Colombian Roots, American Dream: Cindy Duque Bonilla
Holland & Knight's Diversity Council and Hispanic Affinity Group are proud to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and honor the generations of Hispanics who have enriched America's history and continue to shape its future. We are pleased to present the 2025 video series, featuring meaningful conversations from across our community. We hope the stories shared in these episodes inspire those exploring their roots and shine a light on the contributions Hispanics bring to the legal profession and beyond.
In this video, Orlando Partner Cindy Duque Bonilla reflects on her Colombian roots, family traditions, Spanish-speaking home and values of perseverance. She dives into how her upbringing has shaped her identity and practice. Ms. Duque Bonilla highlights the importance of inclusive workplaces, the strength that diverse perspectives bring to legal teams and her long-standing involvement with the Hispanic Bar Association in Orlando and Hispanic National Bar Association. Her story underscores how heritage, community and mentorship enhance our profession and our service.
Cindy Duque Bonilla: My parents immigrated from Colombia when they were 17 years old, and they're both from Bogotá, and I was born in Hackensack, New Jersey. Even though we were here and the kids were born here, we were always enjoying Colombian traditions, the Colombian food, music, all of that. So it's very much a part of our family and our traditions. We passed that on to our kids as well, so it's just something that is very present. Some of our traditions include the novenas. That's a big tradition in Colombia. Something that I've grown up doing that we really, really loved. What we do is basically, starting December 16th, the nine days leading up to Christmas, the families all come together and you pray the novena, but also you gather and you share food, you sing, you play games. Young and old, everybody comes together and shares that experience. That's something that is really special.
People who meet me and interact with me think that I was born there. They are like, "Oh my God, your Spanish is perfect. El acento es de Bogotá" [The accent is from Bogota]. Like, "what do you mean you were born in New Jersey?" And I kind of credit that to my mom because she was very strict growing up. We were not allowed to speak English at home, and I think she just knew — she was wise, and she knew that we would pick it up at school. So I went to preschool and my first day of preschool I didn't know a word of English at all. And so it's just been something that's part of who we are. We're American and we're very thankful that we're American and my parents love that they came to this country, but our culture is very important and the fact that we are Colombian.
I am very excited to be at a firm where we celebrate Hispanic heritage. The firm just welcomes and cares about all of us and the differences, and I think that's something that maybe also is important to me because of my background or just in general as a human being, that we all have so much to contribute and learn from each other. And that having different perspectives as part of a company, as part of a boardroom, as a part of litigation trial team, just makes us stronger and makes us better. And so I think being at a firm like this where I see that that's valued is huge.
Maybe as early as 2002, 2004, I became involved with what was our local Hispanic Bar Association here in Orlando, and it helped me so much in connecting with other people and getting guidance and also in serving our community and thinking that, OK, as lawyers in a community, we have a duty to help, whether it's like in community relations or with judicial relations or in other things like that. And then later on, I became aware of the National Hispanic Bar Association and I've loved participating in that. They do a lot of mentoring for younger people, a lot connecting with other attorneys all over the country that are serving in different roles. So it's definitely been great for my career, but also an avenue to help other people that are advancing in their career.
I think maybe it comes down to some of those values that my parents shared with me from the very beginning, that idea of working hard, you know, and that you persevere no matter what, you never give up. And I credit that to my culture and my family traditions. "La idea de solo para adelante" [The idea of only looking forward]. Like, you don't give up, you fall down, you get back up. Something that my mom always said to me, "Nada en la vida es imposible." Nothing is impossible. So it's important to figure out where you want to go and then learn and find people that are already there and are already doing those things and reach out and don't be shy so that you can learn, and identify the steps, the path, and you'll get there. If you're willing to do the work, you'll get there.