Embracing Challenges: From Environmental Science to Diversity Leadership
“My transformation story is one of a series of events that elevated me in my career. I never said no to challenges.” This is what Maria Osorio shared recently after I had the privilege of photographing her.
“My career has spanned 25 years with New York City government. I am currently Chief Diversity Officer for the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services. My office is an oversight and service agency dedicated to optimizing operations and processes to make it easier to do business with the City. We are one of the agencies implementing the Minority and Women-owned Business Program creating access to compete for contracts.
My background is in environmental science, working for the City’s drinking water system. From there, I transitioned to working on sustainable programs enforced through procurement which led to working at the Mayor’s Office. At that time, the Minority and Women-owned Business Program was becoming a law and I became involved in that procurement rule as well.
In a previous role, I had a boss who wasn’t fond of public speaking, but our office was invited to present often. I would prepare presentations for those events but ended up getting early morning calls requesting I step in and speak on the office’s behalf. Initially, I was frustrated but ultimately it gave me a lot of exposure. Because of that exposure, government staff and stakeholders heard me speak and doors began to open for me.
Although at the time I didn’t see this, being forced to present for my office turned out to be the best thing that happened to me. It paved the way to senior-level positions. The opportunity to apply to my current role happened when I was on a panel at the same conference my current boss was also participating as a speaker. She stayed and listened to my panel and approached me afterward and asked me to consider returning to the Mayor’s Office And I did.
Maria shares this advice:
1. Don’t be afraid to ask questions! I was very quiet when I first joined the workforce but eventually began to ask questions and ask for support when needed.
2. Networking throughout your career is very important. Who you know has an impact on future opportunities.
3. Building relationships is very important. We’ve had successes in our office due to connections and relationships we’ve nurtured.”
Don’t be afraid to push yourself into uncomfortable spaces like public speaking. What begins as frustrating and annoying may well be the catalyst for the greatest transformation of your career!
My headshot with Alissa was so much fun! When a member of Chief, I received an announcement about the opportunity to get new headshots. Because I’ve exercised that muscle of doing something challenging, I signed up. I do not believe I photograph well and hate taking pictures “Alissa’s makeup and hair stylist was so sweet and did a beautiful job prepping me! When I saw the photos I asked Alissa, ’Who is that?’ The result was beautiful!