This is part of the series of articles highlighting Hispanic excellence at Ramapo College of New Jersey as the college celebrates Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15. 

October 15, 2025

by Lauren Ferguson

When Cesar Vivas ‘27 attended his first event hosted by the New Jersey Chapter of the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA), he knew it was something special.

“They celebrated their big accomplishments, folks were getting promotions, folks got new roles, students announced their internships. I was in a room full of people who looked like me and were excelling,” said the accounting major from Freehold, NJ. “It was like, that’s the environment where I need to be, and that’s the environment that needs to be highlighted.”

Vivas said the experience empowered him to “take it up a notch.” He partnered with like-minded students economics major Oliver Mejia ‘25 of Bergenfield, NJ, and management major Naydelin Reyes Rodriguez ’25 of Ocean, NJ. Together, they embarked on a mission to establish at Ramapo College of New Jersey a student chapter of ALPFA – the country’s oldest, largest and fasted-growing professional Latino association.

When Dr. Ed Petkus, dean of Ramapo’s Anisfield School of Business, gave the ambitious student leaders the opportunity to attend ALPFA’s national convention in Las Vegas, NV over the summer, it cemented their drive to bring a chapter home to Ramapo. The week was full of workshops, presentations, award receptions, private networking events and a two-day career fair with companies like Wells Fargo, KPMG and PWC recruiting students.

“It was all about pursuing excellence, pushing for Latino excellence, because we are the future and everything we are doing is shaping the brighter future,” Vivas said.

Cesar Vivas ’27 spoke about ALPFA at Ramapo’s Latinx History Month Proclamation ceremony.

After the team of founders spent months creating a constitution, mission, and values, Ramapo approved the ALPFA club as one of the college’s more than 100 student-run clubs. The student  leaders then submitted documentation to ALPFA, and in September, the national organization approved Ramapo’s club to become an officially-recognized student chapter.

ALPFA “allows both students and professionals at every level of their career from internship to entry-level, to mid-level and senior management, through the c-suite and corporate board room, to enhance their leadership, professional skills, and connect with other leaders as mentors and mentees,” states the letter Vivas received from the organization notifying him that Ramapo’s chapter was official.

The national organization provides leadership development and career advancement opportunities to more than 90,000 Latino students, professionals, and entrepreneurs throughout the United States, according to the letter.

The mission of Ramapo’s new ALPFA club is to “create a pipeline of opportunity, offering Ramapo students direct access to networking events, industry panels, career readiness workshops, and national conventions that lead to real internships, mentorship, and leadership growth.”

The club is already well on its way. It held its first major event in October, when Jazzlyn Feliciano, a manager and director at Ernst & Young, came to Ramapo’s Mahwah, NJ campus to deliver her keynote “Owning Your Journey, Creating Your Opportunity.”

Jazzlyn Feliciano, a manager and director at Ernst & Young, spoke to Ramapo’s ALPFA club.

“She worked her way up, and she rose up through the ranks of a predominantly white male industry,” Vivas, now the president of Ramapo’s ALPFA club, said of Feliciano. Vivas said one huge benefit of being a part of ALPFA is “gaining access to real people with real experiences with real stories that we can relate to, and leave the room empowered.”

“We’re here for career advancement. Post college, we want to graduate, we want to pursue opportunity and a career. Life is not linear. There are turns and bumps and challenges. But seeing it from somebody that’s doing exactly what you would like to be doing, in a role where they’re doing phenomenal, and you get to learn exactly how they got there, then I don’t believe there’s any other room that you need to be in,” Vivas said. He said Feliciano is the first of many speakers who will be sharing their stories, experiences and insights with Ramapo students.

By helping to bring ALPFA to Ramapo, and putting himself out there to seize professional opportunities, Vivas hopes to show fellow students “I can do it, so can you.”

Vivas strongly believes students can only benefit from joining ALPFA. “You’re only going to be inspired. You’re only going to be empowered. You’re only going to become even more driven, in whatever career you want to pursue,” he said.