Mariela Dabbah

Early life

She started writing at the age of nine. Her father, an orthopedic surgeon, used to bring her the orange sheets that were used to keep X-rays from getting stuck together. She would attach the pages together, illustrate the cover and bound the results into a book. She wrote her first six novels in this way.

She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Buenos Aires where she obtained a MA degree in Philosophy and Literature. Dabbah moved to the US at the age of 24.

Career

In 2005, two of Dabbah's books came out simultaneously. Cómo conseguir trabajo en los Estados Unidos (How to Get a Job in the U.S.) was published in the US and Cuentos de Nuevos Aires y Buena York (Short Stories of New Aires and Good York) came out in Argentina. Almost immediately, she started doing media segments. Her first was a one-hour live show with call-ins for HITN]in Brooklyn, New York. That same year she was interviewed on NPR].

For many years she has focused on helping Latinos achieve success in the US through education, career development, and female empowerment. In 2006, her book Help your Children Succeed in School was published and the following year, it won the 2007 International Latino Book Award for Best Reference in Spanish. Her book Latinos in College: Your Guide to Success won the 2010 International Latino Book Award for Best Reference in English.

Books include "Find Your Inner Red Shoes", "Poder de Mujer: Descubre quién eres para crear el éxito a tu medida", Help Your Children Succeed in High School and Go to College. Dabbah also authored How to Get a Job in the U.S and co-authored The Latino Advantage in the Workplace In 2015 she published her first novel Mirada Invertida.

From 2006 to 2009, she was the national spokesperson for McDonald's Education Program for Latinos and developed a parent outreach training program. After two years of touring the country to deliver parent workshops, she developed a "Facilitator's Guide and Videos".

In 2009, "she launched the Initiative Latinos in College, an on- and offline platform to help Latino students succeed in college. The website offers resources, tools and connections for Latino students and their families to find, pay for, and graduate from college. In 2011, Latinos in College became a non-profit organization.

In 2012, when her book "Poder de Mujer" (Penguin) came out, she launched the Red Shoe Movement a career and leadership development company focused on diverse women. The company coined Red Shoe Tuesday as an awareness campaign that invites people to wear red shoes/ties to work on Tuesday to show support for the career advancement of women. By keeping up the conversation about the benefits of having more women in decision-making positions the Red Shoe Movement hopes to contribute to move the needle faster.

In 2013, Dabbah received the Women and Society Award by LULAC and Cervantes Institute for her contributions to the advancement of the Hispanic community.

In 2015, Dabbah appeared in the People en Español's 25 Most Powerful Women list on their October issue. She was nominated by María Elena Salinas. In 2015 she received the "Damas de Lincoln" award by Ford for her leadership.

Mariela travels through the United States and Latin America presenting in companies, professional organizations and conferences.

Web personality

Mariela is a frequent contributor in a diversity of media such as CNN, Univision, Telemundo and Cala Presenta. She speaks about jobs, career development, success, women empowerment, education and Latinos in the U.S.

Books and other publications

• "Mirada Invertida", Consultare 2015 • "Find Your Inner Red Shoes, C.A. Press", Penguin Group 2013
• Poder de Mujer: Descubre quién eres para crear el éxito a tu medida, C.A. Press, Penguin Group 2012
• Latinos in College: Your Guide to Success, Consultare, 2009
• The Latino Advantage in the Workplace/La ventaja latina en el trabajo, Sourcebooks, 2007
• Help your Children Succeed in High School and Go to College/Ayude a su hijo a triunfar en la escuela secundaria y llegar a la universidad, Sourcebooks, 2007
• Help your Children Succeed in School/Ayude a su hijo a tener éxito en la escuela, Sourcebooks, 2006
• Cuentos de Nuevos Aires y Buena York, Metafrasta, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2005
• How to Get a Job in the U.S./Cómo conseguir trabajo en Estados Unidos, Sourcebooks, 2005
• Antología de Narradores Contemporáneos, Editorial de los Cuatro Vientos, 2004
• Finding Alina (a novel), Xlibris, 2000
• Numerous teacher guides for Flame Co.’s programs, 1993-1999
• All Minds Are Free, bilingual workbook used at a parenting workshop program, 1998-2000
• Historia Común de un Transplantado (a novel), VM Enterprises, 1991