Wilberto Rivera Perez ’86 and Edda Colon-Irizarry ’88 are champions of the liberal arts because the values, objectives, and balanced perspectives their education provided both inside and outside of the classroom have been instrumental in not only finding, but following their path in life. It’s also why they have agreed to serve on the advisory council for the D’Amour College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
“A liberal arts education helps you prepare for life, not only for a job,” said Edda, who attributes the liberal arts curriculum, which allowed her to explore a number of subject areas, helping her hone in on her career path. She is now vice president of human resources operations and head of diversity, inclusion, and belonging at the biotechnology company Amgen and said Assumption was key to helping her develop in life and in her career. “It taught me about diversity … [and gave me] the opportunity to meet people from different places and make friends that were totally different from me.”
Assumption also guided Wilberto to his true vocation; he is founder and president of Mares Multicultural, a marketing and management outsourcing company that also provides multicultural marketing consulting services, and an adjunct professor at California Lutheran University. “Educationally, socially, and financially, Assumption was instrumental in helping me become who I am today,” he said, adding that his professors influenced his desire to develop a marketing career. “At the time, Assumption didn’t have a marketing major program, but through several marketing courses that I took, I learned that it was a field I loved and that I have the creativity and mental template to be successful.”
Edda and Wilberto, who grew up in Puerto Rico and found their way to Assumption through acquaintances, have been married for 30 years and now live in Los Angeles. Though both busy with successful careers and raising two sons, Edda said it has always been important for them to give back to Assumption. “We were able to get a great education, thanks to the help of others, and that has opened up many opportunities for us, so we like to pay it forward,” she said.
In addition to being President’s Council members and attending alumni events in both Puerto Rico and Los Angeles, Wilberto used his marketing expertise and engaged with Assumption in the research conducted relative to the development of a new visual identity for the University.
“Assumption was, in a way, my home for several years, and the environment, interactions, and experiences in which w lived were a great foundation for our future family and as human beings,” said Wilberto.
