina Falú is a Puerto Rican scholar, educator, and entrepreneur dedicated to serving New York’s minority communities. Among her many distinctions, Dr. Falú was the first woman Dean of the Management School at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras; the first woman Vice President of Administration for the Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University; and Dean of Academic Support Programs at Touro College-NY. In addition to 30 years of teaching and executive experience at universities in Puerto Rico and the Continental United States, Dr. Falú established the Falú Foundation to promote economic development through technology and founded the Universal Business and Media School to serve disadvantaged Latino and African American students. Dr. Falú holds a Doctorate in Education and a Master of Arts from Columbia University, a diploma from the Harvard Graduate School of Management, an MBA from Berkeley at the University of California, and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Puerto Rico.