Clara Sierra calls her landing a career in finance “serendipity.”
As the first in her family to be born in the United States — her parents emigrated from the Dominican Republic with her older brother and sister — Ms. Sierra said she didn’t know anyone working in finance when she was younger.
Her mother worked in a factory, and her father labored as a mechanic.
Upon graduating from Fairleigh Dickinson University, a friend told her that AllianceBernstein was hiring and recommended that she try for a spot there until she found a “real job.”
Between her time at AllianceBernstein in national accounts and later at AIG Advisor Group in advisory services, Ms.
Sierra says she “fell in love with the industry” and honed her skills in relationship management.
“This is a very hard industry,” said Ms. Sierra, who now is senior director, Moody’s Analytics Inc. “But the more you commit to your craft, the more you contribute, the more you will be rewarded. This is a very fast-paced, fast-moving environment. You can’t hide in this industry.”
In part because she saw so few women and Latinas when she first entered finance in the early 1990s, Ms. Sierra said she is “a firm believer, not just for women in financial services, but men and women, that while you’re climbing that corporate ladder, while you’re smashing that glass ceiling, while you’re doing all of those things, you have to bring people along with you.”
She lives that philosophy by serving as an advisory board member of Latinas & Lideres, which focuses on empowering Dominican girls from low-income communities.
“As a Latina, it’s not an easy industry to break into,” Ms. Sierra said. “But because you’re so different, you can effect change. And that’s what I want to continue to do.”
