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From Outlier to Change Agent

Her time at Boston College prepared her for the professional world post-graduation, but the experience didn鈥檛 come without moments of feeling like an outsider. McGrath at times felt alienated from her classmates, in part because of her financial struggles and concerns about her next financial aid statement. Fast forward to May 2021: She鈥檚 walking the commencement stage at Boston College once again, this time to聽receive an honorary doctorate聽for exemplifying 鈥渢he power of leadership鈥� to promote change in business and society.

That work has included serving as vice president of Kraft鈥檚 Latino Center of Excellence in 2009. While focusing specifically on Latinx-geared marketing and growth, she completed a large ethnographic research project. For a year, her team studied nearly 30 Latina women from all walks of life in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami. They found that it was very important for Latinx people, and in particular Latina women, to feel represented when shopping for their homes and families. McGrath was able to take that data and experience back to Kraft and expand the company鈥檚 interpretation of the market.

鈥淚 had to help the brands to see and understand the Latino market and why this was a good investment,鈥� she explains. McGrath notes that she also saw some of herself reflected in the experience of those women. 鈥淚nclusion is a key part of belonging,鈥� she says. 鈥淧eople say to me 鈥極h you鈥檙e not really a Latina, you鈥檙e fake.鈥� I don鈥檛 speak Spanish very well. But actually, I鈥檝e found so much connection [in] my upbringing鈥�and the traits that I saw in my family sort of resonated in that experience.鈥澛�

One of her strategies for fostering self-empowerment is getting to know your inner critic鈥攖he one who questions whether you belong鈥攁nd knowing how to keep it in check. Nick McDonald 鈥�25, a computer science major, asked how exactly McGrath does this. She admitted that she still consciously works on this skill, but it helps to visualize her inner critic as a person she can see in her mind鈥檚 eye, acknowledge that critic, and put them off to the side.聽

McGrath continues to use her own empowerment to help others who may not have the same opportunities. Since 2012, she has been at the helm of a program called聽聽at Mondel膿z, which works to implement sustainable business and farming practices for cocoa farmers while fostering a sense of women鈥檚 empowerment.

鈥淚t鈥檚 about really giving women farmers鈥�access to all the tools they need to have better incomes, better confidence, a leadership voice in their family, [and] a leadership voice in their communities,鈥� she said, seeming to draw on the business as well as the philosophical and moral perspectives learned at Boston College. McGrath, who is also vice chair of the聽, a nonprofit organization, adds that the role of women cannot be overlooked when it comes to growing a developing economy in a sustainable way.