Alumni Spotlight: Clarissa Diaz de Leon Martinez '13
After graduating from Cristo Rey, I went to Columbia for one year to study Education. After realizing I did not like being in the city nor the major I had selected, I decided to transfer to SIUC to become more independent and study Accounting. Ironically, I began to miss home as my sister had a baby and my brother was expecting. Aside from this, I could not figure out how to fit in on campus nor adjust to the classroom set-ups. I felt lost, became overwhelmed, and decided to withdraw from SIUC (I wish I had reached out to the many resources available at the time to help me gather my thoughts!). Once I was back in Chicago, I took on a bookkeeping position at Delgadillo & Co. where I primarily focused on payroll for small businesses and data entry. I became pregnant with my first baby, Samantha, in 2015 and continued to work at Delgadillo & Co. until her birth in February 2016. I took time off to dedicate to her and then began working at Allies for Community Business, formerly known as Accion, in October of 2017. I got married in April 2021 and had my second baby, Ismael, in April 2023. I am, in a nutshell, a full-time working mom of two!
I am currently still at Allies for Community Business. Allies for Community Business is a non-profit micro lender whose mission is provide the capital, coaching, and connections entrepreneurs need to grow great businesses that create jobs and wealth in their communities. I was in the lending department for 7 years, working my way to becoming Manager of Community Lending and I recently was promoted in 2024 to the risk department as Manager of Portfolio Risk. When I was a part of the lending team, I was the top producer at the organization for the past 4 years. In 2023 alone, I disbursed almost $1.6 million in small business loans to businesses in Illinois and Indiana (all while having my second baby, Ismael, in April 2023!) Allies for Community Business was also the administrator of emergency grant programs during the pandemic such as the Back to Business Grant and is currently still administering other grant programs such as the Good Food Fund (partnership with the City of Chicago). I was featured in Time Square in May of 2020 through a partnership with Coca-Cola for my work in contributing to the disbursement of emergency funds to small businesses during the pandemic. In my role now as Manager of Portfolio Risk, I am responsible for underwriting the loan submissions from the lending team and finding ways to improve our policy to serve more entrepreneurs through the collection of data on our current portfolio.
My sister had been working at the organization for a little over a year and when she would talk to me about her work, I was so intrigued and amazed with the impact the organization was making for small business owners who struggle to qualify for funding through a traditional bank. A position for a loan officer opened up and I applied! They did require a bachelor’s degree at the time (which they have since removed as they used me an as an example of how you can be very impactful to an organization without having a degree). They leveraged my 4 years at Huron Consulting Group through Cristo Rey’s work-study program and the reference submitted by my previous manager there to offer me the job. Since then, I have worked closely with small businesses owners to provide capital and the assistance needed for them to prosper in their businesses. We are different from many lenders as we do not have a minimum credit score requirement, work with ITIN applicants, work with start-ups, and provide coaching aside from the capital!
I enjoy getting to know business owners and hearing their stories and seeing how they eventually qualify for a loan through a bank! This past year, I worked closely with our Director of Community Lending to revamp our policy pertaining to how we underwrite credit builder loans so that we are able to provide capital to more business owners who have challenges with their credit profile.
The main advice I would give is to use all the resources available to you and if you do not know what is available to you please ask! Though I would not encourage anyone to not go to college, I would highlight that there are different versions of “success” and that if college did not work out for you, it does not mean that is the end of the road for you and that you cannot be successful or make a difference in your community. I would say to take your work-study position seriously, learn, adapt, and ask questions as those experiences can help you professionally.
I believe Cristo Rey has influenced my career and person I am today. I learned everything I know about professionalism from Cristo Rey and the work-study program and about the importance of community and family outside of your blood family. My time at Kairos is definitely at the top of my list of memories from Cristo Rey. It was such an impactful and eye-opening retreat that I will always cherish. I still open up the folder from time to time to read the letters and see the pictures!
Aside from spending time with my two babies, I enjoy going to the gym and traveling to Mexico. Because my job is primarily remote and salary based, I have flexibility in how I use my time thankfully, so I get to spend a lot of time with my family and travel when desired or needed.
I would say Cristo Rey is a one-stop shop for developing professional, passionate, educated and hardworking youth towards adulthood.
Thank you, Clarissa, for sharing your journey with us! Connect with Clarissa on Linked In.