La Mescolanza
Identities are complex.
I would argue that understanding our respective identities is fundamental to how we move through the world; the processing of ourselves and our origins helps us define and value our contributions.
From a cultural perspective, my identity is a bit of a jumble — a mixed dish made up of a variety of ingredients. It took me a while to embrace this. I was born in Costa Rica to non-Costa-Rican parents. My mother is Nicaraguan and my father is from Egypt, but he grew up in Uruguay — and now calls it home.
Though I was raised all over (Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean), we lived out a strong latinx culture in our home — a pantry stocked with homemade Nicaraguan tortillas and Gallo Pinto, a TV tuned to weekly viewings of Sábado Gigante, and candy-filled piñatas for every birthday. I lived in six countries by the time I was 14, and everyone in my family leaned into a different culture. In other words, there was never a strong country of origin for me to cling to.
As you can imagine, the topic of “identity” was not an easy one for a young Monica. I knew I was Latina. I also knew that wasn’t the full story. The better portion of my childhood was spent practicing how to answer the question “where are you from?”
Eventually, I learned to synthesize my answer to satisfy the inquirer. This particular challenge sparked an enthusiasm for discovering and developing my personal story and brand, a self-solving puzzle I’ve now converted into a vocation. I’m passionate about helping organizations tell the story of who they are, what they’re about, and how they present themselves to their customers.
This is how I ended up at FiscalNote.
As the brand manager at FiscalNote, I’m constantly overseeing how we tell the story of our complementary stew of different solutions and products. We are not just one thing — we are a trusted hub of policy news and analysis, legislative and regulatory tracking, stakeholder management, collaboration and advocacy tools. Our 360-approach gives our users access to the right information at the right time. And, although we have a deep-rooted purpose, we’re able to constantly adapt our solutions to meet market needs.
It’s my core appreciation for my latin roots, and the embracing of every other component of my upbringing, that connects me to a company like FiscalNote — one that doesn’t fit into just one category, but is made up of a variety of trusted solutions designed to help users achieve their mission.
Monica’s piece is the first of a multi-part Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15) series aimed at exploring and sharing the identities and experiences of Latinx FiscalNoters.
