NEW YORK.- In 1988, Francisco Brito He took one of the most important decisions of Your life: Leave behind Santo Domingo, his career as a university professor to start from zero in New York. He did not do it for ambition, but For a family process. His wife had received the American residence and he was included in the application. Life opened a door, although it still didn’t know how far it would take it.
At that time, Brito worked at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) and in the Technological University of Santiago (UTESA), giving classes of Audit I and II. He also collaborated in an audit firm. At 21 he had already graduated and his professional career seemed solid in his country. However, the opportunity to emigrate placed it in front of a new scenario.
Upon arriving in the United StatesBrito was clear that he did not want to relegate his professional experience to a factory job. Not because of this kind of work, but because I knew I could aspire to more. Thus, together with his wife, he decided to devote himself for six months to perfect English.
“I had the base, but not to feel confident. If I wanted to insert me at the level that corresponded to me, I had to dominate the language”, Recalls. That effort soon paid off. His first job was in a personal tax preparation office. There he learned the US tax system and adapted to the financial dynamics of his new life.
The encounter that changed everything
Destiny was in charge of opening another door. Talking with a friend, he suggested to apply to the United Nations. “He saw me conditions”, Says laughing. The next day, the friend gave him a form to request a position. Brito filled him and sent him by mail.
A month and a half later, he received an invitation letter to take a finance exam. The evidence was in the UN ROOM HALL, with more than 600 applicants. While many took hours, Brito ended in one hour. Two weeks later, he received another letter: he had approved.
His surprise was greater when in the interview he was informed that he had stayed in the first place of the exam. “Mr. Brito, you are here because he was number one,” said recruitment manager. That December 18, 1994, he received his first UN job offer as Finance Officer.
A career of more than three decades
Since then, Brito has traveled a long road within the United Nations. He started in the pension plan and then went to the payroll division. In 2000, he was sent to Sierra Leone as an finance officer in a peace maintenance mission, where he was responsible for processing the payments of military contingents.
He later worked in Haiti, always in the Finance area, and then assumed responsibilities in the travel department and in the supervision of payments to suppliers. He also participated in the implementation of a new financial system in the UN, which led him to countries such as Uganda, Mali, Liberia, Germany and Austria.
In 2020 he decided to take a different step: he joined the United Nations employee union in New York. He was elected as second vice president, then first vice president and finally president, position he held until 2024.
Today, with 31 years at the UN, Brito serves in the Department of Health Insurance, as Finance Manager.
Dominican pride in the UN
Currently, it estimates more than 40 Dominicans working fixedly in the UN, not counting contractors. “We have compatriots in UNICEF, in the World Food Program and in different peace missions. The number continues to grow,” he says.
For him, the key to the success of many Dominicans in the international body is a mixture of preparation, decision and opportunity. “The opportunities come, but everything depends on the preparation you have and the moment you decide. Without preparation, you do not arrive,” he says with conviction.
Beyond the numbers
Although his career has been linked to finance, Brito confesses that the most enriching has been contact with different cultures around the world. “Knowing diversity, customs, which in one country is sacred and in another not, that is priceless,” he says.
One of his most significant experiences occurred in Africa, when he visited Gambia and toured the museum dedicated to Kunta Kinte, the character of the famous Novel and Series Roots. There, in the face of wives and objects used in slavery, he reflected on his own origins. “I was thinking: from here I come,” he remembers excited.
Life in New York
Despite his trips, Brito has made life at Bronx, not far from Yankee Stadium, a team that follows closely. Together with his wife, he raised his two children, who already finished his university studies.
Today, looking back, ensures that each sacrifice was worth it. “It has been a very good experience. In terms of remuneration, of course it has been satisfactory, but what fills me most is to have been able to know so many cultures and have represented my country with dignity in the United Nations,” he concludes.
Francisco Brito’s story is not just that of a man who emigrated in search of better opportunities. It is also that of a Dominican who, not forgetting his roots, has shown that preparation, discipline and vision can open doors anywhere in the world. His life is testimony that the so -called “American dream” can be achieved with effort, perseverance and faith in oneself.
