Episode 3: Gloria Alonzo
Gloria Alonzo
Employee Engagement and Development Manager
In this episode, Edgar sits down with Gloria from HR. Gloria was born and raised in Huntsville, AL. However, due to her extended family, she has spent her time traveling a lot of the country and has been to 45 out of the 50 states. As a child, she practiced dance and theatre, and Edgar learns about her family’s involvement with music as well. Her mom received a master’s degree in voice and her two other siblings are also involved in music.
Gloria, went to Ohio Wesleyan University, where she majored in Theatre and Philosophy. While at school, she had a great experience and was a tour guide for incoming students. At a certain point she thought about becoming a lawyer but after being on a committee where they argued about a comma placement, she changed her mind. She went on to get her master’s degree in Theater Theory and History at Illinois State University. She talks to Edgar about what worked well in college and what was different for her at the graduate school experience.
She moved to Boston after finishing her master’s, and they discuss the different lifestyles in Alabama, Ohio, Illinois, and Massachusetts. She started working for a staff agency and later worked for Google, MIT and Wellesley College.
Gloria started working at Harvard right when the pandemic hit which did not allow her to get to know the HLS staff in person, but she jumped right into creating mechanisms/events to promote engagement in a moment of deep isolation. Gloria has been planning, creating and managing exciting events in the areas of learning, development, award recognition and social events throughout the year. Showing her importance as a member of the HR team.
Some fun facts about Gloria:
-Her favorite hobby are Dungeons and Dragons and board games.
-Her favorite music genre is Disco.
-Her favorite animal are river otters.
-Her favorite cuisine is Italian food.
-Her favorite place in the world is Trafalgar Square in London.
-Her favorite season is fall, more specifically New England fall.
Photos of Gloria over the years!
The goal of this podcast is to introduce folks to HLS staff members from across the community. You may recognize the names of some guests, and if you don’t, that’s okay! We hope that you will tune in to learn more about your colleagues—what their role is, what makes them tick, and why they do the work that they do at HLS. If you’re interested in being a guest, please let us know—we would love to hear your story. Our stories bring us together; we come from different backgrounds and serve all different roles, but our shared community at HLS unites us. Let us hear your story!
Filed in: Tell Me Your Story