GET TO KNOW ME
I am a proud Puerto Rican, a native Rochesterian, and a mom of four. I have spent over 30 years building bridges between communities and the systems meant to serve them — and I am just getting started.
I founded Alianza Access Consulting because I have sat with the frustration on both sides of the language access gap for decades. The communities that deserve better. The organizations that want to do better. This work is personal to me — because language justice is not abstract. It shows up in courtrooms, hospitals, schools, and voting booths. It shows up in the daily lives of people I love and communities I have served my whole career.
When I am not consulting, you can find me behind a camera, in the kitchen preserving family recipes, or cheering way too loud on a soccer sideline.
THIS IS ME
This is me. An advocate, a consultant, a community builder, a photographer, and a mom who believes that language justice is not a program — it is a human and civil right. A right that belongs to every person who has ever been turned away, talked over, or left out because of language.
At Alianza, we fight for those rights. For all of US.
At Alianza, we keep that promise. For all of US.
IMPACT AND EXPERIENCE
IMPACT
My credentials are not on a wall — they are in the communities I have served, the coalitions I have built, and the policies I have helped change. Thirty years of lived experience in language justice is its own master's degree.
- Edward Santa Cruz Award — 2023
- Colors of Success DEI Award Finalist — 2022
- Greater Rochester Latinx Roundtable
- Latino Health Coalition
- New American Health Coalition
EXPERIENCE
- 30+ years of frontline experience in language access, civil rights, and community advocacy across New York State.
- Co-founder, Monroe County Language Access Coalition (MCLAC) — the only coalition in New York State integrating advocacy for both Limited English Proficient and Deaf communities.
- Former Senior Manager of Community Outreach, Empire Justice Center
- Americans for Financial Reform Task Force for Language Access
- National Language Access Advocate Network
DO YOU HAVE ANYMORE QUESTIONS?
YOU CAN CONTACT ME HERE
E-mail: marlenecortes@alianzaaccessconsulting.com
Opening hours for telephone calls: weekdays 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m