Nelba Marquez-Greene sits in her Davidson Hall office, the walls covered purple with the Puerto Rican flag hanging prominently. Central Connecticut’s leader of The Ana Grace Project is a woman, a Latina and a fighter who has taken a tragedy and turned it into a success.

Marquez-Greene’s daughter Ana Grace was one of 20 children killed in the Sandy Hook shooting. While her daughter lives on through the project, Marquez-Greene continues to believe that love conquers all.

“My faith is what gets me up in the morning, but it is an internal belief that love does win, as long as we get up everyday and do it,” Marquez-Green said. “It doesn’t just happen, it’s not coming from Washington, it’s not coming because someone else is going to do it, it only happens when we do it. Every step we take towards love winning is a step in the right direction.”

Marquez-Greene’s The Ana Grace Project looks to, “promote love, community and connection for every child and family.” That message, as well as Marquez-Greene’s determination, recently landed her on People’s Magazine list of ‘Women Changing the World in 2019.’

People Magazine wrote of Marquez-Greene, “she’s a grieving mom, and she’s working to support other families devastated by tragedy by helping to guide the public conversation on trauma and its aftermath.”

“It was pretty shocking to be selected,” Marquez-Greene said on her inclusion to People’s list. “There are many people who get up everyday and do something significant and are special in their communities. I accepted mostly because of my two nieces and all the students here who would’ve been disappointed if they knew I had this opportunity and turned it down. I did it so other people wouldn’t be afraid when they’re recognized for their work as well.”

Outside of her selection to People’s list, Marquez-Greene was also featured in former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s new book, “The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience.”

In the book Clinton shares an anecdote of when Marquez-Greene gave her the book she read to Ana Grace the night before she went to school for the last time. Marquez-Greene had asked Clinton to read the book “Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentine” to her granddaughter.

“It was an extraordinarily powerful gesture from someone with a gift for helping others to understand the depth of sadness she and too many other families had to endure,” Clinton stated in her book.

For Marquez-Greene, being an empowering woman means staying true to who one is.

“It is about living your truth. I think it’s about seeing your love, your compassion and your integrity as strengths and not as weaknesses,” Marquez-Greene said. “Very often we tend to see that as a weakness. I have learned both through this experience and being featured in “Gutsy Women” that it’s actually those things, this compassion I have, this love I have, this belief that love wins actually makes me strong, not weak.”

As for being called a “gutsy woman” Marquez-Greene says she isn’t the only one at CCSU.

“First of all to be recognized by former Secretary Clinton, it was just amazing to get that call,” Marquez-Greene gushed. “But again, if you look on this campus, on any day of the week, on any floor, you’re going to find a gutsy woman. Not only do I feel incredibly proud to be selected, I am incredibly proud to work at an institution that everywhere I look it reflects back. It builds a community and it builds CCSU.”

Before Marquez-Greene was being recognized by Clinton and People Magazine, she was brought to New Britain by her parents after leaving her home country Puerto Rico. She says she remembers the sacrifices her mother made to bring her to Connecticut and give her a better life ;that sacrifice is what drives her to help others and build towards the next generation.

Being not just a woman, but a Latina woman, has made Marquez-Greene the person she is today.

“It’s about strength, it’s about family, it’s about love and it’s about always remembering your roots no matter where you are,” Marquez-Greene said about her Latina heritage.

Combined with her immersion in New Britain culture, Marquez-Greene is a former adjunct faculty member at Central. She felt that because of this, CCSU was the perfect place to open The Ana Grace Project. She says that Central is home.

“One of the most beautiful things you see on campus is the hard work,” Marquez-Greene said. “Hard work of students, faculty, admins, everybody has a story. If you pay attention close enough you get to hear those stories. Students who are working one, two, three jobs, to come here, take classes and better themselves, they’re first generation, they all have a compelling story. That’s the spirit of CCSU. We work hard, we play hard and we do it with Blue Devil spirit.”

Through The Ana Grace Project , Marquez-Greene has been able to help the New Britain community. Through two events, the Community Drive on Dec. 13 and Finish the Race in April. Both helps to better help everyone both young and old better their lives.

“It’s really beautiful to see our students volunteer in the community,” Marquez-Greene said. Through community engagement, through Ana Grace Project and other opportunities on campus. It’s not just about us going to the community, it’s about the community coming here and I think that’s love winning too.”

As Marquez-Greene lives her life after tragedy, the term “Love Wins” has become her moniker.

“You can’t always control the things that happen to you in life, but you can control how you respond,” Marquez-Greene expressed. “I would hope that our programming on this campus is to teach our students, our staff and our community how to respond in a way love wins. The only difference between my story and anyone else story on this campus is that mine is public, my story happened to make the news. There are so many students on this campus that have a story. What we hope they learn while they’re here, is to keep living with that ‘Love Wins’ spirit.”