Cristine Figueroa MS \u201907 grew up with FIU. Her mother was a teacher and would always bring her to campus, which became Figueroa\u2019s playground as a young girl. Little did she know that her playground would soon turn into her dream institution for both school and work.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2007, I came to FIU to fulfill my master\u2019s in Human Resources Management, and that\u2019s when I fell in love with the institution,\u201d said Figueroa. \u201cI remember moving to the neighborhood with my husband and thinking \u2018I really, really<\/em> want to work there one day.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n In 2012, Figueroa was welcomed to the FIU family as the senior recruiter for Central Human Resources, and is currently the human resources manager for the FIU Foundation\u00a0\u2013 and now, she\u2019s giving back to the institution that gave her so much.<\/p>\n \u201cGrowing up, my family was always involved with the arts,\u201d she said. \u201cMy grandmother and aunts were very crafty, and my uncle plays music. The arts were always so important to me and my family, so that\u2019s why I decided to give back to FIU\u2019s College of Architecture + The Arts.\u201d<\/p>\n Figueroa recently made a planned gift to the College of Architecture + The Arts (CARTA) to ensure future FIU students always have classrooms, facilities, and resources for their education in music, theater, communications, architecture, and the arts. Like many young donors, Figueroa decided on a planned gift because it allows her to make a significant impact in the future.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery day, I grow to love this institution more and more. I love the work that FIU is doing for first-generation students and the South Florida community, and I\u2019m inspired daily by the amazing work of Dean Schriner at CARTA,\u201d said Figueroa.<\/p>\n Figueroa\u2019s planned gift established the Lowe McBrae Arts Forever Fund, which is a tribute to herself and her family. Lowe is her grandmother\u2019s maiden name; M is for Melanie, her mother; C is for Cristine and Cynthia, her aunt; B is for Bess, her grandmother; R is for Rocco, her uncle; A is for Allison, her aunt; and E is for everyone.<\/p>\n She hopes that her family\u2019s legacy will live on with her planned gift, but most importantly, that arts and culture education will continue for generations to come.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy give back to FIU? Because when we give back to FIU, we instill a sense of philanthropy in future generations,\u201d said Figueroa. \u201cWe continue to nurture the groundbreaking research, world-renowned programs, and future artisans, doctors, and engineers. One day, my children will become Panthers, and I want them to have a university they are proud of \u2013 just as I am.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cristine Figueroa MS \u201907 grew up with FIU. Her mother was a teacher and would always bring her to campus, which became Figueroa\u2019s playground as a young girl. Little did she know that her playground would soon turn into her dream institution for both school and work. \u201cIn 2007, I came to FIU to fulfill […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":15828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[369,22,368],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-spotlight","category-community","category-philanthropy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15825"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15825"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15833,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15825\/revisions\/15833"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}