Image courtesy of Nuestro Stories.
All Alice Mondragon Whitney wanted was to find someone like her that could repair helicopter parts. But, being Latina and a woman, she was hard-pressed to find anyone that fit the bill. So she did the next best thing: creating a helicopter repair business. As a result, Mondragon Whitney became the first Latina to own an aviation business west of the Mississippi River.
And that is not an easy feat.
"I wanted to find somebody like me. I knew I wasn't going to find a Latina, I doubted I was going to find a Latina, but if I could just find a woman doing the same thing so that I could learn the business from somebody else," Whitney said in a recent interview.
Fighting against the machista system
Mondragon Whitney knew she was not only competing against big airlines for qualified technicians but also had to fight machista attitudes. For example, a potential client would not allow Alice to work on his airplanes because she was a woman — and this was not an isolated incident.
She repeatedly heard the same mantra: it was impossible because she was a woman. But she never let that stop her. Instead, Mondragon Whitney got creative and founded and headed her own company. She proved them all wrong and excelled as the first Latina in Idaho in the aviation industry.
And this was important because Idaho's Latino population was on the rise and needed leaders — especially female ones.
According to the 2020 Census, Latinos make up nearly 13% of Idaho's population, a 1.5% increase compared to 2020. Moreover, they account for 24% of Idaho's population growth over the last decade.
When she sold her company in 1986, her client list included Forbes, John Deere, and the Armed Forces of the United States, among others. In addition, Alice Mondragon Whitney worked in real estate and at the Zions Bank.
A force in the community
She has also become a female force in her community — working as a volunteer for non-profit organizations.
"I feel like every day; you need to touch someone; you need to elevate them and make them feel better about themselves. And if you haven't, you aren't done for the day," she said in a recent interview.
Alice Mondragon Whitney has served as president of the board of directors of the Hispanic Business Association and on the board of directors of the Idaho Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She is also a founding board member of the Hispanic Financial Education Coalition.
In 2014, she received the Ohtli Award, presented by the Consul of Mexico, Guillermo Ordorica, on behalf of Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Institute of Mexicans Abroad. The award is given to those contributing to empowering Mexican and Mexican-American communities in the United States.
In Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, the word "ohtli" means "path." The award highlights those who have opened paths for the Mexican community and fostered their inclusion in their country of residence.
Alice Mondragon Whitney has undoubtedly been an ohtli for Latina women in Idaho and an example for those living in other states.
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