Juliza Majano

For Juliza Majano ‘23, being entrepreneurial may never involve launching a business, tracking profits, or attracting investors.

Through the Southern Management Leadership Program, Majano has learned about the many roles essential in the entrepreneurship ecosystem and how the entrepreneurial mindset can encompass her dreams as an advocate for undocumented immigrants.

“That’s one of the things I just truly love about entrepreneurship,” she says. “I thought you had to be the person creating the business plan and generating the business ideas, but I've learned from being in SMLP that you could be an angel investor; you could be a venture capitalist; you could be the person making the decisions on which ideas or businesses you're going to invest in; and you can also be an entrepreneurship mentor.”

Southern Management Leadership Program, a unique educational model, provides scholarships to select Maryland students who have an interest in entrepreneurship and becoming leaders who give back to their communities. Students first earn an associate’s degree at either Montgomery College or Prince George’s Community College before transferring to the University of Maryland, where they earn a minor in technology entrepreneurship and corporate innovation.

Upon graduating, Majano will work as a policy specialist at Google and hopes to work on leveraging technology to aid in international development and social entrepreneurship.

“I’m very interested in supporting women and Latinas,” says Majano, who holds DACA status and immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador at the age of 6.

Majano has raised money for undocumented students to renew their DACA applications, which cost about $600 every two years. She has also worked with Political Latinxs United for Movement and Action in Society. A government and politics major, Majano was a Global Fellow at UMD and interned at International Women’s Forum and worked for the Montgomery County Council. She also served on the Undergraduate Studies Dean's Student Advisory Council and was a member of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society. She has been named a senior marshal, an honor given to graduates who have stood out during their time at the University of Maryland for academic excellence, service to the university community, noteworthy extracurriculars and good character.

Even with her impressive resume, Majano says that she might not have accomplished so much without her SMLP mentors.

“I had this community of 60 people that I could rely on,” she says of her SMLP cohort. “And having professors who truly care for you and get to know you as a person and what your worries are has been incredible.”

Juliza Majano (second from left) with fellow BSOS graduates. Credit: College of Behavioral and Social Sciences

Pictured Left to Right: Juliza Majano with fellow SMLP student Jeymi Menendez