Meet Edwin Soto, an ETSU alumnus who developed a thesis impacting Hispanic students during his graduate studies and now works as the administrator of Minor League operations for the Philadelphia Phillies.
“Thankfully, you know, my degree from ETSU definitely helped open doors, you know, just networking definitely helped, and thankfully this opportunity came with the Phillies where they were looking for a person with just my skills, you know? Bilingual, baseball-oriented and it helped that I kind of had a business background. So, it was like the perfect match,” said Soto.
Soto is originally from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where he grew up playing baseball. He moved to the United States to play, where he was signed on by Milligan College. Once he graduated, he took on a master’s in Business and Technology at ETSU with a concentration in Entrepreneurial Leadership.
He also worked as a graduate assistant for the Language and Culture Resource Center. Although Soto attended ETSU for only a year and a half, graduating in Dec. 2017, he participated in a lot of community activities and prepared a thesis that would help future Hispanic students.
Soto’s thesis is titled, “How the Collective Impact Model Can Help Hispanic Students in East Tennessee Excel in Higher Education.” It was a combination of his work at the LCRC and the thesis requirements for his graduate department. Soto worked with Dr. Mohammad Moin Uddin in his department and others to develop the thesis.
“There were a lot of organizations doing their part, you know, to try to help. So, this collective impact model that I was talking [about] with Dr. Uddin was how can we get all of those guys together to make a stronger impact, right? So, that’s what I did. I reached out to a lot of places, a lot of institutions that were already helping and doing their own things, and just said hey, how can we do it together?” said Soto.
As long as one student is positively affected by his thesis, Soto is happy. Knowing the roadblocks many Hispanic students run into, including social and financial problems, he understands the importance of encouraging young Hispanics to attend college.
Today, Soto manages the travel, contracts, payrolls, housing and more of Minor League baseball players for the Phillies. He especially enjoys working with the Hispanic players and assisting them in adjusting to the United States.
Soto hopes to continue helping people in his work life and beyond. “I think that that’s my main goal, just keep making a positive impact in as many people’s lives as I can. That will forever be the goal.”
