Editorial Staff

Hilda Torres Makes the Grade

/in , , , /by Editorial Staff
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

This week on JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks with Hilda Torres, an immigrant from Mexico who runs My Little Best Friends Early Learning Center in Malden, Massachusetts. One of the most successful businesses in the city, the center enrolls over 100 students whose parents come from more than 25 different countries. In this episode, Hilda shares how she used the tools of education, and her own grit and determination, to make her mark in the land of opportunity.

Hilda Torres is Executive Director at My Little Best Friends Early Learning Center. Hilda left Mexico in 1992, settling in East Boston with her husband and two young children. She was continuing her career as a beautician. “I made good money,” she said. “But, most of it went to daycare.” Then, the owner of the daycare her children attended offered her a job as an assistant. She took early childhood education classes and earned an associate’s degree at Bunker Hill Community College. In 2012, Torres and her cousin, Gerardo Loza, opened My Little Best Friends Early Learning Center in Malden. They recently were named one of five 2016 Immigrant Entrepreneurs of the Year by the Immigrant Learning Center. My Little Best Friends currently has over 100 students, from 2 months to 5 years old, whose parents come from more than 25 different countries.

Get new episodes of JobMakers in your inbox!

Browse Episodes of Pioneer’s Podcasts:

Targeting Pharma: Infrastructure Bill Employs Price Controls To Offset Unprecedented Price Tag

Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute Visiting Fellow in Life Sciences Dr. William Smith about how the price control features of the emerging $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill might affect the pharmaceutical Industry, both nationwide and here in Massachusetts, and what effect that change will have on drug consumers.

Danielle Goldman on Why the U.S. Needs Immigrant Talent

This week on JobMakers, Host Denzil Mohammed talks with Danielle Goldman, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Open Avenues Foundation in Boston, about their work to help high-growth companies and start-ups retain the high-skilled, foreign-born talent they need through cap-exempt H-1B visas.

UVA Prof. E.D. Hirsch, Jr. on Core Knowledge, Equity, & Educating Citizens

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Professor E.D. Hirsch, Jr., founder and chairman of the Core Knowledge Foundation, professor emeritus at the University of Virginia, and acclaimed author of the books, Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know and How to Educate a Citizen: The Power of Shared Knowledge to Unify a Nation.

Examining Eviction Moratoriums: Testing Constitutional Limits of Executive Branch Power

Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi talks with constitutional scholar and George Mason Law Professor Ilya Somin about the flaws and legal vulnerabilities of the first and second CDC eviction moratoriums and discuss what current and future court rulings will mean for the limits of executive agency powers.

Prof. James Witte on Immigration Disinformation

Misinformation and disinformation about immigration in the U.S. is ubiquitous. For Prof. James Witte, director of the Institute for Immigration Research, getting the facts about U.S. immigration out to the public is a challenge. The Institute for Immigration Research is a joint venture between George Mason University and The Immigrant Learning Center of Malden, Massachusetts, the co-producer of this podcast.

Human Rights Advocate Kristina Arriaga on Cuba, Religious Liberty, & Cancel Culture

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Kristina Arriaga, president of Intrinsic, a strategic communications firm, and former vice chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Kristina shares her family’s experiences fleeing Castro’s communist regime in Cuba and other hardships, and how her background has shaped her commitment to religious liberty.

Pandemic Pension Payout: Essential COVID-19 Public Workers Rewarded Whether Essential or Working

Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute’s Director of Research and former Massachusetts Inspector General and State Representative Greg Sullivan about HB 2808, COVID-19 Essential Employee Retirement Credit Bonus, discussing the merits of the recently proposed joint bill, its cost, and our current public debt burden in the Commonwealth.

Sonny Vu, Former Refugee, Uses Faith to Drive Innovation

This week on JobMakers, Host Denzil Mohammed talks with Sonny Vu, serial entrepreneur and investor, about his work across continents to develop new technologies, processes and products that have, what he calls, “positive, planet-level impact.” 

The Institute for Justice’s Michael Bindas on the SCOTUS, Carson v. Makin, & Expanding School Choice

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Michael Bindas, a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice (IJ). They discuss IJ’s 2020 landmark U.S. Supreme Court win in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, and its implications for state Blaine Amendments, bigoted legal barriers that have blocked religious liberty and school choice for over a century, as well as the Maine school tuitioning case, Carson v. Makin, which was recently granted certiorari.

College Debt Explained: Education Pays When Students Choose Wisely

Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi talks with American Enterprise Institute resident fellow and education economist Beth Akers about the American student debt crisis (totalling $1.6 trillion). They explore who borrows, who is in debt, and which policy choices might best serve the financial needs of every student. 

Shane Smyth on How Immigrants Saved Restaurants

This week on JobMakers, Host Denzil Mohammed talks with Shane Smyth, owner of Hugh O’Neill’s Irish Pub in Malden, and co-owner of five more restaurants in Newton and Boston, one of which he launched during the pandemic. 

Civil Rights Leader Bob Woodson on 1776 Unites & Race in America

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Robert Woodson, Sr., founder and president of the Woodson Center that supports neighborhood-based initiatives to revitalize low-income communities, as well as author and editor of the May 2021 book, "Red, White, and Black."