Alberto Garcia Marrero ’19, MBA ’20, a Cuban American immigrant, began his path to philanthropy during the last year of his undergraduate career at FIU. Alberto worked with the Center for Leadership and Service to coordinate food drives for the FIU Food Pantry, school supply drives for students of the Sweetwater community, cancer awareness outreach, and provide aid and donations to the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian in 2019.
Graduating from FIU as a Worlds Ahead Graduate in 2019, Alberto then began his studies at the Chapman Graduate School of Business pursing his master’s in business administration. At the Honors College and the College of Business, Alberto served as a founding member of the Honors College’s Student Leadership Council and the College of Business’ Dean’s Student Advisory Board as the representative of the Chapman Graduate School of Business.
It was at this point that his path to philanthropy entered its next stage: giving back monetarily.
In the spring of 2020, Alberto became the catalyst and founding member of the Pathway to Philanthropist (P2P) program at FIU. Seeing the impact that both colleges had on his education and his professional development and being a recipient of a first-generation scholarship during his undergraduate studies, Alberto was certain about what he wanted to designate his gift toward. Before graduating from the Chapman Graduate School of Business, Alberto established the Alberto Garcia Marrero First Generation Scholarship Fund, focused on providing first-generation students in the Honors College who are majoring in International Business with the funds to support their continued education.
Today, Alberto continues his education as a law student at the Florida State University College of Law and maintains strong ties to FIU as a guest lecturer for the Honors College’s “Thriving in the Law” course, frequently returns to FIU for Panther Alumni Week (PAW), and continues to mentor various undergraduate students pursuing a career in the legal field.
