Linda Alvarado
Entrepreneur
Born: Albuquerque, New Mexico

Linda Alvarado is president and CEO of Alvarado Construction, Inc., whose projects include airports, convention centers, and sports stadiums. She is the first Hispanic owner of a Major League Baseball franchise, the Colorado Rockies.

"Although Hispanics have always been on construction sites, we were viewed as laborers and craftsmen, not as company owners. And if women were on construction sites at all, it was as secretaries in the job-site trailers. So it’s important not how other people see us, but how we perceive ourselves in achieving our goals.”

Guided by her mother’s philosophy of empieza pequeño, pero piensa muy grande (start small, but think big), Alvarado began as a laborer with a landscaping company and later moved into construction management. Eventually she formed her own company, initially building sidewalks and shelters for bus passengers. Today, Alvarado Construction, Inc., has 450 employees and multi-million-dollar revenues.

Linda Alvarado, entrepreneur. Photograph by Celia Alvarez Muñoz, taken at the Alvarado residence, Denver, Colorado

“Whether we’re called Hispanos or Mexicanos or Puertorriqueños, Cubanos, or Latinos, we are a family connected to a community of very talented people from very different backgrounds who are doing amazing things that our parents did not have the opportunity to do. As an Hispanic, I hope and long for the day when we will be valued for our abilities, not prejudged because of our heritage or gender. America is a country of immigrants, and our success is built on the strength of our diversity.”