�Ǹ�Թ�

Growing up as the daughter of immigrants, Evelyn Espinoza (Fin, Acct'28) learned early that money shapes the choices a family can make. "I had to grow up a little quicker than some of my peers," she said. "I was very aware of my family's financial situation early on."

When college applications came around, she had done everything she was supposed to do. She took AP classes, completed concurrent enrollment, prepared for the SAT, and earned admission to schools she was excited about. But as tuition became a reality, finances had to factor into her final decision.��

"I could either go down two paths," she said: "Being really scared of it or learning the most that I could about money and how it works."��

The latter choice led Espinoza to Leeds, where she studies personal financial planning and hopes to pursue wealth management. But another part of her story began long before she knew what wealth management was. As a child, she sometimes went to work with her mother, who owns a cleaning business. In homes around the Denver suburb of Cherry Hills, Espinoza noticed how the women who lived there dressed, from their coats to their statement necklaces. "It always sparked so much joy, because it felt like a form of art," she said.

She started creating for herself. She sews, knits and embroiders, and Vogue has arrived at her home every month since she was 16. She still loves the runway shows, but now she also wonders how the companies behind them make money and grow. At Leeds, those interests overlap, and she can study the business behind an industry she has loved for years.

It has also shaped how she thinks about finance. When she discusses financial stability, she doesn’t start with portfolios or markets. She starts with everyday life. "When you can afford to send your kid to school, when you can afford to pay rent, when you can afford to buy groceries, when you can afford to go to the doctor ... it makes being alive so much simpler."

Community in her corner

Espinoza is the first in her family to attend college. Before enrolling, she attended a first-generation Leeds event that introduced her to career advisors, student resources, and the Opening Doors to Achievement Office (ODA). "It seemed like they really wanted to make sure I was set up for success," she said.��

By sophomore year, those resources had names and faces. Her mentor, Tzigane Martin, program manager at the ODA and the person who nominated her for Faces of Leeds, saw Espinoza through a heavy semester of what she jokingly called the time of “6,000 things at once."

"Martin was just so good at being reassuring and reminding me, ‘OK, yes, this is hard, and how can I support you?’" Espinoza said.

Her friend Anna Camargo (Fin, Acct’27) became another person to lean on. A year ahead and already working toward what Espinoza wants for herself, Camargo helps with personal stress and professional decisions, also forwarding recruiting opportunities. "I just have so much admiration for her," Espinoza said.��

Reconnecting Latino professionals

Having that support made it easier for Espinoza to envision building something for others, something she had done before. At her high school, Latino students were the second-largest demographic, yet she remembers few of them on student council or in AP classes. The school's Latino Students Alliance wasn’t popular, so she and her friends set out to change that. Today, the club is thriving. "It's 10 times the number of people that would show up when I started it," she said.��

"Everyone within Leeds motivates me to want to do better."

—Evelyn Espinoza

When Espinoza learned during her first year at CU �Ǹ�Թ� that the school's chapter of the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA) had dissolved, rebuilding it felt familiar and necessary. She was one of only two Hispanic students in her Leeds cohort and wanted others to feel there was a space for them. “I knew that I was capable of this,” she said. Through networking, she connected with the then president of ALPFA’s professional chapter, who pointed her toward another interested CU �Ǹ�Թ� student. And through Alpha Kappa Psi, she already knew Camargo, ALPFA’s president. By the end of her first year, the two were determined to make ALPFA an official student organization again.����

What went from the early days of dealing with technicalities transformed into a growing board and increased participation. The executive board had since grown by six members from one fall to the next, and the group is now planning company visits and guest speakers while continuing to work with other CU �Ǹ�Թ� organizations. Espinoza and Camargo even gave a speech at the Hispanic Heritage Month kickoff, hosted with the Center for Inclusion, and a photo of it was featured on the Mexican Consulate’s Instagram account.

Last semester, about 100 students came to a salsa-making night with the Latino Student Alliance. "It drained half of our budget," Espinoza said with a laugh. Now the group is working toward a student investment fund to send members to ALPFA's national convention. She wants �Ǹ�Թ�'s chapter to "do more cool things and bring people together, not just professionally, but also socially."

Looking ahead, looking back

"Everyone within Leeds motivates me to want to do better," Espinoza said. She asks herself, “How can I do more with this?" That question has led Espinoza to financial literacy. She is developing a nonprofit and talking with Associate Teaching Professor Nicole Hunter about seed funding. At career fairs, she keeps a list of people who share her interests. "I'm hoping once I get the seed money, I can send out formal emails and invites saying: 'I'm starting this organization. Let's go to dinner, and I just want to learn from you.'"

Next semester, Espinoza plans to study abroad in Prague on her first trip to Europe. She’s already planning weekends in Austria, Germany and Spain, where friends from home will also be studying. Even the visa process has given her perspective. "I'm trying to remind myself, traveling is a privilege," she said. "I get to do this."

That outlook traces back to her mother, who left Mexico at 23, only a few years older than Espinoza is now. She credits her inspiration to watching her mom build her own cleaning business in the United States.

"I think the reason I'm so driven is that I got to see, growing up, someone else who was incredibly driven and would not take no for an answer."