Olga Abinader Featured On Latinx Business Podcast
January 2023
Ep 20 Olga Abinader
Florham Park, NJ – Olga Abinader, Director of Environmental Review and Land Use Planning (Matrix), was a guest on Latinx Business Podcast with host Randy Gomez.
The conversation ranged on Abinader’s journey to America from the Dominican Republic to her current leadership role at Matrix. Abinader highlighted her responsibilities at the company and how she represents the ‘strong female leadership’ she so strongly admires about working at the firm.
Abinader detailed her compelling reason for how she chose her career. She explained, “I wanted to create homes for people and build communities. Watching my parents start over has always struck a chord with me.”
She spoke of her family as a “very strong influence in my life. Seeing the representation of female architects in my family that looked like me and who were succeeding left a very profound impression on me.”
To listen to the show, please click here: https://bit.ly/3XlLPXL
About Olga Abinader
Born in the Dominican Republic, Abinader emigrated with her family to Salem, Massachusetts in the early 1990s. Her family maintained strong connections to their Caribbean heritage by speaking only Spanish at home. As a fully bilingual English and Spanish speaker, Abinader translated for family and friends who had limited English skills. In 1999, Abinader assumed a leadership role in the “La Union Latina” organization, established in 1987 at Salem High School to celebrate Latin-American culture and traditions. In 2007, Hispanic Business Inc. recognized Abinader as a Winner’s Circle Scholar at the Hispanic Business’ annual Woman of the Year Awards event.
Over the course of her career, Abinader has been honored with recognitions such as: Manager of the Year Award (Joe Salvo Award) at the New York City Department of City Planning, New York, NY (2019); Scholarship Honoree and Guest Speaker at the 5th Annual Hispanic Businesswoman of the Year Awards, Las Vegas, Nevada (2007); Panelist Speaker at the New Jersey Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, The Art of Being a Modern Latina Event, Lyndhurst, New Jersey (2022); and Podcast Guest and Committee Member for the “Today Is The Day Changemakers” organization, a global digital platform for leaders making a significant positive societal impact (2022) and Crain’s New York Business, ‘2022 Notable Hispanic Leader’.
Abinader also gives her time to W.I.D.E. (Womxn for Inclusion, Diversity + Equity), a group that promotes the inclusion and equality of all people through education and community outreach in rural communities of upstate New York.
As the former Director of the Environmental Assessment and Review Division with the NYC Department of City Planning, Abinader led hundreds of active City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) applications to support transit-oriented growth, housing production and affordability, economic development, and resilient and sustainable communities across NYC. Abinader received her Master of Urban Planning from Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from Brown University.
About Matrix New World Engineering
Matrix New World Engineering is a company of engineering and science experts who focus on some of the nation’s most pressing long-term challenges, including climate change, resiliency, ecological restoration, contamination studies, water supply, disaster response, and urban revitalization. Matrix believes solving environmental challenges through careful planning and engineering is an indispensable measure of success.
Matrix is a growing woman-owned business with offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Arizona, and Louisiana coupled with project experience throughout the United States and the Caribbean. For more information on the firm, please contact: Jayne Warne, President 800.747.MATRIX, [email protected]
