Foley Hispanic Heritage Month Program: An Afternoon With Silvia Vasquez-Lavado
In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, Foley & Lardner hosted a firmwide program featuring Silvia Vasquez-Lavado, an explorer, author, technologist, and social entrepreneur whose remarkable life story exemplifies resilience, authenticity, and purpose-driven leadership. Vasquez-Lavado spoke candidly about overcoming childhood trauma, navigating personal loss, and confronting the challenges of addiction.
Rather than allowing those experiences to define her, she ultimately found healing and renewed purpose through nature, mountaineering, and a commitment to helping others, eventually becoming the first Peruvian woman to summit Mount Everest and the first openly gay woman to complete the Seven Summits — climbing the highest mountain on each continent.
“I learned the hard way that you can never outrun yourself,” she said, explaining that her greatest breakthroughs came when she accepted herself fully.
Throughout the discussion, Vasquez-Lavado emphasized the themes of belonging, mentorship, resilience, and self-compassion. She challenged the notion that resilience requires constant toughness, sharing that meaningful growth often comes from extending the same grace and understanding to ourselves that we readily offer others. She highlighted the importance of seeking guidance from others who can provide perspective during difficult moments, stating that “there are times when we need to reach out to a leader or mentor who can remind us how far we have made it.”
The conversation also explored the next chapter of her work. Building on a successful technology career that included leadership roles at eBay and PayPal, Vasquez-Lavado is now helping develop initiatives that use artificial intelligence to improve educational opportunities in Peru’s Amazon region while preserving local knowledge and fostering environmental stewardship. She also shared plans for an all-women-led Mount Everest expedition and that her award-winning memoir, In the Shadow of the Mountain, is being adapted into a major motion picture starring Selena Gomez.
Click here to learn more about Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at Foley.
