ORLANDO, Fla. — Channel 9 has shared stories of people in Central Florida’s Puerto Rican community doing great work all week.
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Two healthcare workers are trying to boost Hispanic representation in the STEM workplace.
Channel 9′s Geovany Dias spoke with the duo ahead of the Florida Puerto Rican Parade and Festival.
These women want to ensure every Hispanic community member, especially women, has a chance to succeed in STEM.
“If I were to tell my story, I would start at the beginning, just a little girl with two long pigtails playing with her friends in Puerto Rico,” Linnette Johnson said.
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That’s how her path started.
As a child, she and her family left Puerto Rico and started a new life in Central Florida.
“The journey from arriving in Ocala in the 1980s when diversity wasn’t a thing,” said Linnette Johnson, chief clinical operations officer with AdventHealth. “The first thing other kids would ask me was, ‘hey what are you?’ And would say – I’m a human being.”
Although Johnson believes her passion for helping others was born with her, one special person played an important role in supporting her personal mission - her abuelita.
Read: Watch the Florida Puerto Rican Parade on Channel 9
Now, she’s working with AdventHealth on recruiting outreach in the Latino and Hispanic communities. But that’s not all. She’s also training nurses on how to provide care for Spanish-speaking patients within the healthcare system.
A powerful woman also inspired Karen Corbin.
“I loved Wonder Woman – the original Linda Carter,” said Dr. Karen Corbin, the associate investigator with the Translation Research Institute. “And sometimes she wore a white lab coat because she was trained in mathematics and science.”
Wonder Woman might have been a source of inspiration, but Corbin—like Linnete Johnson—looked into her roots to get through some tough times.
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“My life has been a surprisingly well-choreographed sequence of little miracles that took me from a little girl on the island of Puerto Rico who never met a scientist before,” she said. “To eventually get me where I wanted to do – which is a science that transforms healthcare.”
Now, with a PhD, she uses her experience to empower other Hispanic women.
A few years ago, Corbin founded Geeks That Speak, an organization that works with scientists whose first language is not English.
The group helps them improve their communication and speaking skills, paving the way for girls and women - from Puerto Rico and beyond - who want to pursue a career in science.
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“Every chance I get to help somebody to improve their communication skills so we can both advance science and get science to the community,” Corbin said. “I would never have made it to where I am today if it hadn’t been for people encouraging me along the way.”
Both of their message for Latinos is to keep faith.
“You can do it. If you’re passionate about it and work hard, and that’s what you want to do, then you can do it. It might not be easy, but you can do it.”
Linnete and Karen both hope their work inspires future STEM professionals.
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