Meet Dr. Cinthia B. Satornino - Modeling ACTIVE Advocacy so We Can All Rise Together
Dr. Cinthia B. Satornino is the Research Director for the UNH Sales Center and serves as an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire. After earning an MBA at the University of Florida and spending more than a decade in corporate and institutional settings as a business professional and consultant, she earned her Ph.D. at Florida State University with the support of The PhD Project.
The PhD Project supports underrepresented minority doctoral students by providing them with access to a network of like-minded individuals who are also navigating the academic journey
What is your personal narrative? What key moments in your life led you to where you are?
My mother was born in Colombia, and my father is Argentine. They met in New Jersey, but moved back to Argentina to be near his family and start businesses there. I am an American citizen who was born abroad. When my parents divorced when I was five, we transitioned abruptly from a very luxurious lifestyle in Argentina to an extremely modest one here in the states. My mother worked many jobs to support us. In the early years we wouldn't always have money for food. We moved often, and we did not have much. My mother did everything she could to keep us focused on educating ourselves and regaining financial security and stability. These experiences, coupled with my passion for learning, led me to learn the value of working hard, and the value of an education.
How has your identity as a part of the Latino culture impacted your life? How do you stay connected to this in the work that you do?
For a long time, I was taught to feel shame around my Latina identity, and to emphasize my European heritage instead. My mother tried hard to protect us from the bias and discrimination that she herself experienced growing up a Latina. She did so with good intentions, but it was damaging to my sense of selfhood. Any time we have to deny an aspect of our whole self, it can lead to dysfunction. Though I spent summers with my Colombian grandmother and my extended Colombian family, spoke fluent Spanish, and attended Spanish-speaking churches, I never felt like I belonged anywhere. Those of mixed race may understand that feeling of not enoughness or, perhaps more accurately, too much-ness - too Latina for the majority community, too white for the Latinx community.
It was really hard growing up without that supportive anchor that we find in our Latinx communities. It was only later, as a young adult, that I was able to move away from feeling like an imposter no matter where I was, and instead embraced the fact that I straddle two worlds. I am so very grateful for my Latina friends who keep me grounded and allow me a space to embrace and celebrate the incredibly rich Latina heritage that I am a part of.
In terms of how I stay connected to this in my work as a professor, I think there are many people like me out there that have struggled to find a place they belong. Though I experienced it in the context of first and second generation Latinx people, many of us straddle different identities and different communities and struggle to feel comfortable and safe and accepted in any of them. This is what informs my work as a professor and in my acts of service to my community and the academy. Holding space for those of us who feel like there is no space where we quite fit.
How did your own educational experience shape your career path and journey?
Education was the key to thriving. My mother was a single mom, with three kids, and no college education. She put herself through college while working multiple jobs. I grew up wandering the aisles of the libraries at the University of Central Florida while my mother attended classes, because she could not afford a babysitter. Diving into dusty bookshelves, reading college level psychology books at a very early age (starting probably at 8 years old or so), was when I felt the most at peace.
Despite my meandering journey to becoming a professor, looking back I imagine no one would be surprised to find me here. I loved learning, would read anything I could get my hands on. I gravitated to education early in my life (my mom is fond of telling the story of a three year old me demanding to go to school alongside my five year old sister and seven year old brother). Education pulled me out of poverty and though I had to fight hard, I do think it is worth it. I had to learn how to apply for college, scholarships, and financial aid. I had to take on massive amounts of debt to reach my educational goals, but all this is worth it. My children will have an easier path through life because of the investments I've made in education.
What advice would you give to future Inclusive Inspirational Leaders?
I will borrow from someone who has been a champion for URM business faculty throughout his career, John Elliott, the current Dean at the University of Connecticut, who is known to say diversity and inclusion aren't enough, we have to go a step further and be sponsors, advocates, champions for others. It's about ACTIVE advocacy. It's one thing to feel positively inclined toward supporting our community members. It's a different level of support to ACT on that belief. Even though I hate to be in front of people, I force myself to do things that put me in that situation because I know that I represent our community and that I need to do so to help others. I might have a massive panic attack before an event (true), but I put myself out there anyway. No matter who you are and where you come from, you can lift others up in your own way. By making space for others that are different from us, we allow for more voices to be heard, and more ideas to flow, and ultimately more benefits to all. So I think impact is about active sponsorship of Latinx people (and all underrepresented or marginalized groups). We may not always agree, but we can agree to give everyone a chance to voice their thoughts and have civil conversations that help expand our minds and our opportunities. Because we all rise together.
Dr. Satornino has co-authored several publications, including award-winning articles in the Journal of Marketing – a renowned marketing strategy journal, the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, and the Journal of Marketing Education. Her research has been cited in Forbes and Fast Company, among other practitioner focused media outlets. Cinthia is a frequent speaker and panelist at practitioner and academic conferences and was invited to serve as a panelist for the Fulfilling America's Future: Latinas in the U.S. White House summit in Washington, D.C. She was also recognized as one of the Top 40 Undergraduate Business Professors by Poets & Quants. Most recently, she and her coauthors earned the Marvin Jolson Award for Best Contribution to Selling and Sales Management Practice from the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management.
Beyond her ongoing research, Cinthia continues to be an active consultant and frequently conducts marketing management and strategy workshops for both private and public organizations. When not at her desk, you can usually find her either with a paintbrush in her hands, cheering courtside for her son's team at a basketball game, or on the walking trails with her husband and pup, Moose, an intrepid explorer and finder of all the smelly things.
