A Case for Power

Law Alumna Inspires Women With Her Message of Hope and Strength

by Rosemary Segura, Communications Coordinator


Sonia Rodriguez (J.D. ’99), a partner with Branton, Hall, Rodriguez & Cruz, typically tailors her messages for the juries she addresses. But she has another message she’d like to pass along — one specifically meant for any woman or girl who doubts her own ability to overcome obstacles and realize her dreams. And if there’s something Rodriguez knows from personal experience, it’s how to do just that.

A San Antonio native, Rodriguez devotes a great deal of her time to taking a message of hope and empowerment to women and girls throughout the city. When she’s not in the courtroom or at home enjoying being a wife and mother, she can be found speaking in front of groups of young women; serving as the chair for the San Antonio Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women; and being a board member of SA2020 and the Young Women’s Leadership Academy.

But before you assume that these opportunities simply happened upon her, take note of what she had to conquer.

Planting Her Own Garden

The oldest of four children, Rodriguez knows her family faced obstacles. She was raised on the West and South sides of San Antonio and is a product of the Edgewood and San Antonio Independent School districts. Not one to dwell on what she didn’t have, she quickly adds, “My parents were very supportive and encouraged me to be independent and to speak up. We were poor, but I had it good,” she says, especially when compared to many of the families she works with today.

Her mother, a paralegal, cultivated Rodriguez’s sense of independence as well as her desire to attend college. And her father, a labor union organizer, fostered her innate ability to advocate for others. Embedded within her extended family, however, were other competing and compelling influences.

Although well meaning, her grandfather pulled her aside one day and suggested it would be better for her family if she got a job instead of going to college. “It was advice that was centered around support for the family unit,” Rodriguez appreciates today. “But it ignored the value that education plays in empowering families.”

The Cost of Inaction

Her story resonates with many young girls who face similar tensions in their families.

“Now,” Rodriguez says, “I see that it didn’t mean my grandfather didn’t love me or want good things for me. I just had to dream bigger for myself than he could dream for me.” Or as her mother once told her, “I had to ‘plant my own garden rather than wait on someone else to bring me flowers.’ ”

Sadly, though, Rodriguez sees an all-too-different story playing out in the lives of young women today. She believes that without positive role models, young girls don’t always develop a healthy sense of self-worth or believe in their ability to accomplish great things. Without that support, they often decide to forgo higher education, and their chances of an unplanned pregnancy increase. For those who do go on to earn a degree, they often enter the workforce feeling powerless when it comes to demanding fair compensation or seizing opportunities for advancement.

So, for women who don’t get the encouragement they need from the people at home, Rodriguez suggests that other women in the community step up and offer it.

Citing a 2011 U.S. Bureau of Labor statistic, Rodriguez points out that, “Women in America are earning only 77 cents to every one dollar a man earns. And when other studies show that a child’s success is directly linked to his or her mother’s education level, I know that we as women (who have experienced successes) need to do a better job of not only encouraging, but empowering, younger women and even one another.”

And that’s what she has set out to do.

“Girls don’t only need to know the ways in which we’ve succeeded, they need to know about the hard work and struggles one goes through to get there. They need to believe that it’s possible to achieve greatness even when no one else sees it in them.”

Specks of Hope

Rodriguez feels well prepared to meet these needs head-on, in part because of her time at St. Mary’s.

After completing her undergraduate studies at the University of North Texas, coming to St. Mary’s was an easy choice, she says, “Because I grew up close by and was aware of the Marianist commitment to community service. It just jibed with my desire to be involved in social work.”

She hopes other women will collaborate with her in empowering the next generation, but the question many ask is, “How?” According to Rodriguez, the answer often lies in one’s own experiences. “Think back to the time when you were younger,” she says. “What were you thinking about? What would you have told yourself at that age? Most girls have goals they want to accomplish. Maybe they just want out of a particular situation. Take that tiny speck of hope and encourage them to focus on it.”

By focusing on those “deep-seated nuggets” already within them, Rodriguez hopes to empower them with a message that it’s OK to love themselves and make themselves a priority. That sense of self-worth can go far when they hit obstacles, she says.

“Arm them with what to do or say in a given situation when someone tries discouraging them. You’re not going to reach them all, but if you can help one or two, you’ll help move the needle of success. And that’s the biggest return that I can ask for: If a girl comes to me a few years from now and tells me that something I said made a difference in the trajectory of her life, then I’ve done my job.”