

Wendy Romero ’19 BA ’22 MBA arrived at UCR with plans to become a doctor. She also had a passion for a cause she had championed since middle school: preventing bullying and suicide.
The passion won out. Romero soon changed her higher education plans to focus on ways to grow and sustain the organization she had founded in high school, the Love 4 Life Association.
“I realized at some point that this nonprofit work is what I want to do for the rest of my life,” Romero said. “There's nothing more rewarding than ending a day and feeling happy with what you did that day. And when you start to see the difference you can make through your education and your hard work, nothing is more valuable than that.”
As a sophomore at UCR, she incorporated Love 4 Life as a nonprofit and changed her major from biochemistry to political science/public service. All the while, she kept working on Love 4 Life.
“I remember thinking, ‘Well, if I want to do this for the rest of my life, I have to figure out a way to make Love 4 Life sustainable in a way that it can grow,’” Romero recalled. “And I thought, ‘UCR has one of the best MBA programs out there, so I would like to continue here.’”
Resolving to make a difference
The lessons Romero learned at the A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management had a profound influence on her role as CEO of the nonprofit, which was inspired by a deeply personal experience.
While attending middle school in Perris, less than 20 miles away from Riverside, Romero noticed a classmate had stopped showing up for class. Her teacher would only say the student could use some prayers. Romero reached out to the student but didn’t get a response. Only when the classmate returned to school weeks later did Romero learn she had tried to take her own life.
“I was shocked that one of my classmates was going through so much, and I didn't even notice,” she said. “I felt like, ‘How is it possible? We're a classroom of just 30 students, we see each other all day every day, and no one noticed that she was going through something?’”
Romero resolved to do something about it. The next year, as a high school freshman, she began Love 4 Life as a club with just five members. It doubled the next year. By her junior year, they needed two classrooms to have enough space for club meetings. Other schools started
asking about getting involved.
That resolve to make a difference followed her to UCR, where she gained new tools to help Love 4 Life reach even more people. Today the organization, headquartered in Perris, provides evidence-based anti-bullying, suicide prevention and mental health programs for schools,
students, parents and families across the region. Romero credits her MBA experience with a restructuring that has allowed the group to reach more lives.
‘They cared about my dreams’
“The education I got truly aligned with the work I was doing,” Romero said. “UCR helped shape me into the leader that I am today, which aligns very closely with the spaces that I like to create in Love 4 Life — spaces of safety, positivity, growth, being there for one another, making a
difference.”
Romero said she never felt a disconnect at UCR between a business education and its application to the nonprofit world.
“I was never told, ‘Oh, it’s all about business and making a profit,’” she said. “It was always, ‘Make a difference in other people's lives.’ And that's why I felt like I belonged there.”
Romero gave an example: In one class project about internships and creating proposals for specific companies, she asked the professor if she could apply her project to Love 4 Life.
“He was so supportive about it, and every time I would make a presentation, he would give me advice,” she said. “I think that's when I learned this was a place where they cared about my dreams and goals. At UCR, you're able to tailor your dreams and that education and information into your own.”
Family ties and enduring connections
Romero also is quick to credit the inspiration and support she has received from family.
“My grandmother always told me to not give up, and I always saw her give back to her community by giving food, helping with medical bills, and more. She inspires me every day,” Romero said. “My parents supported me from the beginning by sponsoring all the materials and snacks for the students, transportation and more. They always believed in me.”
Her appreciation extends to other types of family — the city of Perris and the community of UC Riverside — that have contributed to the success of Love 4 Life.
Last spring, the AGSM Graduate Student Association partnered with Love 4 Life on a day of giving. The students designed and hosted a mental health workshop at a high school.
“It was so impactful,” Romero said. “One of the high school students told me, ‘I really appreciated and connected with the UCR students because I felt like they cared.’ Some of the students were really nervous about life after high school, so they felt understood.”
As CEO, Romero devotes a lot of her time to administrative work, directing the organization’s strategy. But she still makes a point to stay involved with services to remain mission-centered.
“It reminds me of how valuable our work is,” she said. “Whether it's a student who was quiet for so long and at the end of the week we finally made them smile, or when you see a kid sitting at lunch alone and you inspire other students to go and make friends with them.
“That always fills my heart. I love it,” she said. “When you start to see the difference you can make through your education and your hard work, nothing is more rewarding and valuable.”