Silvia Vasquez-Lavado '96
Peruvian-American Explorer & Mountaineer; Author; Founder and CEO , Courageous Girls
Explorer. Social entrepreneur. Technologist.
“My education at Millersville University led me to have confidence in myself and my degree. Having to overcome learning a new language, having felt the support of the community, just gave me the strength to just give (things) a try.”
Current City: San Francisco, CA
MU Degree(s): B.S. in Business Administration
’Ville for Life Snapshots
- Recognized by Fortune magazine as one of the Corporate Heroes of 2015.
- Named by CNET as an influential Latinos in Silicon Valley.
- Recognized by the Peruvian government as one of the “Marca Peru” ambassadors (country brand ambassadors).
- Member of the Explorers Club.
- Launched Courageous Girls, a nonprofit that helps survivors of sexual abuse and trafficking with opportunities to find their strength and cultivate their voice by demonstrating their physical strength in 2014. Courageous Girls has had projects in Nepal, India, the United States, and Peru.
- In the Shadow of the Mountain, first memoir, was released February 1, 2022, in the United States, and internationally on February 3, 2022.
- In March 2023, In the Shadow of the Mountainwon the prestigious 2023 Edward Stanford Travel Book of the year.
- One of the few women in the world who have completed the “Eight Summits” as of 2019, climbing the Seven Summits across both the Bass and Messner lists.
- Joined the campus's radio station, WIXQ, with two other international students, and we were able to bring music from their cultures to kids listening on campus through a show called "World Beat."
Time at Millersville
I was an engaged student but had a bit of a learning curve — I didn't know any English. It was also hard for me to pack up and leave everything I knew in Peru. While attending Millersville, I had a very kind host family. MU felt cozy and I was very surprised about the number of international students. All these factors made an uncomfortable situation a little more comfortable, and I was able to come into her own as I continued studying at Millersville.