Mariela Dabbah
Mariela Dabbah (born in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a best-selling Argentinian-American author and presenter on issues that help Latinos reach success through education, career development and empowerment. She is a motivational speaker and media personality who has worked with corporations, non-profit organizations, school systems, and universities for both developing programs and presenting information. For the last eighteen years, Mariela has devoted her energy to helping young Latino students, women and professionals succeed in their quest for education and successful careers in the United States.
Early life
She started writing at the age of nine. Her father, an orthopedic surgeon, used to bring her the orange sheets that were used to keep X-rays from getting stuck together. She would attach the pages together, illustrate the cover and bound the results into a book. She wrote her first six novels in this way.
She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Buenos Aires where she obtained a MA degree in Philosophy and Literature. Dabbah moved to the US at the age of 24.
Career
In 2005, two of Dabbah's books came out simultaneously. Cómo conseguir trabajo en los Estados Unidos (How to Get a Job in the U.S.) was published in the US and Cuentos de Nuevos Aires y Buena York (Short Stories of New Aires and Good York) came out in Argentina. Almost immediately, she started doing media segments. Her first was a one-hour live show with call-ins for HITN in Brooklyn, New York. That same year she was interviewed on NPR.
Since then, she has focused on helping Latinos achieve success in the US through education, career development, and female empowerment. In 2006, her book Help your Children Succeed in School was published and the following year, it won of the 2007 International Latino Book Award for Best Reference in Spanish. Her book Latinos in College: Your Guide to Success won the 2010 International Latino Book Award for Best Reference in English.
Best-selling books include Help Your Children Succeed in High School and Go to College. Dabbah also authored How to Get a Job in the U.S and co-authored The Latino Advantage in the Workplace.
From 2006 to 2009, she was the national spokesperson for McDonald's Education Program for Latinos and developed a parent outreach training program. After two years of touring the country to deliver parent workshops, she developed a "Facilitator's Guide and Videos" now available online at the McDonald's website for free.
In 2009, "she launched the Initiative Latinos in College, a comprehensive on- and offline platform to help Latino students succeed in college. The website offers resources, tools and connections for Latino students and their families to find, pay for, and graduate from college. It is supported by social media through Facebook and Twitter and mostly managed by students. In 2011, Latinos in College became a non-profit organization.
She is the education expert on Univision 41 in New York.
Web personality
Mariela is the education and career coach at the AOL Latino Women Empowerment site Tu Voz where she provides advice in the form of blogs and videos. She’s a columnist for Huffington Post and Fox News Latino and a contributor to Mamiverse and Voxxi, a news platform focused on acculturated Latinos.
Books and other publications
• Poder de Mujer: Descubre quién eres para crear el éxito a tu medida, C.A. Press, Penguin Group 2012
• Latinos in College: Your Guide to Success, Consultare, 2009
• The Latino Advantage in the Workplace/La ventaja latina en el trabajo, Sourcebooks, 2007
• Help your Children Succeed in High School and Go to College/Ayude a su hijo a triunfar en la escuela secundaria y llegar a la universidad, Sourcebooks, 2007
• Help your Children Succeed in School/Ayude a su hijo a tener éxito en la escuela, Sourcebooks, 2006
• Cuentos de Nuevos Aires y Buena York, Metafrasta, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2005
• How to Get a Job in the U.S./Cómo conseguir trabajo en Estados Unidos, Sourcebooks, 2005
• Antología de Narradores Contemporáneos, Editorial de los Cuatro Vientos, 2004
• Finding Alina (a novel), Xlibris, 2000
• Numerous teacher guides for Flame Co.’s programs, 1993-1999
• All Minds Are Free, bilingual workbook used at a parenting workshop program, 1998-2000
• Historia Común de un Transplantado (a novel), VM Enterprises, 1991
General References
1. Juarez, Catalina. “Inspiring & Empowering Mujeres Mariela Dabbah” Latina Bloggers Connect 2011/9 http://www.latinabloggersconnect.com/?s=MARIELA+dABBAH 2. Recinos, Juan Carlos. “Latinos in College es el libro para ayudar combatir la crisis educative en nuestra comunidad” QueensLatino 2011/9/6 http://www.queenslatino.com/eventos-comunitarios/latinos-in-college-es-el-libro-para-ayudar-a-compatir-la-crisis-educativa-en-nuestra-comunidad/ 3. Hispanic Outloook In Higher Education Magazine Volume 2010/8 http://www.hispanicoutlook.com/volume/20/ 4. Puente, David. “Wise Latinas on Sotomayor” CNN 2009/7/17 http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/17/wise-latinas/ 5. Lorraine C. Ladish "Mariela Dabbah: Nominated Best Latina Education Blogger" Mamiverse 2011/11 http://www.mamiverse.com/women-and-money/tech-tips/Mariela-Dabbah-Latism-Awards-Finalist.aspx} 6. “Help your Children Succeed in School is the #1 Best Seller in the Non Fiction category” Críticas Magazine 2007/03 7. Avila, Blanca E. “Estar listo para ir a la Universidad” Hoy (newspaper) 2007/10/12 8. Relano-Tennent, Maruxa.“Lucky You” NY Daily News 2007/03/28 9. “On the Bookshelf” Hispanic Business Magazine 2007/03}}
TV Appearances
1.Soto, Alejandra. “Autora de ‘Latino in College habla sobre cóno se endeudan los estudiantes” NY1 Noticias 2011/11/11 http://www.ny1noticias.com/content/150618/autora-de--latinos-in-college--habla-sobre-c%C3%B3mo-se-endeudan-los-estudiantes 2.Montero, Carlos. “Entrevista con la escritora Mariela Dabbah” CNN 2011/07/18 http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/spanish/2011/07/18/Cafe.Book.int.cnn 3.“Coping with Tuition Hikes: Is college getting too expensive” Newsroom CNN Live 2010/03 4.Ramos, Jorge. “Controle sus deudas educativas” Al punto con Jorge Ramos \Univision Noticias 2009/06}}