Page 51 - WilmU - Spring 2017

Enter Wilmington University
Taking advantage of his company’s tuition reimbursement program, he enrolled in 2006 at WilmU and got his degree in accounting two years later.
He continued to chafe at the bit, looking for bigger challenges, but he was required to stay with the company for two years after receiving tuition assistance.
Then, in 2010, The Bank of New York Mellon Corp., commonly referred to as BNY Mellon, acquired the company. Founded by Alexander Hamilton in 1784, Mellon is the world’s largest custodian bank, with more than $29.5 trillion in assets in custody.
In Cotto’s mind, the acquisition created exciting opportunities. “When Mellon bought us,” he says, “it was like a brand-new company.”
To take full advantage of those opportunities, the man who had quit school at 16 decided to go for his master’s degree. Again, he enrolled at WilmU.
“I considered the University of Delaware,” says Cotto, “but because of UD’s tuition cost and our annual reimbursement ceiling, it would’ve taken me twice as long.”
He also went back to WilmU because, he says, “I had a great experience when I got my bachelor’s degree. The quality of the teaching was impressive. I especially enjoyed (Adjunct Professor) Ed Snyder’s class in leadership. Before that class, I thought of leadership as just a word you could look up in the dictionary. Ed Snyder really lived it, and I learned that you could make a career of it.”
In fact, Cotto is so taken with the subject of leadership that he’s writing a book about it. He started working on it several years ago and now has
“I had a great experience when I got my bachelor’s degree. The quality of the teaching was impressive. I especially enjoyed (Adjunct Professor) Ed Snyder’s class in leadership. Before that class, I thought of l”eadership as just a word you could look up in the dictionary. —Carlos Cotto
a 12-chapter outline and a writing the Delaware Advisory Committee
schedule, which he hopes will lead to a finished, self-published book by the end of this year.
At BNY Mellon, where he is vice president of Alternative Investment Services, his personal leadership style is to focus on the people.
“If you focus on them,” he says, “the work gets done.”
Aside from his family (he and second wife Rebecca have been married for 14 years, and he is close to his two adult children from his first marriage), Cotto’s other passion is promoting education, especially in the Latino community.
“What my mom told me years ago still resonates, I think, with Latinos,” he says. “Too often, the attitude toward education continues to be ‘that’s not for us.’ Factory jobs are OK, but what if you want something more? I want them to follow their passions. When the alarm clock goes off in the morning, you should be happy about where you’re going. I think I can speak to that.”
Cotto is delivering that message through several organizations. He has been president of the Delaware Chapter of ALPFA (Association of Latin Professionals for America) since 2014, and he holds leadership roles in ASPIRA, which is dedicated to developing the educational and leadership capacity of Hispanic youth. He also serves on the Delaware Hispanic Commission and last year he was appointed to a four-year term on
to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
He hopes that raising the educational bar in the Hispanic community will lead to more civic and government involvement. “We want to get more Latinos into leadership positions,” he says. “We want Latino legislators, Latino board members.”
Might a run for public office be in his future? “I did consider running for office, but I’ve found I’m more effective as a behind-the-scenes person,” Cotto says. “I like that I can work on things all year round and move in and out of circles as needed. And I don’t think I have the patience to campaign. I think I would feel like a caged animal during the periodic breaks needed to campaign.”
While political office may not be in his always well-thought-out plans, a doctorate definitely is. After enjoying the Christmas holidays, he began looking at prospective schools in January. WilmU is high on his list.
“I want to be in a doctoral program by 2018,” he says. “That also gives me time to finish writing the book, which I plan to use as my thesis.”
A book and a doctoral degree would’ve been unlikely goals for the impulsive 16-year-old who dropped out of 10th grade nearly three decades ago. But they’re sure bets for the man that Carlos Cotto has become. WU
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