The second-ever group of Love Now Media's Love Ambassadors has been announced, and one of the four ambassadors announced this year is Tiffany Tavarez. 

Launched in 2022, the Love Now Media ambassadorship initiative celebrates people who remain lovers of life, self and community, despite any challenges or setbacks faced in life. 

“Each of the Love Ambassadors’ unique life paths has molded them into LOVERs—folks who lead, learn and lean in with love. They have demonstrated the use of their influence and platform(s) to be an act of love to advocate for justice, wellness, and/or equity,” the initiative's description reads. 

The above description epitomizes the work Tavarez strives to do on a daily basis. 

Tavarez is the Senior Vice President of Technology Diverse Segments, Representation and Inclusion within the Diversity, Community and Sustainability department at Wells Fargo.

In the role, she helps lead Wells Fargo’s Technology Diversity Equity & Inclusion Council and evolve the company’s strategic approach toward global workforce outcomes as it pertains to representation, mobility and inclusion. She also manages high-impact, multi-channel communications strategy plan for internal and external outcomes and brand awareness.

Overall, there is an intentional focus on people, culture, and sustainability to help drive multi-year transformation and ensure the company’s growth as an employer of choice. 

In being named a 2023 Love Now Media Love Ambassador, Tavarez’s work — and particularly her approach to that work — can be amplified much further. 

Her approach has often by guided by empathy for others. 

“Empathy enables me to center individuals and communities in a way that informs me how they want to be engaged and what they need to thrive,” said Tavarez. 

While some gain access to power, resources and influence and subsequently gain the belief that it increases their proximity to know what is best for those around them, Tavarez pushes back on that notion.

“Leading with empathy erodes the idea that we need leaders to empower others,” she said. “I am not the light you need to see in the dark as much as I am a mirror that reflects the light already within you.”

Trust and love are two other elements that have guided Tavarez’s work. Both concepts, for her, must start from within.

“I cannot lead with love for others if I do not practice that service for myself first,” she said. “That is why I choose chronic self-conviction over chronic self-doubt and self-preservation over self-care.”

Tavarez ensures that she shows love and gratitude to all those who have shaped her into the prominent Latina leader she is today. 

During a previous interview with AL DÍA in 2022, Tavarez praised the influence her mother has had on her throughout her life. It is her mother who instilled in her the work ethic she possesses, as well as her understanding in the importance of getting a good education. 

However, one other value her mother has given her is the mindset of not allowing your success and joy — or lack thereof, in some instances — to be contingent solely upon the circumstances you are in. 

This can often be the case for individuals from underserved and underrepresented communities. 

“In having accepted the fact that our race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, complexion, ZIP code, citizenship status, and income will be a constant indicator of how well we will do in this life and how long we will get to live it, I know that none of those variables will ever determine how I treat you or how I love you,” Tavarez underscored.

It also didn’t determine how Tavarez treated and loved herself, as she successfully navigated through being a first-generation college student and graduate, and becoming the first in her family to purchase a home and have a career. 

As Tavarez looks into the current climate and societal landscape, she sees a clear urgency to address the deficit of love for the sake of our spiritual, emotional, and physiological survival.

“The impact of denied human connection runs parallel to what happens to us when basic needs are not met. We cannot survive if we are not surrounded by love — from others or ourselves,” she said. “Tomorrow is not granted to us; love accordingly.”

Overall, if Tavarez could see the love that is given and received make a true change in our society, it would be one that positively impacts everyone.

“I hope those who have been most marginalized, most silenced, most under-served believe they are worthy of the most radical, just love,” she said. 

Joining Tavarez as a Love Now Media 2023 Love Ambassador are educator, activist & content creator Marquise Richards; recording artist Deleqúa; and performing vocalist & spoken word artist Seraiah Nicole. 

Love Now Media's mission is to create a more just, well and equitable future by amplifying acts of love at the intersection of social justice, wellness, and equity.