Latinas Edition 2020

SANDRA 37 CAMPOS

FORMER DVF CEO & ENTREPRENEUR

SANDRA LOPEZ 40

ONE OF THE MOST INNOVATIVE TECH LEADERS

DORENE 54 DOMINGUEZ

PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE

www.latinoleaders.com

LATINO LEADERS IS A HISPANIC STAR. READY TO SHINE

1OO LATINA LEADERS

MEET THE MOST INFLUENTIAL LATINAS LEADING ACROSS ALL INDUSTRIES IN 2020 FOREWORD BY SYLVIA ACEVEDO, CEO OF GIRL SCOUTS USA 13

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CONTENTS MAY / JUNE

FOLLOW US LatinoLeadersMagazine

Sylvia Acevedo

•P. 13“100 INFLUENTIAL LATINAS” 14 FOREWORD BY SYLVIA ACEVEDO,

CEO OF THE GIRL SCOUTS US

16 100 INFLUENTIAL LATINAS 2020 LIST

•37 GETTING PERSONAL WITH SANDRA CAMPOS, FORMER CEO OF DIANE VON FURSTENBERG 40 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH INTEL’S SANDRA LOPEZ 42 ENTREPRENEUR ADRIANA PERALES Monica Poncede Leon

44 MONICA PONCE DE LEON, AWARD WINNING ARCHITECT 46 ONE ON ONE WITH CATHERINE BLADES, AFLAC

•53 PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE 54 CONSTRUCTING DREAMS WITH DORENE

DOMINGUEZ, CEO OF VANIR GROUP

56 HOW CALIXTO MATEOS, NORTH AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK, MOVED UP THE LADDER Maria Echaveste

57 TEXAS’ DIGITAL DIVIDE BIGGEST ADVOCATE, JORDANA BARTON 58 FIGHTING SYSTEMATIC CHANGE WITH MARIA ECHAVESTE

•SPECIAL FEATURES 50 MEET JASON VILLALBA, A LAWYER LIKE NO OTHER 61 A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM MOMENTOUS INSTITUTE’S JESSICA TRUDEAU, MPH 62 SPOTLIGHT WITH CECILIA CORRAL, CO-FOUNDER OF CAREMESSAGE 64 CELLAR COLUMN BY JORGE FERRAEZ PARTNERSHIP CONTRIBUTORS 7 DE LA VEGA ON LEADERSHIP 9 LATINO CORPORATE DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION 10 LEADERS HUB WITH JOE 11 ART TALK WITH WILLIAM HANHAUSEN

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PUBLISHERS

Latinas have become a powerhouse in America. This year has been the one in which Latino

Leaders has included more Latinas in its pages and events, than ever. And that is due to the abundance in stories of leadership and influence that we have been exposed to. I have the privilege to hear new stories almost every week, about women doing extraordinary things in our Community.

In this framework, we’re happy to present our best ever 100 Most Influential Latinas list. A great compilation from prior lists and new entries researched by our editorial staff. I would like to think that this is a sign for what we are going to see in the future; a community with an enhanced representation and better balanced proportion in leadership positions and roles.

Each one of these stories is a story of triumph, hope, example and strength, and a big role model.

Our women interviews this edition are fantastic; Sandra Campos, ex CEO of Diane Von Furstenberg, a fashion designer with a long story in the fashion industry. A great story of wise decisions, clever CEO leadership and a vision for the future.

Another fantastic story is the one from Dorene Dominguez, CEO of Vanir whom we have known for many years. We interviewed his father Frank Dominguez, almost 20 years ago and he told us a great story on how he started one of the most successful companies in California, in the Management Construction field.

Dorene’s interview is the perfect link for our other main topic in this edition which is Public Infrastructure and the Latinos participating on it. We’re proud to watch how these leaders are doing big inroads into this industry, a vital one for the development of our Country.

Among many other great interviews and stories, the hope you enjoy this great edition, in which we’re also welcoming Ximena Vivanco as our new editor, a young professional who brings a new and fresh vision for the Latino Leaders of the future.

J&R Ferraez Jorge Ferraez

Jorge Ferraez

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EDITOR´S LETTER

Publisher Jorge Ferraez

President and CEO Raul Ferraez

Administrative Director Lawrence Teodoro Editor Ximena Vivanco ximena@latinoleaders.com Business Development Manager Cristina Gonzalez cristina@latinoleaders.com Art Director Fernando Izquierdo Editorial Art & Design Carlos Cuevas Luis Enrique González Moisés Cervantes Human Resources Manager Susana Sanchez Administration and Bookkeeping Claudia García Bejarano Executive Assistant to the Publishers Liliana Morales Digital Media & Design Manager Nicole Richard nicole@latinoleaders.com Administrative Assistant & Event Coordinator Paola Aleman paola@latinoleaders.com For advertising inquiries, please call 214-206-9587

Latino Leaders: The National Magazine of the Successful American Latino (ISSN 1529-3998) is published seven times annually by Ferraez Publications of America Corp., 11300 N. Central Expressway, Suite 300, Dallas, TX, 75243, MAY / JUNE 2020. Subscription rates: In U.S. and possessions, one year $15.00. Checks payable to Ferraez Publications of America, 15443 Knoll Trail, Suite 210, 75248 Dallas, TX, USA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Latino Leaders, 15443 Knoll Trail, Suite 210, 75248 Dallas, TX, USA.© 2001 by Ferraez Publications of America Corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced without the consent of Latino Leaders: The National Magazine of the Successful American Latino. The periodical’s name and logo, and the various titles and headings therein, are trademarks of Ferraez Publications of America Corp.

Member of The National Association of Hispanic Publications

Audited by Member of

It has been

a ride working on my first edition for Latino Leaders.

Most especially, I’ve been honored to start this path by working with a group of inspiring Latinas who I’ve been pretty lucky to meet. From webinars to interviews, learning more about some of the leaders recognized on our “100 Influential Latinas” list has taught me how leaders envision their future and achieve success by creating positive change wherever they are.

Sandra Campos, Sandra Lopez, Adriana Perales, Monica Ponce de Leon and Catherine Blades, your work and stories are a true celebration.

Thank you! Also, I hope that you enjoy Sylvia Acevedo’s - CEO of the Girl Scouts- message as much as I did.

You will also find our Public Infrastructure section, which features the amazing Dorene Dominguez and her work on “constructing dreams”, Maria Echaveste who doesn’t give up on fighting for systematic change, Jordana Barton who is Texas’ leader on bridging the digital divide and Mateos Calixto, the new Managing Director of the North American Development Bank. As public infrastructure continues to become a crucial driver of the economy, work on roads, water systems, energy grids and more become critical to support communities’ quality of life and ensure public health and safety.

I look forward to continue discovering new stories and connecting with all those leaders out there through my journey here as editor. In the meantime, I leave you to it!.

Ximena Vivanco Editor

Reg. # 283/01

MEMBER OF SRDS Latino Leaders The National Magazine of the Successful American Latino 11300 N. Central Expressway, Suite 300, Dallas, TX, 75243 Phone: 214-206-9587 / Fax: (214) 206-4970

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DE LA VEGA ON LEADERSHIP

LATINAS TURNING OPPORTUNITY INTO SUCCESS Ralph de la Vega Ralph de la Vega is the former vice-vicechairman of AT&T Inc. He is the author of the best-selling book “Obstacles Welcome: Turn Adversity to Advantage in Business and Life.”

He is also a LinkedIn influencer, posting regularly on leadership and innovation.

Sin límites. Without limits.

Those are words I used to describe the Latinas who made Latino Leaders Magazine’s prestigious list last year.

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hose words apply equally today to the women being recognized in this issue.

Latinas continue to climb the corporate ladder, taking on areas of increasing responsibility in many industries, from banking, media, real estate, and IT, just to name a few.

Latinas are also starting their own businesses at record speed, creating jobs for themselves and for others.

Latinas are reaching educational milestones, and they are making their voices heard at the local, state, and federal level.

Latinas are working tirelessly to help remove the obstacles that are still keeping minorities from reaching the potential this nation has to offer.

Opportunity for all

The women listed in this issue are an example of what people can do when given an opportunity to prove themselves.

That fact is more poignant in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 18 ruling regarding the proposed phasing out of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

While not a total victory, the Court’s decision does present a lifeline and a ray of hope for the nearly 700,000 individuals who have received protection under the act, 53% of whom are Latinas.

DACA has made it possible for thousands of young Latinas, and Latinos, to believe their dreams can really come through. That a higher education is possible. That 1 2

higher mobility is within their reach. That they, like the successful Latinas featured in this issue, can achieve success sin límites.

As we continue to fight for DACA, it’s encouraging that 74% of Americans favor a law that would provide permanent legal status to immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children, according to a June 17, 2020, Pew Research study.

This issue really resonates with me because as an immigrant child I was given an opportunity. Without it, I would not be writing this column today, nor would I have been able to get an education, work hard, prove myself, and forge a future in this country for me and my family.

Latinas, press on!

I want to congratulate the women featured in this issue, many of whom I’ve watched grow as leaders of their companies and communities.

You are living the American dream and your success is nothing short of impressive.

We look to you to inspire the next generation of Latinas, including Dreamers, so they may follow in your footsteps and continue to overcome obstacles, reach higher milestones, and achieve success sin límites.

Ralph

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/25/key-facts-about-unauthorized-immigrants-enrolled-in-daca/

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/06/17/americans-broadly-support-legal-status-for-immigrants-brought-to-the-u-s-illegally-as-children/ MAY / JUNE 2020 LATINO LEADERS 7

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LCDA

COVID-19 ACCELERATES A DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

ADELA CEPEDA LCDA MEMBER AND INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR

“We, as directors, must be digitally agile to fulfill our oversight role.”

Yet, governance challenges continue to be revealed as boards battle the impact of the pandemic and scramble to embrace these changes—three out of five directors say their company is behind on the process of digital transformation, according to the 2020 Digital Transformation research, a survey of more than 200 public company directors conducted by Corporate Board Member with PwC's Governance Insights Center.

New Digital Norms

This moment demands that leadership be able to adapt, pivot, and rethink their operations to execute a manageable digital transformation. For instance, prior to COVID-19, virtual business meeting applications such as Zoom and Cisco Webex were used sparingly, but now these virtual meeting technologies have proven indispensable for conducting business. Never before have we seen the need for corporate leadership to shift operating processes, at such neck-breaking speeds. Paula Loop, leader of PwC's Governance Insights Center, notes, "As management teams and board directors have been working around the clock to guide their organizations and people through these unchartered waters, tech-

With the impact of Covid-19 having shifted all aspects of corporate governance to virtual formats, the digital transformation of oversight and corporate strategy review has now become more urgent and rapid-paced. As an experienced board director, Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA) member, Adela Cepeda, notes that, “although responsibilities as directors have not changed, the ways in which duties are carried out has,” adding that, “we, as directors, must be digitally agile as well, and be able to ‘meet’ virtually and regularly to fulfill our oversight role.”

Adela Cepeda

nology has proven critical to continue work, serve customers and clients and remain competitive."

As the weeks continue to unfold, Cepeda reports that the top issues continue to regard operating efficiently while working remotely, and developing a “return to work” plan, in the midst of great uncertainty. Further, according to the NACD May 2020 COVID-19 Pulse Survey, “Boards see the changing nature of work as the top post-recovery issue.” Looking three months ahead, directors reported that changes to the employee experience are most likely to impact recovery in their organizations. More than half (54%) cited changes in the way work gets done as one of their top three concerns. Another third (32%) ranked accelerating digital transformation as a top priority.”

and additional expectations being placed on boards, it makes good sense to note that diverse corporate leadership is needed now, and moving forward, with Cepeda adding, that as we pivot to the new normal, “more technologically savvy directors” will be increasingly sought after in the aim for longterm performance post-recovery.

Looking forward, when asked about plans to reopen the US economy, Cepeda says, “The last thing any employer wants is to create a return that accelerates transmission of COVID. Management is aligned with this priority, and keeping employees safe is of overriding concern.”

In Collaboration with:

On Change Post-Recovery

According to Cepeda, it has been her experience that businesses have had to figure out a way to operate and provide services, despite the pandemic and despite closures of many offices. Faced with large-scale transformation as a result of Covid-19, the ability to understand new risks and their implications is essential to driving forward a playbook in response to the pandemic. Intuitively, with agility to face rapid-change being top-of-mind

WRITE AND SHARE #ConnectLL

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LEADERS HUB WITH JOE

MAKING BETTER DECISIONS - EMOTIONALLY AS A LEADER, making decisions is probably one of the most important things you must do. When you think about making decisions our inclination is to be rational and logical. According to researchers, there is a correlation between emotions and decision making. Emotions do affect the way people make decisions.

In Dr. Steven Stein’s book, “The EQ Leader”, he explains that there are two ways emotions affect your decisions. One of them is called “Incidental”, which is the mood you are in when making a decision that is unrelated to the decision you are about to make. For example, you may be sad about a story you read, just before deciding on which two sales managers to hire or you are an anxious person much of the time that is worrying about things you can’t control.

The second way emotions affect your decision making is directly when the emotion you experience has been triggered by positive or negative emotional memories because of the choice itself, or from considering the options.

These are known as emotional and cognitive biases. In the “Intuitive Decision Making” profile developed by James Andrews, PhD., he suggests that emotional biases are the attitudes and beliefs of a person that are formed and influenced by many factors, including early childhood conditioning and cultural background. On the other hand, cognitive biases are habits and thinking patterns that can cause poor judgements.

The most prevalent cognitive biases are:

• Anchoring: The mind gives more weight that it should to the first information it receives. For example, a coworker says to you: “I think Mary is performing at about 30%.

What do you think? Your response may be biased because you have an anchor at 30%”.

• Status Quo: We have a strong preference for staying with what already exists. For example, you do not support a new idea because you become familiar with the current method of performing the work. “Why rush to change?”

• Sunk Costs: Because we would rather not admit mistakes, we have a difficult time writing off investments we already have made. For example, you add up the material and staff time costs for a project. You give those costs a great deal of weight, causing you to reject a new vendor that may do a better job.

opinion, but avoid George, who tends to challenge your decision.

• Framing: Once we think we understand a problem, it can be difficult to break out of that way of understanding the problem, even if our initial understanding is inaccurate. For example, you must negotiate with a vendor. You frame your approach as a pure price negotiation, preventing you from generating creative options such as forming a partnership instead.

• Estimating/ Forecasting: Our minds are not well suited to make estimates in the face of uncertainty. We tend to be conservative, influenced most by what just occurred, and overconfident about our accuracy. For example, you are trying to estimate the value of setting up e-commerce on your website. Even though you do not have access to any real data on e-commerce sales, everybody is talking about it, so you estimate a 40% increase in sales.

You make this estimate with such confidence that the company invests heavily in e-commerce.

Problem solving is associated with being conscientious, disciplined, rational, methodical, systematic, and persevering. The key is a desire to do your best and confront your problems in the face of doubt, stress, time pressures, and adversity. Making better decisions with emotional intelligence involves increasing self-awareness to start recognizing mental patterns and gut feelings as physical cues faster.

If you are a leader who wants to improve performance, decision making, and relationships through emotional intelligence development, please contact us to learn more about “The Emotionally Effective Leader” Workshop.

ABOUT JOE Joe Bacigalupo, MBA, MPEC, ACPEC is a Managing Partner and an Executive Advisor at AlliancesHub International, LLC. AlliancesHub offers Change Management and Strategy Consulting, Talent Optimization and Analytics, Leadership Development, and Executive/ Leadership Coaching services.

www.allianceshub.com info@allianceshub.com 469-287-2086

• Confirming Evidence: We tend to seek out information that supports our existing view and ignore information that disconfirms our existing view. For example, you ask Mike, who most often agrees with you, to render an 10 LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020

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ART

WILLIAM HANHAUSEN

William Hanhausen

LATINO ART LEADERSHIP:

“I AM A COLLECTOR AND PROMOTER. IT’S MY MISSION AND A PASSION.”

WHAT WE NEED TO LEARN FROM IT ESSENTIAL JOBS Latino Artists are No Exception.

Beginning early June of this year many have discussed the statistics resulting from a research done by Milieu Insight, a market research corporation, and published by the Singapore Sunday Times. This research designates artists among the top 5 non-essential jobs during this pandemic which has sparked backlash around social media, upsetting every corner of the art world.

After reading about this, I made a point to digest what I had just read…

The world is changing every day, today is no exception, since the artworks and the artists are facing an indifferent and improper conception that they are non-essential. It is my belief that humanity seems to be losing sight by not supporting them and the value of their messages–a grim designation that has created a singular commotion in the richest legacy of humankind.

Artists touch our hearts and communicate feelings, values so desperately needed to transport us to an alternative world with a hopeful inspiration.

Yet I ask, what is this all about and why is this important to us as Latinos?

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Latino Art is about people and their narratives, a social expressionism that establishes through a strong emphasis to details, a contrast between the tangible and intangible.

Their work is a communication channel where they have imbedded their own story to spread a message that condenses our visions, values, morals and ideas. Fundamental elements to be interpreted by us particularly in settings like 01 “Perros Locos”, the aftermath of the recent and devastating events in our Marcos Raya country and globally.

02 “Jugando con Latino artists perceive this clearly as a dual influence that la Pandemia #2, cannot be ignored. Artists have a vison, with a constant William 03 “Fetichismo” awareness of what is going on in the streets and above, where Arturo they see much more than the mundane individualism.

04 “Mi Cripo es Those experiences which they have lived accompanied Mi Cripo”, John Valadez by a social mix of traditions and a rally of cultural expressions that have evolved uniquely to present a clear perception of integrity and human understanding.

Conceptual artist Felipe Ehrenberg once said, “Before being Hispanic or Latino, imagination’s flight is simply human…”

By considering artists non-essential workers, without the awareness of the density of the cultural damage to our inheritance and harmony as a nation, we are suppressing and devaluing art as a forceful device. The only instrument that can create images to compete with reality over delusion, unscrambling the essential from the insignificant in our intellect and keeping our inner life loaded of hope and renovated promises for the future.

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ENVISIONING THE FUTURE MEANS PAVING THE ROAD TOWARD OUR DREAMS

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t all started three years ago with fifty Latinas in Corporate America and as our network started to expand our list began to grow. Today, we’re excited to see this list become something bigger and have the opportunity to start recognizing Latinas in other top industries who are leading change.

Part of being a leader means working on keeping your vision alive. As Latina leaders continue paving their own path, they provide wake up calls for other Latinas to envision themselves being the “impossible”.

During our current crisis, Latinas have been one of the most at risk groups. It may take a long time to get back to the level of progress seen before, therefore we must continue to support and amplify the talent and power Latinas carry within. #100INFLUENTIALLATINAS

POWER IN THE FACTS

By 2028 Hispanic women are expected to represent 9.2 percent of the nation’s total workforce.

According to the National Center for Women and Information Technology, Latinas made up only 1 percent of the computing workforce in 2017.

Latinx women founders received 0.4 percent of $400 billion in venture capital funding between 2009 and 2017, and only 58 LatinX women have ever raised over $1 million in venture funding.

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LATINAS FOREWORD

FOREWORD FROM SYLVIA ACEVEDO Commissioner on a White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for life was my mother—she was my very first mentor. As a young girl, it was incredible to Hispanics in early childhood leadership.

Now as CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA, witness her journey from being a Mexican I’m honored to be in a position to inspire immigrant who spoke very little English the next generation of girls to discover to becoming an American citizen who their own passions, pursue their goals with aced her citizenship test, a proud lifelong persistence and resilience, and become voter (even serving as a precinct voter the go-getters, innovators, risk-takers, and chairperson), the treasurer of my Girl leaders our world needs—what we at Girl Scout troop, and the leader of my sister’s Scouts like to call G.I.R.L.s. troop at her school for developmentally The list of leaders highlighted in disabled children. From her I learned the this issue are true G.I.R.L.s. They have importance of continuous learning, the power of community engagement, and the followed their north star, pursued their dreams with passion and empathy, and value of cultivating a go-getter spirit. given back to their communities and the My troop leader was also an important world. They have shown today’s ambitious early mentor for me, as was my teacher at young Latinas what they can be and all the early childhood education program the amazing things they can achieve with Head Start. Role models and mentors grit and hard work. I am so honored to be are indispensable in young people’s lives, especially for girls and minorities. They can listed alongside them. open them up to new ideas and experiences, The Latina community has made great strides in the past few decades as show them the possibilities that are out there, and give valuable guidance on how to entrepreneurs, business owners, policy makers, and leaders. A 2018 study from achieve their dreams. That’s what my early the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship mentors did for me, and that is what all Initiative found that Latina entrepreneurs of the amazing Latinas in this edition are doing for countless girls and women across play an important role in creating companies; Latinas now own 44% of our country.

I have had an incredibly rewarding career, Latino businesses; between 2007 and 2015, companies started by women made one that has enabled me to do so many up almost half of the growth in new Latino things that I dreamed about doing as an businesses. The comparison to growth rates ambitious girl growing up in Las Cruces, for female white (13%) and black (20%) New Mexico. I’ve been an engineer, a entrepreneurs is striking. And according NASA rocket scientist, a tech executive to a 2019 American Express study, while and entrepreneur, and a Presidential

The original “Influential Latina” in my

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the number of women-owned businesses grew 21% from 2014 to 2019, those owned specifically by Latina/Hispanic women grew at nearly double that rate (40%).

Latinas have also been increasing their representation in the highest echelons of American political leadership. There are currently 13 Latinas in Congress—12 in the House and 1 in the Senate—and, fun fact, 31 percent of them are Girl Scout alums! Current New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is also an alum and the first Democratic Latina Governor.

And the younger generation is off to a great start taking the baton and showing their innovation, determination, and ability to create sustainable change in their communities and our country. I think of girls like Ana from San Diego, one of our 2019 National Gold Award Girl Scouts— the highest honor in Girl Scouting. To earn her Gold Award, she identified the need to have people of color like herself and approximately 90% of her high school represented in the curriculum, as the material being used did not include their stories and their communities’ contributions to our history. Ana dedicated more than 700 hours over three years and introduced a rigorous ethnic studies curriculum to her school. Through this experience, she had an even more profound understanding of how education can liberate people—because she’s seen it in action. There are so many young women out there like Ana, and they give me hope for the future.

SYLVIA ACEVEDO, CEO OF GIRL SCOUTS US The women featured on this year’s list are the beacons for the next generation of influential Latinas. I want to thank them for their hard work, vision, and leadership.

I am so grateful to all of those who have paved the way for the female leaders of tomorrow in business, tech, government, science, engineering, medicine, sports, entertainment, space travel, and more. Now let’s all reach behind us and ensure we are not only leaving a path for these girls but that we are building a superhighway of courageous and confident girls behind us.

And to all the women highlighted here ¡Felicidades y bien hecho!

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THE 100

MOST INFLUENTIAL LATINAS ARCILIA ACOSTA

CEO CARCON Industries & STL Engineers

Arcilia Acosta is an entrepreneur, nationally recognized speaker, philanthropist and mother. She is the president and CEO of CARCON Industries and Construction, a full- services construction firm. She is also the Founder and CEO of Southwestern Testing Laboratories (STL Engineers), a geotechnical engineering and construction materials testing firm. In May 2017, Arcilia was elected to the board of Magnolia Oil and Gas Corporation and in July 2018, she joined the board of ONE Gas Incorporated (NYSE:OGS). In 2014, Arcilia was inducted into the National Women’s Business Hall of Fame. She is a graduate of Texas Tech University and Harvard University Business School- Corporate Governance Program. In March 2016, Texas Governor Greg Abbott appointed Ms. Acosta to the Texas Higher Education Coordination Board.

ESTHER AGUILERA

LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020

President & CEO Latino Corporate Directors Association

Esther Aguilar is a social entrepreneur and turnaround specialist, leading scaleup, innovative change, and high-performance teams. She led the growth of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) for 11 years as its President & CEO. Previous positions also included serving as a principal at the Dewey Square Group, senior advisor to the Secretary of the US Department of Energy, executive and legislative director of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), and a policy analyst at the National Council of La Raza (now UnidosUS). She has worked in leadership positions with the nations most accomplished leaders from Corporate America, the U.S. Congress, the Executive Branch, and the not-for-profit sector. Esther writes on the subjects of board diversity and organizational effectiveness, and is a guest columnist in numerous publications.

SYLVIA ACEVEDO

CEO Girl Scouts USA

A lifelong Girl Scout, Sylvia Acevedo was appointed CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA in May 2017. Sylvia is a dedicated champion for girls in STEM, entrepreneurship, business, and the outdoors. Since being appointed CEO, Sylvia propelled Girl Scouts into the future by creating and launching 42 new STEM badges, including in cybersecurity, robotics, design thinking, coding, data analytics, and space science. Sylvia began her prolific career as a rocket scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

She then thrived in executive tech leadership roles at Apple, Dell, and IBM. Sylvia earned a graduate engineering degree from Stanford University. Sylvia is also the author of Path to the Stars: My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist, a memoir for middle school students that inspires readers to live the lives of their dreams.

LIZ AGOSTO

Global COO, Information Security Division BNY Mellon

Liz is a trusted advisor to senior management in evaluation of current methodology and deployment of innovative solutions. Highly adaptable with proven success in intense and demanding environments experiencing rapid change as a result of: Business Expansion, Mergers, Acquisitions and Turnarounds. Through her role, she encourages diversity and promotes STEM careers for women and minorities as well as scholarships for those with an interest in cybersecurity. Prior to her role asa Global COO in BNY Mellon, she served as VP for new product services at Barclays where she was responsible for providing a risk and control focused approval mechanism.

Before Barclays she worked as Global Risk Manager at Lehman Brothers.

ANNE ALONZO

SVP, External Affairs & Chief Sustainability Officer, Corteva Agriscience

Anne L. Alonzo has the responsibility for setting strategy and leading the External Affairs function, which includes Corporate Communications, Global Corporate Responsibility, Government & Industry Affairs, and Product Advocacy. Anne is a recognized global food and agriculture leader and has forged a highly successful and diverse career in the public, not-for-profit and corporate sectors. Most recently, Anne served as President and CEO of the American Egg Board (AEB), the marketing arm of the U.S. egg industry. Prior to joining the AEB, Anne was appointed by the White House to serve as Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service, the federal marketing agency for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Anne has also served as Vice President, Global Public Policy, Corporate Affairs at Kraft Foods, Senior Vice President at the National Foreign Trade Council, a diplomat at the U.S. Embassy, Mexico as well as senior regional counsel at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Chicago, IL.

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TERE ALVAREZ CANIDA

Portfolio Manager & Principal Cito Capital Group

Tere Alvarez Canida currently serves as Principal and Portfolio Manager of Cito Capital Group, LLC, a multi-family office registered as an investment advisor with the SEC. Prior to this role, Tere served as President and Portfolio Manager of Taplin, Canida & Habacht, LLC, an investment management firm specializing in Institutional fixed income account management with assets under management of approximately $10 billion at the time of its sale in 2008 to what is now Bank of Montreal (BMO). Tere was responsible for the firm’s strategy, investment policy and managing client portfolios along with the firm’s other portfolio managers. Prior to founding TCH in 1985, Canida was Vice President and Senior Investment Officer for Southeast Bank Trust Company. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and an MBA from George Washington University. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Kemper Corporation. She sits on the company’s Audit and Investment Committees. Her work has earned her the honor of being inducted into the National Association of Securities Professionals Hall of Fame.

CRISTINA ANTELO

CEO Ferox Strategies

Cristina began her lobbying career in 2004, immediately representing Fortune 500 clients. Her past clients include major chain retailers, spirits companies, national theme and amusement parks, pharmaceutical firms, and nutrition and wellness companies. Her policy areas of expertise include financial services, tax, trade, border security, transportation and infrastructure, and crisis management. She is a founding member and former President of the Hispanic Lobbyists Association and served as the interim CEO of the non-profit Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI).

Before transitioning to government relations, in the early 2000s Cristina worked as a Wall Street investment banker and wealth management advisor at major Wall Street firms including Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan. Today, Cristina serves on the Board of Directors of the CHCI, as well as the board of the National Wildlife Federation's (NWF) Action Fund supporting conservation of endangered species and habitats. Cristina further serves on the finance committee for the March of Dimes' annual Gourmet Gala and volunteers with Common Threads, focusing on nutrition education for children.

ANA MARIE ARGILAGOS

Under Ana Marie’s leadership, HIP has spearheaded rapid responses to the biggest challenges facing Latinos today. Previously Ana Marie was a Senior Advisor at the Ford Foundation, where she focused on urban development strategies to reduce poverty, expand economic opportunity, and advance sustainability in regions across the world. She also served as Deputy Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), where she created the Office for International and Philanthropic Innovation (IPI) to deepen and scale collaboration between public and philanthropic sectors. Previously, she taught international urban planning at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service; and was a Senior Program Officer at the Annie E. Casey Foundation; Director of the New Workplace for Women Project at the National Council of La Raza (now UNIDOS US); and Deputy Director of Ayuda, a community-based legal clinic serving immigrants in Washington, DC. Ana Marie is an entrepreneurial thinker bridging diverse agendas with a track record of working within the philanthropic, public, and nonprofit sectors. She received her master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University and her bachelor’s degree in international relations from American University.

PATTY ARVIELO

President New American Funding

Patty is an award-winning entrepreneur and the co-founder/President of New American Funding. A first-generation Latina, she leverages more than 36 years of experience in the mortgage industry to lead the company’s sales and operations efforts. In addition, Patty created the company’s Latino Focus and New American Dream initiatives to improve the home lending experiences for Latino and African-American homebuyers. Patty is also a popular keynote speaker for mortgage events across the nation. She is on numerous committees, including for the Mortgage Bankers Association, the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP), and the Housing Counseling Federal Advisory Committee (HCFAC). She frequently visits Washington, D.C. to lobby for the industry and homeowners. Ernst & Young recognized Patty as 2016 EY Entrepreneur of The Year® Orange County.

"MY RESPONSIBILITY IS CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT THAT ALLOWS OUR TOP TALENT TO SHINE AND TO PURSUE THE AMBITION OF FOREVER RELEVANCE TO OUR CUSTOMERS AND BRAND PARTNERS." Katia Beauchamp

LINDA BAGLEY

Deputy General Counsel The Walt Disney Company

As deputy general counsel supporting Disney's Direct-to-Consumer & International (DTCI) segment, Linda Bagley leads a global team of lawyers responsible for matters relating to Company priorities such as Disney's subscription streaming services, International media businesses, and global advertising sales. During Linda's tenure at Disney she has held a variety of roles. Most recently, she served as deputy general counsel supporting Disney ABC Television Group and Walt Disney International. In this role, she led a team that supported businesses throughout the world, including media and distribution. Before that, Bagley served as chief international counsel, leading a team of over 100 lawyers and other professionals responsible for Disney’s legal matters outside the United States. Linda began at Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) in 2001 as senior counsel and was promoted to executive counsel in 2003 and later to vice president - counsel. She has also held the role of associate general counsel, Distribution. Prior to joining WDIG, Linda was an associate at Latham & Watkins. Previous to that, she was an associate at O’Melveny & Myers.

LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020

President & CEO Hispanics in Philanthropy

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"I’M EXCITED ABOUT MY ROLE IN THE AQUA BUSINESS PRECISELY BECAUSE I FIND IT VERY INTERESTING AND WITH A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH, WE HAVE A WORLD-CLASS GLOBAL TEAM AND EXCELLENT CUSTOMERS WE PARTNER WITH TO FEED THE WORLD."

KATIA BEAUCHAMP CEO / Founder Birchbox

Katia co-founded Birchbox in 2010, driven by a fascination with the business dynamics of the beauty industry and the massive opportunity to redefine the way people discover and shop for beauty online. Katia holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in International Studies & Economics from Vassar College. Prior to graduating business school, she worked in structured finance and commercial real estate. She is currently an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Harvard Business School, meeting with students and faculty as an official advisor on campus.

Pilar Cruz

VANESSA BENAVIDES

SVP Chief Compliance & Privacy Officer Kaiser Permanente

Vanessa is responsible for planning, oversight, and coordination of activities to drive effective compliance with regulatory requirements and Kaiser Permanente policies. In collaboration with leadership across the organization, she leads the development of strategies to embed compliance and ethics into the core design and operations of the organization and foster a work environment where employees and physicians do the right thing to protect our members, patients, and the communities we serve. Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, Benavides was chief compliance officer for Tenet Healthcare. Before joining Tenet, she served as legal counsel for Caremark Rx, a pharmacy benefit management company, and was in private practice with the law firm Locke Lord, LLP. Benavides holds a law degree from the University of Iowa College of Law, where she served as articles editor for the Iowa Law Review, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University. Benavides is a member of the board of directors of The CDC Foundation, an independent nonprofit created

by Congress to mobilize philanthropic and private sector resources to support the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention’s critical health protection work. Benavides also served on the national board of directors of the Human Rights Campaign.

NELLIE BORRERO

LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020

Managing Director, Senior Global Inclusion & Diversity Lead Accenture

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A thought leader with deep global experience, Nellie works to raise awareness and increase understanding on the importance of embracing diversity. Nellie joined Accenture in 1986. She created the first role for Diversity efforts and is embraced as a beloved and deeply committed advocate for change, for women, for minorities, for people. As Accenture’s Global Inclusion & Diversity Managing Director, Nellie holds a crucial leadership role and is a driving force behind the company’s diversity initiatives. Under Nellie’s leadership, most recent innovations are creation of a development program for high performing women globally, design of career progression initiatives for women throughout APAC, EMEA and the Americas; global positioning of the LGBT and Persons with Disability agenda; as well as the design and execution of ethnic diversity programs. She is a current Member of the LaGuardia Community College Foundation Board, which provides financial aid, scholarships, and funding for state-of-the-art facilities within the college to prepare LaGuardia students, the future leaders of tomorrow. She has served as a Member of the Board of Aspira of New York, whose purpose is to foster social advancement of the Latino community by supporting its youth in the pursuit of educational excellence through leadership development programs that emphasize commitment to the community and the Latino cultural heritage.

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LISA BOMBIN

President & CEO Unico Communications

For over fifteen years Lisa has been the ‘go to’ person to create and implement visionary solutions for today’s ever changing marketplace and increasingly savvy audience. She is always performance-focused in each stage of planning and execution.

Lisa’s communications skills and experience producing leading events have taken her from national to international guest speaker at various industry conferences around the globe. Unico Communications was elected to lead talent relations for The ALMA Awards (American Latino Media Arts Awards) for a number of years, which has aired nationally on ABC, NBC, and MSNBC. Lisa has served for nine years as producer of San Antonio’s largest business event of the year, the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Annual Gala, a spectacular evening which hosts 1,600 of the city and state’s influencers. Lisa currently serves as an officer of the Board for the chamber and most recently was elected to the Board of KLRN, San Antonio’s local public television network.

NORAMAY CADENA

Managing Partner MiLA Capital

Noramay Cadena is an engineer, entrepreneur, investor, and former nonprofit leader. She’s the Cofounder and Managing Director of Make in LA, an early stage hardware accelerator and venture fund in Los Angeles. Since launching in 2015, Make in LA’s venture fund has invested over $1.5MM in seed stage companies who have have collectively raised over $25MM and created jobs across the United States and in several other countries. Prior to cofounding Make in LA, Cadena spent over 10 years in aerospace with The Boeing Company. Her roles included technical oversight, shop floor operations management, and program management with profit and loss accountability over budgets of $20MM+ and the delivery of complex technical systems. She cofounded the Latinas in STEM Foundation in 2013 to inspire and empower Latinas to pursue and thrive in STEM fields and led the organization through 2015. She also serves on the Housing Authority Commission of Los Angeles and is a founding board member for a newly approved K-8 charter school in Los Angeles. Cadena holds an MBA, a Master’s in Engineering Systems and a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering – all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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Former CEO of DVF, consultant, entrepreneur, advisor & investor

Sandra has been successfully building consumer-led global fashion lifestyle brands for more than twenty years. In her role as CEO of Diane von Furstenberg, she led a financial and operational turnaround by implementing bold strategic plans that will turn a wholesale led organization into a healthier retail DTC company. Prior to joining DVF, Sandra played a pivotal role in restructuring licensed brands within Global Brands Group. As President of six global Women’s contemporary brands with more than $500mm in revenues and all in different phases of progress, she restructured and leveraged teams by creating centers of excellence in e-commerce for Bebe and BCBG brands. An executive with broad skills and experience, Sandra has been leading turnarounds and launching new businesses for corporate organizations totaling more than $2bn in market cap. Her additional career successes include entrepreneurial ventures and successful exit with Mobi, a consumer products company sold in sixteen countries and Cynosure Holdings-ACH, a celebrity brand management company responsible for launching Selena Gomez’s lifestyle collection at Kmart for five years with thirteen licensed categories. Sandra is also the founder of The Fashion Launchpad, a Masterclass workshop series for the fashion industry.

JOVITA CARRANZA

Administrator Small Business Administration

Jovita Carranza serves as the 26th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). As a member of President Trump’s Cabinet, she advocates on behalf of the 30 million small businesses in America. In her role as Administrator, she leads a team of professionals dedicated to ensuring entrepreneurs located across America have the support and resources they need to start, grow, and expand their small businesses, and recover in the event of a declared disaster. Prior to leading the SBA, Administrator Carranza served as Treasurer of the United States at the U.S. Department of the Treasury under President Donald J. Trump. Administrator Carranza is a Chicago native and founder of a small business consulting company. She previously served as the Deputy Administrator for the SBA under former President George W. Bush, where she received a bipartisan, unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

Before her first SBA appointment, Carranza had a distinguished 30-year career at United Parcel Service (UPS), where she was the highest-ranking Latina in the history of the company. She started as a part-time, night-shift box handler and worked her way up to President of Latin America and Caribbean operations.

CARMEN CASTILLO

President & CEO SDI International Corp.

Carmen started SDI in 1993 as a staffing firm for tech companies and in a short period, the company signed a small contract with IBM. As business grew, Carmen became aware about supplier diversity and minority certification, and she swiftly got SDI certified as both Hispanic- and woman-owned. Through the years, SDI expanded its business portfolio to include payrolling, independent contractor compliance programs and Procure-to-Pay and Source-to-Pay solutions for the tail end of the supply chain, becoming one of the largest, if not the largest MWBE in the world. The company followed its global clients and today, it services them through Centers of Excellence located in strategic locations throughout the world. Aside from her role at SDI, Carmen is an advocate for women- and minority-owned business worldwide, sitting on the boards of the International Women's Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC), the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) and the Women's Business Development Council of Florida/HERCompany, among others.

DEBRA CANALES

EVP & Chief Administrator Officer Providence St. Joseph Health

Deb Canales serves as executive vice president and chief administrative officer for Providence St. Joseph Health, third largest not-for-profit health system in the United States. Called to Providence in 2014, Canales is responsible for human resources, communications, community partnerships: federal/state advocacy, international program, environmental services, community ministry and foundation boards.

Prior to joining Providence, Deb served CHE Trinity Health for almost a decade, most recently as executive vice president and chief administrative officer. Throughout her 25-year human resources career, Deb has worked in a range of global Fortune 500 organizations, including Hewlett Packard/Compaq Computer Corporation, Yum Brands/PepsiCo, R.H. Macy’s Inc. and Centura Health. A champion of creating an exceptional employee experience, Canales sponsored a groundbreaking benefits program that provides free or reduced medical insurance to those employees most in need, resulting in Providence Health & Services receiving the Employee Assistance Trade Association’s (EASNA) Corporate Award of Excellence in 2016. Deb is currently a member of the boards of directors for AMICA Mutual Insurance, The Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Seattle Metro Chamber of Commerce, and The Breakaway Group-Healthcare Division of Xerox.

KIM CASIANO

Board Member Ford Motor Company & Mutual of America

As the first Latina woman to serve on any of the top five “Fortune 100” corporate boards, Casiano brings deep board knowledge and over 35 years of experience and perspective on the U.S. Hispanic market and Latin America. Kim serves on the boards of directors of Ford Motor Company and Mutual of America. She formerly served on the board of directors of Mead Johnson Nutrition Company and Scotiabank of Puerto Rico. She also serves on the Board of Advisors, and the Marketing and Public Relations Committee of the Board of Directors, of Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. Formerly, Kim was President of one of the largest U.S. Hispanic publishers of periodicals and magazines in the country and one of the first bilingual (English-Spanish) call centers in the Western Hemisphere. Prior to her tenure in the publishing and call center industry, Kim was founder and president of a management consulting company that assisted the U.S. Department of State, Agency for International Development (A.I.D.), focusing on advising Latin America and Caribbean governments on investment and trade promotion programs, and economic development initiatives. Kim was a founder of the Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA) and has served on their board of directors since LCDA’s inception.

ADELA CEPEDA

Managing Director PFM Financial Advisors

Adela Cepeda is a managing director in the firm's Chicago office. She is the former founder and president of A.C. Advisory, which was acquired by PFM in September 2016. She provides financial advisory services to government and non-profit entities primarily in Illinois, New York and Connecticut. She has been a finance specialist since 1980, structuring and executing transactions in the capital markets for corporations and municipalities. Adela has extensive experience working on numerous City of Chicago credits dating back to 1995. Other clients include the City of New York, the State of Connecticut and the State of New York. She has successfully advised on over $150 billion of financings. Adela is an honors graduate of Harvard College with a major in Economics and has an MBA from the University of Chicago School of Business. She served on the board of the Chicago Community Trust and on numerous Chicago cultural, civic and education boards. She also received an honorary doctorate from the Metropolitan College of New York.

LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020

SANDRA CAMPOS

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NANETTE COCERO

Global President of Vaccines Pfizer

Nanette oversees an international business and is responsible for the development and delivery of innovative vaccines that address serious and life-threatening conditions, helping to protect communities around the world. She leads a global team of 1,500 colleagues and manages a diverse vaccines portfolio aimed at protecting lives at all stages. Nanette and her team also partner with governments, civic organizations, and others in the biopharmaceutical industry to accelerate global public health progress. She is Chair of the International Federation of Pharmaceuticals and Manufacturers Association (IFPMA) Vaccine CEO Steering Committee, advocating for policies and practices that will enable greater access and affordability to vaccines in low and middle-income countries. Prior to her current position, Nanette was Regional President, Emerging Markets, for Pfizer’s Innovative Health business. During her 15+ year tenure at Pfizer, Nanette has held numerous leadership positions in both developed and emerging markets, driving continuous growth for the businesses she managed and bringing novel medicines and access solutions to patients.

"IT’S IMPERATIVE THAT WE ARE THE EYES AND EARS FOR OUR CLIENTS INTERESTS AND THAT WE HELP THEM TO BE GOOD STEWARDS IN THE COMMUNITY. WE WORK WITH CORPORATE AS WELL AS NON PROFIT CLIENTS AND TRADE ASSOCIATIONS SO OUR WORK IS VERY DIVERSE." Ingrid Duran

ANA CORRALES

LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020

Chief Operating Officer Google Consumer Hardware

Ana Corrales is the Chief Operating Officer for Google’s Devices & Services business. She is responsible for bringing Google’s consumer hardware products to life, including Pixel smartphones and laptops among other devices. With a background in business and engineering, Ana leads every aspect of how products are delivered to people around the world — overseeing the end-to-end product development process; IT systems and infrastructure; managing the supply chain to build quality products; overseeing hardware sustainability efforts. Ana grew up in Costa Rica. She studied Economics as an undergraduate at the University of Washington, and went on to get her M.S. in Engineering Economic Systems from Stanford. Before joining Google, she held positions as COO and Chief Financial Officer at other major Silicon Valley tech companies.

FRANCES COLÓN

CEO Jasperi Consulting

Jasperi Consulting is a boutique firm that provides science, environment and technology policy advice to higher education institutions as well as state and national-level policy-makers. She is a 2018 New Voices Fellow of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, and City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez's appointee to the City of Miami Sea Level Rise Committee. From 2012-2017, Colón was the Deputy Science and Technology Adviser to the U.S. Secretary of State. As a science diplomat in Washington D.C., she led the re-engagement of scientific collaboration with Cuba and coordinated climate change policy for the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas announced by President Obama. Colón is the founder of Cenadores Puerto Rico, a non-profit platform that facilitates collaboration between the Puerto Rican diaspora and civil society on the Island. Frances earned her Ph.D. in Neuroscience in 2004 from Brandeis University and her B.S. in Biology in 1997 from the University of Puerto Rico.

CYNTHIA COMPARIN

Independent Director Frost Bank

Cynthia Comparin is the founder and retired chief executive officer of Animato Technologies Corp., a private company providing business and technology solutions to enterprise clients. She held various senior executive positions in multibillion-dollar global technology corporations throughout her career. Cynthia's areas of expertise include: independent director corporate board experience, international business, strategy development, business development, finance and accounting (including M&A and divestitures). Cynthia is an independent director of Black Box Corporation, a NASDAQ-listed company and a National Association for Corporate Directors fellow. Prior to establishing Animato, Cynthia created and was president of Alltel’s Enterprise Network Services Division, providing consulting, integration and operations services to worldwide customers. Before Alltel, she was vice president and general manager for Nortel’s Network Transformation Services Division, general manager of Latin America for Recognition International, a global technology company, and spent 10 years in various US-based and international management positions at EDS, which was later acquired by HP.

CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO Senator of Nevada - Democratic

Born and raised in Las Vegas, Catherine Cortez Masto has spent her career fighting for Nevada’s working families. She served two terms as Attorney General of Nevada and in November 2016, she made history by becoming the first woman from Nevada and the first Latina ever elected to the United States Senator. Her position on five Senate Committees allows her to continue to advocate for the issues that matter most to Nevadans. She sits on the Committee on Finance; the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; the Committee on Rules and Administration; and the Committee on Indian Affairs. Cortez Masto currently serves as the Ranking Member of the Economic Policy Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; and the Ranking Member of the Water and Power Subcommittee of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Cortez Masto earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Finance from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1986, and a J.D. from Gonzaga University School of Law in 1990. She resides in Las Vegas with her husband Paul, a retired Secret Service agent.

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President and Group Leader, Cargill Aqua Nutrition Cargill

Her unit operates within the Animal Nutrition & Health Enterprise. Pilar joined Cargill in 2002 as an Associate in Corporate Strategy and Business Development.

Her operational experience began in 2006 when she was appointed General Manager for the Beef Business with Cargill Meats Canada. In 2008, she moved to Oklahoma City where she led the animal nutrition business for the South Central US. In 2011, she moved to Costa Rica to successfully lead Cargill's integration of Pipasa, a poultry acquisition in Central America. In 2012, she moved to Nicaragua to lead Cargill's poultry operations, which then led to her being appointed as President for Cargill Meats Europe after one year. In 2015, she was named Corporate Vice President and Head of Corporate Strategy and Development. In 2017, she was named President of Cargill’s Feed and Nutrition business globally. Outside of Cargill, Pilar serves on the Board of Donaldson Company Inc., a Minnesota-based public company and global leader in engine and industrial air, oil and liquid filtration solutions.

Originally from Bogotá Colombia, Pilar has a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Universidad de Los Andes and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

PATRICIA DIAZ DENNIS

Board Member Entravision Communication Corporation, Amalgamated Bank, U.S. Steel

Patricia retired in April 2017 as the longest-serving board member of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, having joined in 1995. Other past board service includes Telemundo and CarrAmerica. Patricia also serves on several notfor-profit boards, including NHP Foundation which preserves and builds affordable multi-family housing for low and moderate income families and seniors. She Chairs the Sanctions Panel for The Global Fund whose mission is to end tuberculosis, AIDS and Malaria world-wide. She is Chair-Elect of the Board of Trustees of the World Affairs Council of San Antonio and serves on the LBJ Family Wealth Advisors Advisory Board. She became the first Latina Board Chair of Girl Scouts of the USA in 2005 and served on its board for nine years. She received three Presidential appointments, confirmed by the U.S. Senate: President Reagan appointed her a member of the National Labor Relations board in 1983; and, in 1986, a Federal Communications Commission commissioner, becoming the first Latina appointed to the two agencies; President George H. W. Bush appointed her Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs in 1992, also a first for Latinas.

DORENE DOMINGUEZ

Chairwoman and CEO Vanir Companies

Dorene Dominguez is the Chairwoman and CEO of Vanir Group of Companies, Inc. and its subsidiaries Vanir Construction Management, Inc. and Vanir Development Company, Inc. Vanir has delivered over $23 billion worth of projects from its inception. she is a director on the CIT Group and CIT Bank NA boards, the KB Home board and is a member of the nominating and corporate governance committee for each company. Moreover, she is an active member of the Coca-Cola Hispanic Advisory Council. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the California Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Dominguez graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor’s degree in finance and holds a Certificate in Corporate Governance from Harvard University.

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"I FOCUS ON DEVELOPING PEOPLE TO DEVELOP OUR REPRESENTATIVES AS WELL, MAKING THEIR DREAMS COME TRUE. OPENING DOORS FOR THE ORGANIZATION TO MAKE THEIR JOBS EASIER TO ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS IS ALSO A CRITICAL ROLE AS AN ENABLER. " Magdalena Ferreira - Lamas

MICHELE DOCHARTY

Co head Americas Execution Services and Equity Sales Goldman Sachs

Michele Docharty is a partner and managing director at Goldman Sachs. She joined Goldman Sachs 1989 and now serves as the co-head of the Global and Synthetics Products Distribution and Global Head of Corporate Acess, Securities Division. Docharty has served within the investment banking division and in holding positions in sales across the United States and Latin America. Docharty is a member of the Americas Diversity Committee at Goldman Sachs, as well as the Georgetown University Wall Street Alliance. Docharty graduated from Georgetown McDonough in 1989 with a degree in finance. She lives in New York with her husband and two daughters.

SONIA DULÁ

Board Member Board of Prisa, Latin America Strategic Advisory Board of Banco Itau, Hemisphere Media Group, Inc.

Sonia Dulá is a business executive and entrepreneur and, until March of 2018, she was Vice Chairman at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Prior to this position, she was head of the Latin America Wealth Management Division at Merrill Lynch and head of Corporate and Investment Banking for Latin America, where she led many high profile transactions, and had oversight responsibility for mergers and acquisitions, public debt and equity issues and corporate loans. Following her MBA, she worked for nine years at Goldman Sachs, where she led landmark privatizations out of Spain, Italy and Mexico, as well as global debt and equity offerings for Latin American issuers. After Goldman Sachs, Sonia became CEO of Telemundo Studios México, the production center for Telemundo Network (USA). She co-founded two internet companies – Internet Group of Brazil and Obsidiana – and she was CEO of Grupo Latino de Radio, a Prisa company with more than 500 owned and operated radio stations in Latin America and the US Hispanic market. Sonia is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She has been a director on the board of The Council of the Americas, Women’s World Banking, and The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.

LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020

PILAR CRUZ

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INGRID DURAN

CEO & Founder D&P Creative Strategies, LLC

Ingrid founded D&P Creative Strategies with her wife, Catherine, in 2004 to increase the role of corporate, legislative and philanthropic efforts in addressing multi-cultural issues. Prior to starting D&P, Ingrid was President & CEO of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI). She grew the organization over six years from a $700K budget to a $7 million dollar budget and launched both their scholarship program and their renown annual conference. Preceding her leadership of CHCI, Ingrid was recruited to run the Washington, DC office of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) representing Latinx community interests to Congress and the Clinton Administration. Ingrid's public service began at an early age when she served as a Corporal in the US Marine Corps.

She continued her public service on Capitol Hill for six years where she worked under the Clerk of the US House of Representatives and on the House Banking Committee under the leadership of then Chairman Henry B. Gonzalez. Together, Ingrid and her wife Catherine founded PODER PAC, a political action committee by Latinas for Latinas. Through their production company, Freemind Beauty, they have also produced six films The Latino List I & II and The Out List, The Trans List for HBO and The Boomer List and The Women's List for PBS American Masters.

"THE TRUTH IS THAT I LOVE SOLVING PROBLEMS – THE MORE COMPLEX, THE BETTER! I FEEL VERY PRIVILEGED THAT OVER THE LAST THREE DECADES, MAJOR INTERNATIONAL CORPORATIONS HAVE ENTRUSTED ME WITH SOME OF THEIR MOST IMPORTANT AND DIFFICULT CHALLENGES. FORTUNATELY, NO EPIC FAILS HAVE BEEN REPORTED, BUT PERHAPS A FEW DIVING CATCHES, WHICH IS HOW YOU LEARN. NEVER WASTE A GOOD LESSON!”

ROSANNA DURRUTHY

VP Global Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging LinkedIn

Rosanna Durruthy is LinkedIn’s head of global diversity, inclusion and belonging.

She brings broad, cross functional, human resources leadership experience in attracting and developing high performing talent as the diversity leader at companies like Cigna, Vivendi Universal (Seagram) and Merrill Lynch. At LinkedIn, Rosanna’s focus is on empowering all employees, members and customers to realize their full potential. With Rosanna’s leadership, LinkedIn aims to continue to build on our strong culture that values diversity, inclusion and creating a sense of belonging, for all of our employees. In addition to her role at LinkedIn, Rosanna is also a member of the Business Advisory Council of the Human Rights Campaign, where she provides expertise and counsel on LGBTQ workplace issues. She has been recognized as one of the country’s leading professional Hispanic women and an influential mind in the diversity and inclusion space.

DELFINA EBERLY

VP of Infrastructure Facebook

Eberly is one of the key people making sure the world’s largest social media platform delivers without a failure by ensuring the infrastructure and the teams running it operate at the highest efficient rates possible. Eberly leads The Site Services team who is responsible for automation and support of Facebook's server and network hardware; Site Compliance and Business Operations support. These teams are integral to Facebook’s ability to quickly add new capacity to support millions of new users each month. She is also a strategic player in Facebook’s green data centre plans from energy to cooling and even automation of the stack. Eberly has driven many of the company’s diversity programmes, and is a true influencer especially around getting more women and Latinos into the technology arena.

Catherine Hernandez Blades

VERONICA ESCOBAR

LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020

Representative TX - 16th District

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Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, a third-generation El Pasoan, proudly represents Texas’ 16th Congressional District. She took office on January 3, 2019 as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives after making history as the first woman elected to this seat and the first of two Latinas from Texas to serve in Congress.

Veronica serves on the prestigious House Judiciary Committee and House Armed Services Committee. She was elected by her colleagues to serve as Co-Freshman Representative to Leadership in the 116th Congress, and in that capacity serves as a member of the House Democratic Leadership Team.She holds leadership positions on both the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), as the Freshman Representative and Vice Chair, respectively. She also Vice Chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus. She is a member of the New Democrat Coalition, and the Women’s Working Group on Immigration, where she serves as Co-Chair. Before her election, she served on the governing body for El Paso County, first as a County Commissioner and then as County Judge. On February 4, 2020, Congresswoman Escobar delivered the Spanish-language Democratic response to President Trump's State of the Union address. Teh speech was televised from Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe, a community health clinic, in El Paso.

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LISA FERIA

CEO Stray Dog Capital

Lisa Feria is the CEO of Stray Dog Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage, mission-driven companies that aim to take animals out of the supply chain with innovative products and services. With over 26 investments, Stray Dog Capital is one of the leading early-stage investors in the plant-based market. Prior to Stray Dog Capital, Lisa spent over 15 years in General Management, Operations, and Engineering at Blue Chip companies like General Mills and Procter & Gamble.

She has a BS in Chemical Engineering and an MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. Lisa spent over 14 years focused on food operation, consumer packaged goods and led the marketing, P&L management and strategy for billion-dollar brands. Lisa is on the board of multiple portfolio companies and is a Kauffman Fellow.

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Group Vice President and General Manager, North Latin America Avon

Magdalena oversees Avon's business in Mexico, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. She has been with the company since 2006. Prior to her current role, she worked as Vice President of Sales and previously as Head of Marketing for Avon in North Latin America. Before that, she was Fashion & Home Regional Director in Latin America, Commercial Sales Director in Peru, Country Manager in Bolivia and Strategic Planning Director in Argentina.

Before joining Avon, Magdalena was Sales Manager and Trade Marketing Manager for Ambev (Cervecería & Maltería Quilmes – Brewing Company) and Brand Manager for Pepsi and 7Up at PepsiCo. Magdalena holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Management from Universidad de Ciencias Empresariales y Sociales (UCES) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

JOHANNA FUENTES

EVP, Worldwide Corporate Communications and Public Affairs for Warner Bros.

Warner Brotheres

Johanna is responsible for the company’s communications strategies globally.

She works closely with the CEO and senior management to ensure the company’s messaging reflects its core values and advances its business interests. Johanna and her staff are also responsible for the company’s corporate media relations, public positioning, executive communications, crisis management, corporate responsibility and philanthropy on a global basis. As Warner Bros.’ senior-most communications executive, she works cross-divisionally—including with the company’s film, television, videogames, consumer products, home entertainment and studio operations businesses, as well as DC, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and TCM (Turner Classic Movies)—to ensure alignment and consistency of messaging. She also serves as the primary communications liaison between Warner Bros. and parent companies WarnerMedia and AT&T. Johanna took this role after a decade leading public relations strategy at Showtime Networks Inc., where she served as Executive Vice President, Communications. During her tenure, Fuentes was responsible for the execution of all global media relations initiatives enhancing the corporate and programming interests for Showtime Networks, Pop TV and Smithsonian Channel. She also served as the company’s communications liaison with parent companies CBS Corporation and ViacomCBS.

LILI GIL VALLETTA

Co-Founder and CEO CIEN+ AND CULTURINTEL

After a successful corporate career including a 10-year tenure at Johnson & Johnson, Lili co-founded CIEN+ and CulturIntel. Her firm, headquartered in New York City with offices in Colombia and Mexico, is a recognized expert in big data market research, business consulting and cross-cultural marketing helping Fortune 500’s to successfully tap into diverse markets and turn cultural trends into profits. She is a regular TV commentator seen on Fox News, Fox Business and CNN en Español, and has been featured by Forbes, CNN Money, The Huffington Post, The NY Daily News, MM&M, among others. Lili serves as a board member of the Harvard Women's Leadership Board, National Board of Directors of the YMCA USA, mentor to the Stanford Latino Entrepreneur Leaders Program and was appointed by Governor Cuomo as a member of the New York State Council on Women and Girls and was appointed in 2018 by Mayor Bill de Blasio as a Member of the NYC Technology Leadership Advisory Council.

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THERESA FLORES

Senior Manager Public Affairs Mary Kay

Theresa works on developing and recommending policy positions that protect the company’s interests; focusing on engagement with legislators, governments and NGOs. She also serves as the public affairs liaison for the company’s Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Peru and Uruguay regional markets. She is especially proud to be a part of Mary Kay’s efforts in leveraging its reputation to raise awareness with lawmakers about the importance of crucial funding for domestic violence prevention and intervention services. Previously, she served as director of government affairs for Time Warner Cable and managed local, state and federal regulatory and legislative initiatives. Theresa began her career in Washington, D.C. as government relations manager for Fannie Mae. Theresa is member of the State Government Affairs Council, and The Dallas Women’s Foundation. She is active in education reform; focusing on public school education in Dallas and holds leadership positions in Educate Dallas and the Dallas Education Foundation. In 2014, she was appointed by Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings to serve as a Commissioner of the Dallas Housing Authority.

She is the North Texas chair of the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network, where she works to recruit top undergraduate applicants.

SYLVIA GARCIA U.S. Representative D-TX 29th District

Sylvia R. Garcia was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2018, becoming the first Latina ever to represent Texas 29th Congressional district.

Sylvia is a native of Palito Blanco, a South Texas farming community. As a social worker and legal aid lawyer early in her professional career, she protected our community's most vulnerable, old and young, and ensured no one was forgotten. In 1998, she was elected City Controller, the second highest elected official in Houston city government and its chief financial officer. The first Hispanic and first woman to be elected in her own right to the office, she continued her advocacy for working families and made certain Harris County took care of its most defenseless, all while making certain Harris County led the way for new jobs and economic development.

Sylvia serves on the House Judiciary and House Financial Services Committees.

During her first year in Congress, she played a critical role in the impeachment investigation against President Donald Trump. On January 15, 2020, she was selected as one of seven impeachment managers tasked with making the case to the American people and the Senate for the removal of Donald Trump as President of the United States. She is the first Hispanic and one of the first three women to ever serve as impeachment manager for a presidential impeachment trial.

"I SEE MY ROLE AS POSITIONING MY AUTHORS IN THE MEDIA IN THE MOST IMPACTFUL WAY POSSIBLE. THESE ARE THE AUTHORS THAT SHOULD BE FEATURED IN THE NEWS, IN CLASSROOMS, AND IN OUR DAILY LIVES. I WANT A NEW GENERATION TO BE INSPIRED, AND LEAD, BY THEIR PERSPECTIVES." Michelle Herrera-Mulligan

LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020

MAGDALENA FERREIRA - LAMAS

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"I BELIEVE THAT IT IS OUR COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY TO CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS AND TO DO OUR PART NOW TO ARCHITECT A WORKFORCE OF THE FUTURE THAT IS MORE REFLECTIVE OF THE WORLD WE LIVE IN."

NONI GONZALEZ

VP, Commercial Applications IHG

Noni Gonzalez is IHG’s Vice President of Commercial Applications, in our Global Technology organization. Noni has spearheaded the technology development of our new guest reservation system and IHG Concerto. She is also responsible for IHG’s business-to-business platform used by online travel agencies, the revenue management systems that create pricing for all IHG hotels, worldwide sales, hotel content management and the owner lifecycle solution currently in development. She is not only an executive sponsor of IHG’s Somos employee resource group, but is a member of IHG’s Americas Diversity & Inclusion Board.

Maria Martinez

RACHEL GONZALEZ

EVP General Counsel and Secretary Starbucks

Joining Starbucks in April 2018, Rachel handles legal and regulatory affairs, global security, and ethics and compliance, in addition to acting as counselor to the board of directors and executive leadership. She is part of the executive leadership team, reporting directly to Kevin Johnson. In her previous role at Sabre Corporation, Gonzalez led a global team responsible for human resources, corporate communications, legal strategy, regulatory affairs, corporate compliance, and government affairs. She joined Sabre in 2014 as Executive Vice President and General Counsel.

Prior to joining Sabre, Gonzalez served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary with Dean Foods in Dallas, Texas. Previously, Gonzalez was Senior Vice President and Group Counsel with Affiliated Computer Services. Earlier in her career, Gonzalez was a partner with the law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where she focused on corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions, SEC compliance and corporate governance. Rachel serves on the board of Dana Incorporated, where she serves on the audit committee as well as the nominating and corporate governance committee. She holds a law degree from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature with high honors from the University of California, Berkeley.

CATHERINE HERNANDEZ BLADES

LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020

SVP, Chief ESG & Communications Officer Aflac

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Catherine Hernandez-Blades is senior vice president, chief environmental, social and governance (ESG) and communications officer at Aflac. She is responsible for corporate communications, organizational communications, philanthropy and ESG activities for the company, including the company’s Global SABRE award-winning corporate social responsibility (CSR) program. Catherine joined Aflac in 2014 as senior vice president of Corporate Communications and has held leadership positions of increasing responsibility, including chief brand and communications officer in 2017 and her current position. An acknowledged change agent, she spent the last 15 years building organizations from the ground up and orchestrating and implementing large-scale turnarounds in highly regulated industries for international public companies in the Fortune 500. In 2020, Hernandez-Blades became one of four women inducted in Ragan’s inaugural class of the Women in Communications Hall of Fame. Additionally, Catherine serves on the Forbes Communications Council. A past chair of Operation Homefront’s board of directors, Catherine is currently past chair of The Seminar, a member of the Arthur W. Page Society and an Institute of Public Relations Trustee. She is currently a member of the Communications 50/C50 and serves on the Communications Advisory Board for the Ethisphere Institute.

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MARIA G. HACKLEY

Global Group Head and Managing Director Citi

Maria serves Citi as Global Co-Head of Industrials Corporate and Investment Banking franchise since 2016. Her responsability includes driving the client strategy, revenue growth, product cross-sell and balance sheet for Citi's Global Industrial clients. Previously, she was responsible for client coverage, new business origination and deal execution with large cap industry leaders across three sectors: Industrials (GE/GECC), Managed Care and Insurance (U.S. Life and Property & Casualty) companies. Maria has also previously served as Corporate Finance and Relationship Management dedicated to the goal of maintaining ongoing, frequent dialogue with companies in the coverage universe regarding acquisition finance, capital structure, balance sheet optimization and risk management. Maria is also involved with Citi Women Steering Committee where she created Citi's Community Ambassador effort for the female graduates of Citi"s leading Talent Programs for MDs/Ds with the goal to development, promotion and retention. She is the firm wide Team Captain for Georgetown University undergraduate and MBA recruiting, Corporate and Investment Bank Diversity Steering Committee and NextGen Corporate and Investment Bank Steering Committee.

MIRIAM HERNANDEZ-KAKOL

Global Head of Management Consulting KPMG

As global head of the Management Consulting practice, she plays a significant, strategic role in building and executing its strategy, and continuing the business’ double-digit growth momentum. Her mandate includes driving KPMG’s global priority solutions of Powered and Connected enterprises. Before this role, she led the US firm’s Global Customer and Operations practice, which is focused on delivering industry-specific solutions for the front and middle office challenges of Fortune 500 clients. Miriam also serves as a Global Lead Partner for the world’s largest telco company in the US, overseeing more than 300 partners and professionals serving the client globally. Before re-joining KPMG in 2008, Miriam spent five years at Bearing Point, thriving from doing what she loves: helping clients solve business challenges, and knowing that her team was providing bottom-line value. Her industry experience was born and bred at Telcordia, where she rose up through the business.

She became the VP and General Manager, leading the customer care and billing units with full P&L responsibility. Miriam has been volunteering for over 30 years, supporting a variety of causes including food pantries, STEM, intergovernmental organizations, women’s leadership, diversity, education and students/future leaders.

Her roles span from volunteering, to fundraising to board membership.

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Senior Editor, Director Atria Books, Atria Español

Michelle Herrera Mulligan is a senior editor who has published groundbreaking fiction and non-fiction including former inmate Cyntoia Brown-Long's NAACP Image-Award-nominated memoir Free Cyntoia; Preethaji and Krishnaji's national bestseller The Four Sacred Secrets, and international bestseller Susan Abulhawa's much anticipated latest novel, Against The Loveless World. A writer herself, Michelle's essays and articles have reached more than 1 million people online and in print, in publications ranging from The Washington Post, The New York Times magazine to Elle.com. She was the founding editor in chief of Cosmo For Latinas magazine, and built a community that consistently reached 2-3 million readers per month online and more than 100,000 on the newsstand. A frequent college speaker and writing coach, she feels especially inspired to work on projects focused creating a vision, owning one's voice, and building a dream. She has spoken at colleges around the country and her books, including the anthologies Border-Line Personalities and Count on Me, have been course-adopted at universities across the country.

MARIA HINOJOSA

Founder, Senior Anchor & Strategic Advisor Futuro Media Group

For 25 years, Maria Hinojosa has helped tell America's untold stories and brought to light unsung heroes in America and abroad. In April 2010, Hinojosa launched The Futuro Media Group with the mission to produce multi-platform, community-based journalism that gives critical voice to the voiceless by harnessing the power of independent media to tell stories that are overlooked or under reported by traditional media. As the anchor and executive producer of the long-running weekly NPR show Latino USA, and as anchor of the Emmy Award-winning talk show Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One from WGBH/La Plaza, Hinojosa has informed millions of Americans about the fastest growing group in our country. Previously, a Senior Correspondent for NOW on PBS, and currently, a rotating anchor for Need to Know, Hinojosa has reported hundreds of important stories—from the immigrant work camps in NOLA after Katrina, to teen girl victims of sexual harassment on the job, to Emmy Award-winning stories of the poor in Alabama. Throughout her career, Hinojosa has helped define the conversation about our times and our society with one of the most authentic voices in broadcast. Hinojosa is the author of two books including a motherhood memoir, Raising Raul: Adventures Raising Myself and My Son. She was born in Mexico City, raised in Chicago, and received her BA from Barnard College.

CYNTHIA HUDSON

Senior VP and Managing Director CNN en Español and Hispanic Strategy for CNN

Cynthia oversees all aspects of CNN's Spanish-language media businesses, including newsgathering, editorial content, programming, production, operations and personnel, of the CNN en Español 24/7 television news networks, CnnEspañol.com and CNN en Español Radio. In first quarter 2019, Hudson inaugurated CNN Radio Argentina, a radio network available in 120 cities and 23 provinces throughout Argentina. In April, she launched CNN en Español's multi-platform anti-discrimination campaign called Proyecto Ser Humano (The Humanity Project).In 2011, Hudson launched CNNEspañol.com and refocused resources to develop CNN en Español's top Spanish-language News Social Platforms on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

In addition, she expanded the radio business to include affiliates in the US Hispanic Market, Latin America and Europe. Hudson's community efforts include being a Director on the board of The National Epilepsy Foundation and acting as a Director and now Vice President of the University of Miami Alumni Association. Cynthia is also on the Advisory Council of the Hispanic Society Museum & Library of New York and part of the Board of Director for the Nicklaus Children's Hospital Foundation.

LINA HIDALGO County Judge for Harris County

Lina is the county judge for Harris County, Texas. She is the first woman and the first Latina to be elected to the position of Harris County Judge. Lina was born in Colombia and grew up in Peru and Mexico, where her parents were offered job opportunities, before emigrating to America in 2005. Lina is a proud product of Houston-area public schools and, as her parents dreamed, was the first in her family to attend college in the U.S. She graduated from Stanford University with a degree in political science the same year she became a U.S. citizen. Lina has dedicated hundreds of hours to our County’s most vulnerable communities—from her time at the Texas Civil Rights Project to serving as a Spanish-English medical interpreter at the Texas Medical Center and supporting immigrants in search of lost loved ones. Over the past few years and while pursuing a joint degree in law and public policy at NYU and Harvard, Lina conducted research on criminal justice policies and coordinated with advocacy groups and governments to push for criminal justice reform. Before that, Lina worked throughout Southeast Asia to promote transparency and accountability by supporting journalists, bloggers and artists. She helped create and fund a program to bring Stanford students to public policy positions and has served the immigrant and incarcerated communities at any opportunity and in various states.

"BEING YOUR OWN BOSS MEANS YOU'RE ACCOUNTABLE TO THE MOST UNFORGIVING OF AUDIENCES, YOURSELF. WHICH IS WHY MY "ROLE" MAINLY ENTAILS DOING MY BEST TO ALWAYS ACT WITH INTEGRITY. WE CENTER WOMEN AND THE HEALTH OF OUR PLANET IN ALL WE DO." Nathalie Molina Niño

CAROLINA JANICELLI

Managing Director J.P. Morgan

Carolina Jannicelli is a Managing Director and Head of the Law Firm Group at the J.P. Morgan Private Bank. She and her team advice wealthy families and individuals on all aspects of their balance sheet, including investments, cash management, lending and estate planning. Carolina’s past roles include building the Latin America High Net Worth business at J.P. Morgan and leading Asset & Wealth Management’s global strategy for developing Advisor talent. She began her career with J.P. Morgan in 1996 at the Investment Bank, focusing on Mergers and Acquisitions and Debt Capital Markets. Carolina obtained her Bachelor’s in finance and investments at Babson College, and her Master's in the History of Art and Design at the Pratt Institute. Her thesis, “The Chase Manhattan Bank: A Legacy of Art in the Workplace,” chronicles David Rockefeller’s vision in building what is today the JPMorgan Chase art collection. Carolina is on the Corporate Advisory Board of UnidosUS, co-chairs the Board of Lineage Project, which brings mindfulness practices to incarcerated and vulnerable youth, and is a member of the Arts of the Americas Circle at the Americas Society in New York City.

LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020

MICHELLE HERRERA-MULLIGAN

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MARIA TERESA KUMAR CEO Voto Latino

María Teresa co-founded a grassroots political organization with actress Rosario Dawson called Voto Latino. Their organization was designed to encourage and empower younger generations of Latinx voters and advocate for inclusive political participation. Using media and technology as a central tool, Voto Latino creates innovative digital campaigns and programming to increase voter registration and civic engagement in Latinx communities. She has served as the President and CEO of the organization since its inception, with the ultimate goal of “franchising as many people as possible to make sure we have a healthy, robust and transparent democracy.” In 2014, María Teresa launched the VL Innovators Challenge which granted up to $500,000 to technological projects that proposed innovative ways to help the Latinx community. Kumar is also a recognized media commentator, speaker, and writer for national publications, and her work has been profiled on HBO’s Celebrity Habla and PBS’s Undergraduates. Additionally, Kumar serves on the boards of the Latino Leaders Network, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and EMILY’s List.

CEO & Managing Partner WE Family Offices

As CEO and Managing Partner of WE Family Offices, a global family office serving ultra high net worth families, Maria Elena engages client families to build their wealth enterprises and provide the support and control they need to manage their wealth as a successful business enterprise. She is a recognized leader in the wealth management industry, and is a founder of the Institute for the Fiduciary Standard. Before founding WE, she served as CEO of GenSpring Family Offices, a wealth management firm. Prior to that, she served as chairman and chief executive officer of JP Morgan Private Bank, an institution with more than $300 billion in client assets under supervision. Her career in banking began in 1977 at Citibank. She joined the Chase Manhattan Private Bank in 1983 and was named head of Chase’s worldwide private banking business in 1997. Following the Chase-JP Morgan merger, she became chairman and chief executive officer of JP Morgan Private Bank. Maria Elena serves on the boards of The Walt Disney Company and The Coca-Cola Company. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and as of March 2019, she became a Trustee of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

GRACE LIEBLEIN

Grace is a recently retired Global Operating and Management Executive. She serves as a board member of industry-leading NYSE companies. Grace is known for her wide-ranging leadership and operating experience gained through broad GM executive positions. Her global operations and finance expereince was gained through leadership positions in both Brazil and Mexico. Grace holds a record of credible and exceptional leadership in developing and implementing strategy.

MARIA ELENA LAGOMASINO

LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020

Board of Directors Honeywell, Southwest Airlines, American Tower

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Vice President and General Manager Intel

Sandra is responsible for partnering with the sports and media industry to provide the future fans with the next generation of immersive media experiences. In her role, she leads a team that is focused on leading the business, marketing and market development efforts of Intel Sports and Studios. Lopez is also the co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on VR/AR/XR. Sandra is an active member of Intel’s Leadership Council for the LatinX community and Women at Intel and throughout various industry councils. Her active participation is her commitment to drive leadership advancement for underrepresented minorities and ensuring the voices are represented in the products that the industry creates. Specifically, Sandra focuses on mentoring the next generation of female and Hispanic leaders and has created a formal Latinx mentorship program, engaging her peers and influencing other leaders to help advance Hispanics to the higher ranks. Previously, she led and managed the fashion wearable business for Intel’s New Technology Group. Earlier in her Intel career, Lopez held various roles within corporate marketing, including director of new business marketing and consumer marketing.

MONIKA MANTILLA

Co-Founder & Partner Small Business Community Capital, Altura Capital

Monika Mantilla has over 25 years of domestic and international company building and investment management experience. Monika leads or serves as advisor to several initiatives to grow and expand the small, emerging and diverse institutional money manager category, as well as to channel investments and strategic resources to entrepreneurs in underserved markets. She has spearheaded many industry white papers and two white papers about Latinos in Financial Services and Investment Management that have become a widely recognized industry resource. She is a frequent presenter at national and International forums, and has been invited by the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee to address challenges and trends related to Hispanics in financial services. Monika sits on the Board of Directors for private companies Pasteleria Cidrines and Coastal Painting Company. She also serves on the Board of the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative (SLEI), the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), the USHCC Foundation, which she Chairs, and the Capital Advisory Board for the Billion Dollar Roundtable (BDR).

MONICA MARTINEZ

SVP, External Affairs MI & National Hispanic Business Development Comerica Bank

Nationally, Monica oversees the bank’s Hispanic business development and diversity. In Michigan, she manages corporate contributions and external community reinvestment functions for the statewide market. In her role as national director of Hispanic business development, she nurtures relationships with key community stakeholders nationwide while serving as a spokesperson for the bank. Martinez serves as the president of the Comerica Foundation. Her charitable contributions and Community Reinvestment Act responsibilities in Michigan include philanthropic giving, day-to-day program management, sponsorship programs, financial education, and supporting non-traditional lending in Michigan. Martinez serves in a leadership capacity on several nonprofit boards including the Michigan Hispanic Chamber, SER Jobs for Progress National, New Detroit, and the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition.

LIZA MALDONADO

General Manager, Puerto Rico & Caribbean Islands Avon

As the General Manager for Puerto Rico and the Caribbean Islands, Lisa leads all strategic planning and operations. Lisa works directly on local marketing adaptation and people leadership while defining and executingl plans to increase efficiency. As a strategic and consummate professional with a demonstrated record of creating new divisions Lisa has lead brands such as L'Oréal and Revlon as well. At L'Oréal she was the Director of Professional Division brands for eight years. Liza is known for her focus on employee engagement and organizational effectiveness.

MARIA MARTINEZ

EVP and Chief Customer Experience Officer Cisco

As a member of the executive leadership team, Martinez oversees Cisco's $13B Services and Customer Success organizations that are responsible for helping customers transform their businesses through Cisco's broad portfolio of software, subscription and services offerings. Most recently, she served as President, Customer Success Group and Success Cloud, as well as General Manager for Latin America at Salesforce. Prior to joining Salesforce, Martinez managed Microsoft's global services business, including professional services and customer support for all products.

During her six-year tenure, she led the business to outperform revenue targets and to significantly increase Microsoft's customer satisfaction rating. Martinez has held a number of other leadership positions at Motorola and AT&T. She also served as the CEO of Embrace Networks where she led the development of the start-up's technical strategy, launched its first software platform and developed its customer base. Martinez serves on the Board of Directors for McKesson and the Silicon Valley Education Foundation.

"I ENVISION THAT MY ROLE IN THE FUTURE IS TO LEAD EFFORTS THAT AMPLIFY THE VOICE OF LATINOS NATIONALLY AND DRIVE INITIATIVES THAT SUPPORT EDUCATION, ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND WEALTH BUILDING." Alice Rodriguez

LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020

SANDRA LOPEZ

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OFELIA MELENDREZ-KUMPF Field Vice President McDonald's USA

In her role, Ofelia is accountable for the management of a $2.1 billion business unit including 800+ McDonald’s restaurants. The region encompasses all of Southern California, from San Luis Obispo to San Ysidro, and is one of the premier leadership regions within the McDonald’s U.S. system. Ofelia joined McDonald’s more than 20 years ago as a manager trainee and advanced quickly through all phases of restaurant management and supervision, including support of restaurants in both the U.S. and Latin America. In 2006, she was promoted to Vice President of Operations for the Greater Southwest Region. She has been an active member and supporter of diversity networks throughout her McDonald’s career and in 2010 was the recipient of the company’s Pat Harris Award, given to outstanding leaders with exemplary diversity and inclusion practices. She has been recognized by McDonald’s franchisees, including the Women’s Business Leadership Network (WBLN) and the McDonald’s Hispanic Operators Association. She is currently a Board Member of both Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California and Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego.

"I’VE MADE IT MY RESPONSIBILITY TO CREATE A LEGACY OF POSITIVE SOCIAL IMPACT, AND I WORK TO ACHIEVE THIS THROUGH SERVING ON LOCAL, REGIONAL, AND NATIONAL BOARDS THAT ADVOCATE FOR GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN AND PEOPLE OF COLOR." Rosa Santana

NATHALIE MOLINA NIÑO

LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020

Investor, Entrepreneur, and Author O³, Leapfrog, The New Revolution for Women Entrepreneurs

Nathalie is an entrepreneur, builder capitalist (at O³) and tech globalization veteran focused on high-growth businesses that benefit women and the planet. She is the author of LEAPFROG, The New Revolution for Women Entrepreneurs and serves as a Venture Partner at Connectivity Capital Partners. Molina Niño launched her first tech startup at the age of twenty and is the co-founder of Entrepreneurs@Athena at the Athena Center for Leadership Studies of Barnard College at Columbia University.

She spent 15 years advising organizations such as Disney, Microsoft, MTV, Mattel, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. During that time she co-led the launch and growth of a multinational technology globalization business with Lionbridge (NASDAQ: LIOX) into a $100M operation in 30+ countries. Nathalie advises the WOCstar Fund, FullCycle, and BlueIO. She serves on the advisory board of the National Institute for Reproductive Health, WE NYC (Women Entrepreneurs NYC) and Vote, Run, Lead. Prior to founding her previous venture, BRAVA Investments, Molina Niño launched Nely Galán’s education venture, Self-Made, and stepped in as CRO of PowerToFly, the fastest growing hiring platform for women in tech and beyond.

MEREDITH MENDES

Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer Jenner & Block

As Jenner & Block’s Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer, Meredith Mendes is responsible for providing strategic direction, financial planning and analysis and operations management for all offices. Meredith advises the firm’s Policy Committee and is a member of the Audit, Finance, Investment, Tax and Management Committees. Prior to joining the firm, she was Worldwide Chief Financial Officer of Daniel J. Edelman, Inc., a global public relations firm with 41 offices and 1,900 employees.

She also served as CFO of Medline Industries, Inc., the largest privately owned manufacturer and distributor of health care supplies in the world; and Vice President, Public Banking, at First Chicago Capital Markets (now JP Morgan Chase), where she improved the bank’s ranking from ninth to first in the national, corporate backed tax-exempt bond segment. She is Vice Chair of the Chicago Academy of Sciences and its Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and serves on the audit and executive committees. She is a member of the AICPA, The Economic Club of Chicago, Hyde Park Angels, University of Chicago Women’s Board, Women Corporate Directors, Latino Corporate Directors Association and the National Association of Corporate Directors, where she is Board Leadership Fellow.

SUSANA MENDOZA Illinois State Comptroller

Susana Mendoza was sworn in as Illinois Comptroller on December 5, 2016.

During a time of historic fiscal crisis, Mendoza has been an advocate for stability, comprehensive budget solutions, and open and transparent financial reporting. The Office of the Illinois Comptroller is charged with maintaining the State’s central fiscal accounts and ordering payments into and out of the funds. The Comptroller’s Office maintains a website that gives residents detailed information about the State’s fiscal health, employee salaries, outstanding bills, and vendor contracts. Susana recently oversaw a revamp of the website to make it user-friendly and easier to navigate. She was the first Hispanic independently elected to statewide office in Illinois after her historic win as the first woman elected City Clerk in Chicago in 2011. Susana was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 2000 as the youngest member of the Illinois General Assembly and served six terms, representing communities in Chicago’s southwest side including the neighborhood in which she was born. In the General Assembly, Mendoza was recognized for her leadership and legislation on social services, education, law enforcement, job creation, and animal welfare.

CHRISTINE MONTENEGRO

Partner Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP

Christine Montenegro, partner at Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP, is one of the leading Latina lawyers handling high-stakes litigation in the nation. Notably, she played an integral role in developing a unique litigation strategy for Harbinger Capital Partners, a majority shareholder of LightSquared, in its lawsuit against Dish Chairman Charles Ergen. Christine represents investment and hedge funds, financial institutions, and corporations in commercial disputes, securities fraud, RICO, antitrust, constitutional law and defamation. A strong advocate for the advancement of women lawyers, Christine spearheads the firm’s Women’s Initiative Committee, which mentors and advises women professionals on career and professional development opportunities.

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Managing Director, Co-Head of International Wealth Management Morgan Stanley

Ileana leads two related businesses at Morgan Stanley—as Co-Head of International Wealth Management, and Head of International Banking & Lending. She’s also involved in several nonprofit and professional organizations devoted to education, the arts and Latinx issues including ALFPA, the Association of Latino Professionals For America, which recently honored her as one of its Most Powerful Latinas for the third year in a row. In addition, she was named to the 2019 Morgan Stanley MAKERS class. Musa joined Morgan Stanley in 2017 as part of the firm’s strategic focus on international high-net-worth clients. She brings an appropriately worldly perspective to the role, as she was born in Cuba, lived in Spain briefly during her childhood and then moved to Miami, where she is currently based.

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ U.S. Representative D-NY 14th District

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a third-generation Bronxite, educator, and organizer serving the 14th district of New York in the Bronx and Queens. Ocasio-Cortez grew up experiencing the reality of New York’s rising income inequality, inspiring her to organize her community and run for office on a progressive platform with a campaign that rejects corporate PAC funds. Alexandria attended Boston University and graduated with degrees in Economics and International Relations. During this period she also had the opportunity to work in the office of the late Senator Ted Kennedy. Her role in Senator Kennedy’s office provided a firsthand view of the heartbreak families endured after being separated by ICE. These experiences led the Congresswoman to organize Latinx youth in the Bronx and across the United States, eventually, she began work as an Educational Director with the National Hispanic Institute, a role in which she helped Americans, DREAMers and undocumented youth in community leadership and college readiness. Since her swearing-in to Congress in January of 2019, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez has remained committed to serving working-class people over corporate interests and advocating for social, racial, economic, and environmental justice, often creating controversy among the stablishment leaders for her statements and high tone comments.

YVETTE OSTOLAZA Partner Sidley

Yvette is a member of Sidley’s Management and Executive Committees, the managing partner of the Dallas office, global co-leader of the Litigation practice and a member of the firm’s COVID-19 Task Force. She litigates matters in U.S. state and federal trial and appellate courts on behalf of global clients. She coordinates and tries proceedings in a variety of arbitration venues, serves on the Roster of Neutral Arbitrators for the AAA for commercial litigation matters and on the CPR Panel of Distinguished Neutrals as an arbitrator for the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution. She served as the Vice Chair, Ethics and Investigations Subcommittee of the ABA Corporate Governance Committee.Yvette is involved in the coordination and argument of appeals in courts across the U.S., which includes the U.S. Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals, the Texas Supreme Court and the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas. Yvette has advised many Board Special Committees, including Southwest Airlines, Fossil, Key Energy and NPR. Some of her clients include SM Energy, Sally Beauty, HMS Holdings, Michaels, Best Buy, Sterigenics, Forterra, SAExploration and JPMorgan.

VERONICA MUZQUIZ EDWARDS CEO InGenesis, Inc.

Veronica is the CEO of InGenesis, one of the largest workforce solutions companies in North America and an organization that does business with nearly half of the Fortune 100 companies. In 2017 she was elected by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to serve as chair and head of the U.S. Delegation for the ISO Technical Advisory Group developing global healthcare management standards.

Dr. Edwards’ focus on organizational excellence led to her selection to the 2017 Baldrige Fellows Program. She serves as a Regent for The Texas State University System and the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW). Dr. Edwards is a graduate and Distinguished Alumna of Texas State University. She earned Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degrees from UIW, where she was also recognized as a Distinguished Alumna.

GINA OROZCO MEJIA

VP, Gas Engineering and System Integrity SoCal Gas

Gina Orozco is vice president, gas engineering and system integrity for Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), Sempra Energy’s regulated California utilities. Gina oversees gas engineering and system integrity, and has responsibility for engineering support, programs, operations training, asset management, research and development, geographic information systems and operations technology functions. Previously, Orozco was vice president of gas distribution responsible for providing leadership to a team of approximately 2,300 employees at SoCalGas and SDG&E responsible for gas distribution operations, maintenance, construction, resource management, local engineering and planning.

Since joining SoCalGas as an engineering intern in 1990, Orozco has held a variety of increasingly responsible roles in engineering, field services, system operations, environmental, international development and labor relations. Orozco has a master’s degree in business administration from Claremont Graduate University and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from California State University, Los Angeles.

She currently serves on the board of directors for Adventist Health White Memorial Medical Center Charitable Foundation and the California State Parks Foundation.

Orozco also is on the Drucker Industry Advisory Board and is an alumna of the Southern California Leadership Network and Leadership California.

CARMEN PALAFOX

Partner MiLA Capital

Carmen Palafox is a Partner at MiLA Capital, a seed-stage Venture Capital firm in Los Angeles focused on funding tech you can touch. She was Vice President at Dimensional Fund Advisors where she scaled operations into LATAM, Canada, and Europe going from $75 Billion AUM to $300 Billion AUM. Carmen believes in the power of capital markets to spur growth and innovation. She enjoys coaching entrepreneurs on finance and strategic planning. Carmen was awarded the Rising Star Award from the Los Angeles Latino Chamber of Commerce. She was spotlighted by the NVCA as a Rising Star in VC and featured by LA Magazine as 1 of 13 of LA’s Powerful Women. In 2019, Carmen spoke on Bloomberg TVs Top Tech Trends to watch. Carmen is also on the founding team of LatinxVCs. Carmen holds a BA in Economics from the University of Southern California, an MA in Sports Management from the University of San Francisco, and an MBA from Berkeley-Haas.

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ILEANA MUSA

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ADRIANA PERALES

President GP Mobile, LLC

Adriana Perales started GP Mobile as part of the T-Mobile "Estamos juntos" program that was strategically engineered to serve the Hispanic community. She has intimately been involved in the business from the first day as an owner operator of the stores as GP Mobile continued to grow. While ensuring the organization was operating optimally she organically grew GP Mobile slowly from 2009 to 2012 from one store to thirteen locations in the Dallas/Forth Worth market. As of 2018, Perales has grown a single store operation in one city to a extremely successful 141 store operation spanning 8 states from the Midwest to the East Coast that has successfully grown through the innovation of providing over 1,000 employees with amazing tools and resources to continue to provide a environment in her stores that supports GP Mobile Mission, Vision, and Values. Adriana sits on the board of the Greenhill School, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Theater and is Chair for the Nasher Prize 2020

SONIA PEREZ

President of the Southeast States AT&T

Sonia Pérez is responsible for developing the overall strategic direction of AT&T’s corporate initiatives throughout her region of Louisiana, Kentucky and North Carolina. She is committed to engaging the ecosystem of state, local and federal government in creating Smart Cities to solve challenges by deploying 5G broadband speeds so that all customers will have the opportunity to benefit from a connected environment. Based in Baton Rouge, Sonia serves as an Independent Director for Sanderson Farms, Inc., and on the executive committees of The University of Texas Foundation, the Louisiana Board of Regents and The National WWII Museum. Also among her proudest distinctions is the 2006 El Abrecaminos Award from the Texas Mexican American Legislative Caucus and a1996 presidential appointment to the Advisory Council of the Border Environment Cooperation Commission, a binational organization supporting the sustainable development of environmental infrastructure on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border.

CATHERINE PINO

LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020

Founder & CEO D&P Creative Strategies, LLC

Catherine’s aim is to advance corporate, philanthropic and legislative efforts that mirror her deep passion and commitment to social justice and civil rights issues. She has extensive experience working in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors, where she developed an expertise for designing and evaluating programs that target underserved populations. She served as the Deputy Director of Urban School Reform for the Carnegie Corporation of New York, where she managed a $60 million high school reform initiative, a multi-million-dollar portfolio, and a $25 million Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant. After college, Catherine worked in the Capitol Hill office of New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman, where she learned first hand how public policy and legislation intersect with nonprofit efforts. Her burgeoning interest in public policy led her to the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). At the Washington, DC-based Independent Sector, she served as the Director of Government Relations.

She represented nonprofit interests on a broad range of issues on Capitol Hill and was the liaison to the White House & Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Currently, she serves as a board member on the Arcus Foundation.

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BEA PEREZ

Senior VP, Chief Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability Officer The Coca-Cola Company

Bea leads an integrated team across public affairs and communications, sustainability and marketing assets to support the company’s new growth model and path to become a total beverage company. In this role, Bea aligns a diverse portfolio of work against critical business objectives to support brands, communities, consumers and partners worldwide. She continues to oversee the company’s sports and entertainment assets, including iconic partnerships with Olympics, Special Olympics and FIFA. Since 2011, Bea served as The Coca-Cola Company’s first Chief Sustainability Officer, where she developed and led progress against comprehensive global sustainability commitments with a focus on water stewardship and women’s economic empowerment. Prior to leading the company’s sustainability efforts, Bea served as CMO for Coca-Cola North America, where she built brands by developing some of the company’s most historic relationships, including American Idol and NASCAR. She began her career at The Coca-Cola Company in 1996 and held various roles in brand management and field operations before becoming CMO. Bea serves on various boards including The Coca-Cola Foundation. She also serves on the corporate boards for Primerica and Grainger.

ANA PINCZUK

Senior Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer Anaplan

Ana drives Anaplan’s Product Management and Engineering teams responsible for Anaplan’s product plans, software and technology engineering, and cloud platform. Prior to this role, Ana was President and General Manager for HPE Pointnext, HPE’s $7B+ services business until August 2018. Previously, Ana was the Chief Product Officer at Veritas where she was responsible for driving a $2.5B products organization/ Prior to joining Veritas, Ana spent 15 years at Cisco where she held various roles including SVP, Global Services Sales, Services COO and SVP, Global Services Support. Ana also spent nine years in the Cisco Development Organization driving Engineering groups, including Cisco’s high-end routing platform and IOS product management and software development. Ana started her career at AT&T Bell Laboratories as a systems engineer and held numerous roles there, including Vice President responsible for deploying AT&T’s Internet backbone. Ana is on the board of Aptiv (APTV) and KLA (KLAC). She is also a member of the International Women’s Forum, Anitab.org Board of Trustees, Cornell Computer and Information Sciences Advisory Board, and Carnegie Mellon Engineering Advisory Board.

MONICA PONCE DE LEON

Architecture President, MPdL Studio & Dean, Princeton School of Architecture

Monica is a professor and dean of the School of Architecture at Princeton University and founding principal of MPdL Studio. From 2008 through 2015, she was the dean of Taubman College at the University of Michigan. For over 12 years, Ponce de Leon taught at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard, where she became a professor and served as the Graduate Program coordinator and was director of the Digital Fabrication Lab. As a practitioner, Monica has been honored with the National Design Award in Architecture from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian National Design Museum; the Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; the USA Target Fellow in Architecture and Design from United States Artists; and the Young Architects and Emerging Voices prize from the Architectural League of New York. Her work has received numerous awards, including 13 Progressive Architecture Awards, 13 awards from the American Institute of Architects, as well as the prestigious Harleston Parker Medal from the Boston Society of Architects. In 2016 Ponce de Leon was inducted into the National Academy of Design. Monica has a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard, as well as a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Miami.

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Executive Vice President, General Counsel, North America Mastercard

Pilar is responsible for all legal, regulatory, government, and franchise affairs in Master- Card’s North American markets. Prior, she was senior vice president, global public policy, and regulatory strategy counsel. In that role, she led MasterCard’s advocacy on public policy and regulatory matters with governments and other relevant stakeholders across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, managing a global team across these markets. She also worked extensively on trade policy matters with the U.S. and other governments, focusing on WTO matters, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and other regional trade agreements. Pilar began her tenure at MasterCard as region counsel in the Latin America and Caribbean Region. Before joining MasterCard, she worked as in-house counsel in other sectors and was based in Miami and Buenos Aires. Pilar began her legal career as an associate at the law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, working in the New York and London offices on international capital markets and syndicated finance matters. Pilar is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the Board of Directors of The United States Council for International Business, The World Affairs Forum (Fairfield/ Westchester Chapter), and on the National and Louisiana Boards of Appleseed, an organization dedicated to advancing social justice through pro bono legal work by effecting change at the policy level.

ALEIDA RIOS

Group Head of Engineering BP

Aleida serves on BP’s global operations executive leadership team and sponsors the company’s Supplier Diversity Council and Gulf of Mexico Women’s Leadership Council, which supports gender diversity and promotes networking and career development opportunities. She is also a member of BP’s leadership council for the Million Women Mentors program, encouraging employees to mentor girls and young women who are interested in pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and math. Aleida began her career at BP as an intern in the oil fields of West Texas, and later went on to work at the company’s world headquarters in London as the executive assistant to the group head of safety and operational risk. Throughout her 25-year career at BP, Aleida has held a variety of leadership posts in operations and engineering. Prior to her current role, Aleida was vice president of operations for the company’s North American onshore business, which spanned seven states and included nine operating centers, 1,300 employees, more than 10,000 operated wells, and 1.5 billion cubic feet of daily natural gas production.

MARIA RIVAS

Chief Medical Officer, SVP of Global Medical Affairs and Global Evidence and Value Development EMD Serono, Inc

Dr. Rivas is a pharmaceutical executive, experienced corporate board director, and US- trained, board-certified endocrinologist. At S&P 500 and international companies, Dr. Rivas has started-up, led and transformed high-performing global teams of up to 2000 medical, research, safety, and compliance professionals in over 90 countries. She has launched several blockbuster medicines in numerous therapeutic areas and managed budgets of $0.5- 1 billion dollars/year. Dr. Rivas’s work has enriched the products’ value propositions throughout their lifecycles, impacted patient outcomes, and enhanced the reputations of their respective companies.

LILIAN RINCON

Senior Director of Product Management Google

Liliana is a product executive with more than twenty years of consumer Internet experience and fifteen years of management experience. Her role as senior director of product at Google, she is responsible for category leading products in Artificial Intelligence (Google Assistant). Prior to Google she was leading Skype's AI core assets including Skype Translator and debuting messaging, audio and bots. She has also lead teams in Microsoft as Senior Lead Program Manager of Bing Mobile.

ELENA RIOS

President & CEO National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA)

Building a career in health policy research and administration as well as medical school recruitment, Dr. Rios has held numerous appointments in both fields. She has served on the UCLA School of Medicine Admissions Committee and California State Bar Examiners Committee, and has been appointed to a series of government-led research initiatives including the White House National Health Care Reform Task Force, in 1993. In 1994 Dr. Rios was named advisor for regional and minority women's health at the U.S. Department for Health and Human Services, served on the advisory committee for health and science recruitment (part of the President's commission on educational excellence for Hispanic Americans) and was also a delegate to the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1998, Dr. Rios became president of the National Hispanic Medical Association (an organization she helped found in 1994) and CEO of Hispanic-Serving Health Professional School, Incorporated.

KIM RIVERA

President Strategy and Business Management, CLO HP

In this role, she manages the worldwide legal department, responsible for all aspects of legal, government affairs, compliance and ethics. Kim has more than 20 years of experience advising Fortune 500 companies on significant corpo- rate transactions, governance matters, securities, compliance, risk management, audit and litigation matters. Most recently, Kim served as the Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary for DaVita HealthCare Partners, a Global Fortune 250 healthcare services company. Previously, Kim was the Chief Compliance Officer and Head of International Legal Services at The Clorox Company, where she also oversaw labor and employment counseling and litigation. Before joining Clorox, Kim served as Chief Litigation Counsel for Rockwell Automation as well as General Counsel for its $2B Automation Controls and Information Group. Kim is passionate about giving back to the community. She has served on numerous non-profit boards including the California Latino Community Foundation and the Denver Metro Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Kim is a frequent speaker on diversity and inclusion in corporations and the legal profession, with emphasis on women in leadership.

LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020

PILAR RAMOS

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MIRIAM RIVERA

Managing Director Ulu Ventures

Ulu Ventures is a top seed stage venture fund in Silicon Valley focused on IT startups. Ulu drives better VC returns using decision analysis which helps reduce cognitive bias. Miriam is dedicated to increasing diversity in both the entrepreneurial and investment communities. Prior to Ulu, Miriam was vice-president/general counsel at Google, which she joined in 2001 as the second attorney. There she helped build and lead an award winning global legal team. Her work to re-design and simplify contracts helped Google scale from $85m to $10b in 5 years.Miriam earned AB, AM and JD/MBA degrees from Stanford; was a trustee at the university and currently serves on Stanford’s Lead Council and the Stanford Law School Venture Fund. She has been honored with the Stanford Medal, awarded to fewer than 1 percent of alumni. She is also the co-founder of Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs. Miriam serves on the investment committee of Acumen Fund America, an impact investment fund serving the needs of low income Americans. She is a Kauffman Fellow in venture capital and is on the Kauffman Foundation Board, dedicated to increasing opportunity through education and entrepreneurship. She is also a member of the Launch with GS Advisory Council, an initiative by Goldman Sachs to reduce the investing gap for Black and LatinX founders while driving returns.

ALICE RODRIGUEZ

Managing Director, Consumer Bank Senior Advisor JPMorgan Chase

Alice Rodriguez is a Consumer Bank Senior Advisor and is a critical decision maker as well as key driver in realizing the organization's vision of helping their clients with financial health. Alice has over 30 years of extensive banking experience with JPMorgan Chase and its predecessors. She has held executive positions in Business Banking, Consumer Banking and Wealth Management. Her professional investment licenses include series 7, 9, 10 and 66. As part of her commitment to leadership and her community, Alice has served on numerous boards and has been recognized with several awards and honors.

MARIA SALAMANCA

LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020

Principal Unshackled Ventures

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Maria Salamanca joined Unshackled Ventures in 2015 as the first investment hire. She has been involved 40+ investments since then. In 2018, she was first Latina named Forbes 30 Under 30 for Venture Capital and Business Insiders’ Under 30 Rising Stars. Her support for the Latinx community also won her the 2017 California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Shark of Year. Outside of Unshackled, she co-leads the deal-flow committee at All Raise, focused on women in venture.

She also co-founded LatinxVC, to increase retention of Latinx venture capitalists and emerging managers. She is a member of California Governor Newsom’s Office of Business and Economic Development Small Business & Innovative Startups Recovery Taskforce. She's also spent time in the political world. She started her career at FWD.us a bipartisan political organization focused on immigration and criminal justice reform. The group was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Ron Conway, Reid Hoffman, and other tech leaders. After the 2016 election, she was founding COO at Swing Left and supported Higher Ground Labs with the first-ever political technology landscape. Maria was born in Bogota, Colombia, and immigrated to the United States when she was 7 years old as a refugee. She was raised in Orlando, Florida. She attended UC Berkeley where she studied Government and Legal Studies.

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SANDRA RIVERA

EVP & Chief People Officer Intel

Sandra Rivera is executive vice president and chief people officer at Intel Corporation. She leads Intel’s Human Resources organization and is responsible for driving greater business results through a culture that embraces diversity and inclusion as well as being responsible for the company’s policies and programs related to human resources worldwide. Before assuming her current role, she led the Network Platforms Group, which was a global organization of over 3,000 employees that drove the transformation of network infrastructure to Intel-based solutions and enabled breakthrough ways to integrate Intel’s silicon and software portfolio to create greater customer value. The organization was one of the Data Center Group’s fastest-growing businesses, enabling Intel to become a market leader for network logic silicon, an annual $20 billion market segment. Rivera joined Intel in 2000 as a marketing director after the acquisition of Dialogic Corporation. Before joining Intel, Rivera co-founded and served as president of The CTI Authority, and served as president of the computer telephony division at Catalyst Telecom. Rivera holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Pennsylvania State University. She sits on the Equinix board of directors and is a member of the Intel Hispanic Leadership Council.

CLAUDIA ROMO EDELMAN

Founder We Are All Human

Claudia Romo Edelman is an advocate for the inclusion equity and representation. Her mission is to use her voice to build bridges and remind us that we are all human. She is the Founder of the We Are All Human Foundation; she is also the Co-Host of ‘Global GoalsCast’, a podcast distributed by CBS News Digital, which highlights global progress through the stories of champions making a difference.

Claudia is the Editor at Large of Thrive Global and she will step into the role of Editor in Chief of Thrive Hispanics. Prior to this, the Mexican-Swiss diplomat was seconded to the Executive Office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to lead communications and advocacy for the Sustainable Development Goals. Claudia is the former Chief of Advocacy of UNICEF. While living in Europe for 25 years, she successfully led public relations and brand and marketing for global organizations including the World Economic Forum, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB & Malaria.

MARIA SALINAS

CEO Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce

Maria Salinas is the President & CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, the largest business association in Los Angeles County representing member companies and serving the interests of more than 235,000 businesses across the Los Angeles region. Maria took the helm of the organization in August of 2018 and became the first woman and Latina to lead the Chamber in its 132-year history. An accomplished business woman, entrepreneur and a determined community leader, Maria's business acumen and financial expertise provides her with the right experience to lead the L.A. Area Chamber. Maria is an appointee to Governor Gavin Newsom’s Commission on the Future of Work and named to his Business and Jobs Recovery Task Force. She was appointed to the US Chamber of Commerce’s Committee of 100, a distinction reserved for the top 100 Chambers across the country.

She represents the Los Angeles business community in state- wide policy initiatives with the Coalition of Regional Economic Association Leaders (R.E.A.L.), she is a member of the Board of Directors of Mobility 21, a regional transportation effort, and an appointee of Mayor Eric Garcetti to the MEXLA Commission, a foreign policy initiative between Mexico and Los Angeles. She serves on the Board of Directors of The Music Center, Pacific Council, UnidosUS and Southern California Leadership Network among others.

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Founder & CEO Social Glass

A lawyer, public policy expert and tech entrepreneur creating the world's next political system after democracy. Previously, co-founded Matternet, a Silicon Valley company pioneering drone logistics networks as the next paradigm of transportation. Under her leadership, Matternet engaged with The White House, US Congress, FAA, and NASA to enact the first drone rule in the United States in 2016, and became the first drone delivery platform authorized for permanent operations over a populated city in 2017. Paola co-established the Dominican Republic’s Constitutional Court, and has collaborated with the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the OECD, and the Dominican Republic’s Elections Court, developing striking public infrastructure projects and strategic partnerships integrating exponential technologies. A Fulbright scholar and graduate from George Washington, Georgetown and Singularity University, she’s been featured as CNET Top 20 Latin in Tech, Forbes Top 50 Women of Power in the Dominican Republic, and LinkedIn Top Professionals Under 35.

SUSAN SANTIAGO

Head of Lifestyle and Miraval Operations Hyatt Hotels Corporation

Susan currently serves as Head of Lifestyle & Miraval Operations, where she is responsible for operations of Hyatt’s Lifestyle Division and Miraval properties in the Americas. Susan previously served as senior vice president in global select service operations. She is a seasoned hospitality veteran and has been a member of the Hyatt family for more than 25 years. Starting her career at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay, Susan has worked her way through an ascending series of food and beverage positions at Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport, Grand Hyatt New York, Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, Hyatt Regency Phoenix, and Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort Spa and Casino. Additionally, Susan has served as corporate food and beverage director for Hyatt hotels and resorts in the U.S., and vice president of food and beverage operations for Hyatt hotels and resorts in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. Susan currently serves on the Inclusion & Diversity Council for Hyatt, and is co-chair and executive sponsor for HyPride, Hyatt’s LGBT diversity business resource group (DBRG). Outside of Hyatt, Susan is a Board of Directors member of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) Women in Lodging.

MYRNA SOTO

Chief Strategy and Trust Officer Forcepoint

Myrna serves as a strategic business and technology driver of the company’s enterprise vision, strategy and programs to protect people, critical data and IP both within the company and for thousands of Forcepoint customers around the globe.

She also serves as a global leader and champion for both the development and execution of strategic initiatives that continue to propel Forcepoint forward as the industry leader for user and data protection worldwide and global enterprises’ trusted cybersecurity partner of choice. Before joining Forcepoint, Myrna served as the Chief Operating Officer in Digital Hands. In this role she was a critical leader in securing the company's first capital round of funding and building the company’s world-class leadership team. Prior to Digital Hands, Soto was a Partner at ForgePoint Capital (Formerly known as Trident Capital Cybersecurity). As a security and information technology veteran Myrna held senior leadreship roles and lead Fortune 500 companies including American Express, Comcast and MGM Resorts. Myrna serves on the Board of CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Spirit Airlines ( NYSE:SAVE) and Popular Inc (NASDAQ:BPOP) operating under the names of Banco Popular and Popular Bank.

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ROSA SANTANA

Founder & CEO Santana Group

For over 35 years, Rosa Santana has been a driving force within the U.S./Mexico staffing industry and is recognized internationally as a human capital solutions expert. In 2002, she launched Integrated Human Capital (IHC) in the U.S. market and simultaneously opened her cross-border company, Workforce Management Mexico, in Cuidad Juárez. In 2014, Toyota introduced Santana Group’s Forma Automotive LLC as the company’s first Hispanic woman-owned direct Tier I supplier. Forma Automotive provides fully assembled beds for the award-winning Tacoma truck. Today, the Santana Group includes Integrated Human Capital, Workforce Management Mexico, Diversa, Oveana, and FormaAutomotive, and each company addresses clients’ targeted needs to provide comprehensive, fully customizable outsourcing solutions. Rosa has embraced her Hispanic- and woman-owned business distinctions and strives to empower other MWBEs through serving on local, regional, and national boards, including the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Latino Business Action and the Women’s Business Council Southwest.

JULIETA SCHUSTER

CIO Global Feminine Care, Family Care & PG Ventures Procter and Gamble

Julieta is Business Technology an IT executive with multinational experience for over 19 years at Procter & Gamble. Her international experience with Procter & Gamble covers working in Venezuela, Latin America; Toronto-Canada, Frankfurt-Germany and Cincinnati, OH- USA. In her current role, Julieta is the division CIO for Global Feminine Care, Family Care and P&G Ventures businesses. Julieta is responsible for all aspects of Information and Digital Technology, Data & Analytics and Information Security for Procter and Gamble’s Global Feminine Care, Family Care and P&G Ventures. Julieta also serves as IT sponsor for Hispanic Community at P&G and plays a critical executive role in the Corporate Hispanic Leadership Team and in the IT Women Leadership Team. Julieta holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Universidad Simon Bolivar, Caracas, Venezuela.

"AS CEO, I HAVE TO EVOLVE MY ROLE TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE COMPANY THROUGH EACH PHASE OF DEVELOPMENT. THE TWO CONSTANTS ARE LEARNING AND LEADERSHIP WHILE PURSUING THE DEEP VALUES OF PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST, DELIVERING EXCELLENCE, AND GIVING BACK TO OUR COMMUNITY." Nina Vaca

LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020

PAOLA SANTANA

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BETTY URIBE

EVP California Bank & Trust

For nearly three decades, Betty has been transforming business, culture, and people through values based leadership. At California Bank & Trust, she has P&L responsibility for the Greater Southern California Division, a $6 billion line of business.

She is a recognized authority on the psychology of leadership, turnarounds, organizational structure, and peak performance, she has been honored consistently for her turnaround results, strategic intellect and humanitarian endeavors. Betty has been a C-level executive for Fortune 500 national and regional banks. International and bilingual/bicultural speaker, Betty has lectured in, and her work has been published in financial and business publications & trade journals in Asia, Europe, Canada and The Americas. Author of International Best-Selling book: #Values: The Secret to Top-Level Performance in Business & Life, her work has been featured in international, national and local media. Betty is the first woman in history to be inducted into the Rose Bowl Foundation Board. Betty currently serves on three for-profit private company boards: Pepperdine University, University of Southern California, and Next Step Asia, Hong Kong. She also serves on several non-profit boards in the United States.

"I BELIEVE THAT TO WHOM MUCH IS GIVEN, MUCH IS DEMANDED. AS A FORTUNE 500 LEADER, I HAVE A GREAT RESPONSIBILITY TO DO GOOD BY OUR EMPLOYEES, CUSTOMERS, SHAREHOLDERS AND SOCIETY. NOW MORE THAN EVER, THIS IS THE TIME TO EXPAND OUR DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION EFFORTS AND PARTICIPATE IN DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS ABOUT HOW TO DRIVE SOCIAL JUSTICE, FIGHT SYSTEMIC RACISM AND PROVIDE RESOURCES THAT LEAD TO ACTION." Magda Yrizarry

ANILU VAZQUEZ-UBARRI

LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020

Partner & Chief Human Resources Officer TPG Global

Anilu Vazquez-Ubarri, who grew up in Puerto Rico and came to the United States to study at Princeton, has long been integral in promoting diversity. Before being Partner and Chief Human Resources Officer, Anilu was leading and promoting diversity as manager at Goldam Sachs. Anilu sits on the board of directors for the LatinoJustice PRLDEF, an advocacy group committed to ensuring civil rights are protected and tirelessly working for the advancement of Latino individuals against prejudice and injustice. For Anilu, her view of her work on the board is fairly straightforward: provide mentorship wherever possible.

NINA VACA

Chairwoman and CEO Pinnacle Group

Nina founded Pinnacle Group in 1996 and has served as its Chairman and CEO for over two decades.Since working in her family’s travel agency at 15 years old, Nina has embraced technology’s ability to transform businesses and lives. At each step of Pinnacle’s evolution, she has been an early adopter of the latest innovations to help propel the company forward. Pinnacle is a leader in IT talent acquisition and consulting, managed services, and payrolling and IC compliance. Pinnacle also developed the Progata Talent Platform, which utilizes machine learning (ML) and proprietary algorithms to match talent with opportunity. In 2019 she joined the Forbes Technology Council to provide insight into the technology industry along with other world-class technology executives. She has been identified by many as a role model for women entrepreneurship for her inspirational story.

CONSUELO VALVERDE

Founder & Managing Partner SV LATAM Capital

Consuelo Valverde is a serial entrepreneur turned VC, an electrical engineer with a Master's Degree in Computer Science and another one in Science Entrepreneurship. She is also a Genomics Ph.D. dropout. Consuelo is the Founder and Managing Partner of SV LATAM Capital - the first VC fund born in Silicon Valley with a unique focus on Latin America, to invest in entrepreneurs pursuing opportunities that use science and technology to transform societies, the environment, and health on a global scale. Her first investment in the life sciences space became a unicorn, and her first fintech investment is one of the top candidates to become a unicorn in Mexico. She founded her first tech company at the age of 21, a computer manufacturing company, and an IT training center. She has long championed innovation and science coming from Mexico and was the Co-Chair of the Science and Technology Commercialization Subcommittee of the "Mexico United States Entrepreneurship & Innovation Council." She was granted an 0-1 Visa for "Aliens with Exceptional Abilities" by the US government, and the "Distinguished Engineer" award from the IEEE in Mexico, among other honors. She is currently a Board Member of several companies, including Ares Materials, Encellin, and Oyster Financial.

YASMINE WRINKLER

Board Member PDMA, ALPFA, Inc., Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

Yasmine is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Central Region for UnitedHealthcare Community & State. In this role, she oversaw approximately 30 percent of Community & State’s total business. Previously, Yasmine served as Chief Marketing, Product and Innovation Officer for Employer & Individual, UnitedHealthcare’s commercial business. She has extensive experience in accreditation, quality improvement, business process development, marketing, product development and innovation. Yasmine’s experience across many disciplines and market segments in health insurance has given her a unique ability to develop and match health insurance business solutions to the needs of the marketplace. Before joining UnitedHealth Group, she held several positions with BlueCross/ BlueShield of Illinois, Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma (Health Care Service Corporation). Yasmine has served on the Illinois Governor’s Council on Accreditation that developed consumer- driven health standards. Today, she serves as Board Member for PDMA, ALPFA, Inc., and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

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MAGDA YRIZARRY

SVP - Employee Development, Experience and Diversity

Magda is responsible for the development and implementation of Verizon's global diversity, strategic talent acquisition, development, and succession planning strategies. In addition, she leads all corporate human resources business partner and change management initiatives. Prior to her current duties in human resources, she led communications and compliance teams, including those responsible for ethics, equal employment opportunity, and environmental health and safety. At Verizon, Yrizarry has held numerous positions of increasing responsibility in external affairs including executive director for public policy and strategic alliances, responsible for Verizon's key national stakeholder relationships and outreach efforts with multicultural communities, senior citizen, and disabled constituencies. Prior to that, she served as director of operations and national workforce development programs for the Verizon Foundation, where she was responsible for the organization's $75-million budget and oversaw a workforce development portfolio that included scholarships, diversity initiatives, and economic development projects. She is a founding member of 100 Hispanic Women, an alumnus of the National Hispana Leadership Institute, chairperson of ASPIRA of New York, executive board member of the ASPIRA Association, a member of The Catalyst Research Center for Corporate Practice's Expert Community, and a Cornell University Council member 2012–13.

"IT IS MY RESPONSIBILITY TO POSITIVELY ENGAGE EMPLOYEES, ALIGN WITH OUR CLIENTS, AND COLLABORATE TO SUPPORT THE COMMUNITIES WHERE WE LIVE AND IN HONOR OF MY YOUNGER BROTHER, MY COMPANY’S PHILANTHROPY CONTINUES ON DIABETES RESEARCH." Veronica Muzquiz Edwards STEPHANIE ZAPATA MOORE

As executive vice president and general counsel of Vistra Energy, Stephanie advises the company’s leadership team on legal, regulatory and corporate governance matters, in addition to overseeing the corporate secretary’s office and leading the company’s legal and compliance team. Prior to her current role, she served as vice president and general counsel of Luminant, a competitive power generation subsidiary of Vistra Energy and its predecessor Energy Future Holdings. Stephanie's primary responsibilities included coordination and delivery of all legal services for Luminant, including commercial matters, litigation, environmental advocacy, and regulatory compliance and counseling. Prior to joining Luminant in 2005, Moore was an associate at Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP in the corporate and securities practice group, where she focused on mergers and acquisitions and private securities offerings. She also spent a year in the trial practice group at Gardere, where she represented clients in commercial litigation matters.

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Chief Diversity Officer Vistra Energy

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LATINAS

ENTREPRENEUR, ADVISOR & INVESTOR

PAVING THE ROAD TOWARD SUCCESS WITH VALUES Sandra Campos is a fashion industry veteran paving the way for Latinas to reach C-Level executive roles in the field. She started on retail sales floors and ultimately became the CEO of Diane von Fürstenberg, where she still serves as a consultant. She credits her success in the highly competitive industry to her Mexican-American upbringing.

Lola Méndez

“A LEADER NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO FIND THE RIGHT RESOURCES AND FIND THE RIGHT TEAM MEMBERS WHO ARE GOING TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENT TO WORK TOGETHER TO EXECUTE THAT VISION.”

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LATINAS

ENTREPRENEUR, ADVISOR & INVESTOR

each other. “He kept saying to me, ‘Enunciate your words.’

After a year, I lost the majority of my accent.” She built her confidence to speak in front of leaders by listening to the way leaders communicate. She suggests taking notes and applying the lessons to your communication style.

“YOUR ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE AND SPEAK TO OTHERS IS KEY.”

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THE FASHION MOGUL is a first-generation American. Her parents immigrated from México to California, where she was born. The Campos family then moved to Texas where her father started a tortilla business while Campos went to school in Texas. A natural leader, Campos was the head cheerleader at her high school. “I grew up around the entrepreneurial spirit. There was always a new idea for a business venture.” She learned about sourcing, manufacturing, production, logistics, and shipping from her father’s business.

She always knew she wanted to be in fashion. She was constantly being creative; putting up new curtains, making slipcovers for sofas, and making clothes for her six siblings. She attended Texas Tech University, which she notes isn’t a fashion mecca. Her path towards leadership continued in extracurricular activities as she was the vice president of her sorority. In college, she’d create dresses out of T-shirts with her roommate. The duo sold a few of their creations launching Campos’ foray into the business of fashion.

After college, when Campos was 20, she moved to New York City with dreams of breaking into the fashion industry. She readily admits she was a bit naïve. The desire to learn and be a part of something bigger than herself motivated her to leap into the unknown. She didn’t know anyone in the city and wasn’t prepared for how much housing and transportation would cost.

Initially, she struggled to fit in. She had a thick southern accent and worked for a man who had a thick Brooklyn accent. They couldn’t understand

For the first three years in New York City, she worked a day job, an evening job, and a weekend job. Her immigrant parents’ work ethic was instilled in her. Her family showed her that pursuing your passion takes hard work. “You have to believe in yourself. I was pursuing a dream and had milestones I wanted to achieve.”

Campos started on the sales floor and would return to working retail today, as it’s where you learn the most about consumer behavior and selling. “I’m a big believer that no matter what you do, you’re selling. You’re selling yourself, your ideas, your passions.” In a training program about buying she learned about the wholesale business. There she realized that everything comes back to the consumer and making sure the product provides the value or the quality they deserve.

Her big break into major fashion houses came when she was offered a role at Donna Karen on the team launching the DKNY collection. While working with the iconic brand, she acquired skills in visual merchandising, wholesale sales, and buying. She developed the ability to analyze a brand from both a creative and analytical standpoint to figure out what businesses needed to successfully launch a brand. She also learned about supportive teamwork. Being exposed to camaraderie, community, cooperation, and collaboration crystalized Campos’ workplace values.

The retail industry has since seen many changes as malls and stores are closing at unprecedented rates. Fast fashion retailers, social media, and influencers have changed the landscape of the industry and influenced how brands develop product cycles. Brands used to dictate what an outfit would be, clientele would be billboards for the brands “People would wear a brand head to toe. Social media made it okay to wear a highlow outfit with Chanel on top and Zara on bottom.” Campos has found that today customers want immediate gratification.

Her experience launching a division of Donna Karan positioned her to work with world-renowned brands.

Campos became the CEO of Diane von Fürstenberg in 2018.

“The CEO is the visionary. You’re visualizing the future, communicating that future, and getting your team to achieve results for whatever that vision is. A leader needs to be able to find the right resources and find the right team members who are going to be able to have a collaborative environment to work together to execute that vision.”

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01 Family time is one of Sandra's priorities 02 Sandra with daughters and son 03 Sandra with friend, Diane von Furstenberg

She joined Diane von Fürstenberg to redefine the brand, which she says hadn’t had relevance for a decade.

“We don’t have to be everything to everyone anymore.

We want to be a brand that stands for quality, that stands for consistency, that you know you can count on for a great pair of pants or that great wrap dress.” Her team developed a direct-to-consumer strategy-oriented between e-commerce and the brand’s brick and mortar stores rather than focusing on wholesale retailers.

Campos enhanced what was once one of the most celebrated womenswear brands. She applied what she believes to be the key to retail success, consistency.

“Branding and creativity is the most important thing.

Long-lasting heritage brands, whether it’s Diane von Fürstenberg or Hermès, never veered from who they were.

They stood for quality, they stood for something, whether it’s Diane and the wrap dress, or Hermès and the scarves.

These incredible brands have been long-lasting in the industry because they've been consistent with who they are and what they represent to the consumer.”

As the industry recovers from the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Campos feels brands need to evaluate what they stand for and develop a better understanding of their customers. She advises that brands must be cognizant of what’s happening in people’s lives and pivot to offer today’s needs that didn’t exist three months ago.

Today, in addition to consulting for Diane von Fürstenberg, Campos is a startup advisor for female-led companies in technology, beauty, and fashion. She’s also an investor and key-note speaker. The entrepreneur founded The Fashion Launchpad, a Master Class workshop series with lessons taught by industry executives, founders, and CEOs. The webinars are inspired by the training programs Campos had access to early in her career.

In addition to being a fashion power-house, Campos is a single mother to three. “My kids are all within the age of going into college. I tell them that academics get you to one level, but it’s really about your work ethic and who you know.” She credits her nanny for helping her raise her children and is quick to admit she struggles to cultivate a work-life balance. “I always have my phone with me. I’m always doing some sort of work and looking for the next great idea or innovation.”

Campos doesn’t believe you can have it all. “If you try to do everything you’re not going to do it well at all and you’re going to burn yourself out. If you just try to really focus on the things that are most important, perhaps that’ll be a little bit better and a little bit easier.” Over the years, she’s learned not to be so hard on herself. “Balance doesn’t necessarily exist all the time. Some of the time that you have great balance and some of the time you don’t. So take those times that you do and seize those moments and have happiness and joy when you have them.”

There’s very little Latino representation in leadership roles.

Campos broke the glass ceiling in the fashion industry. She takes her position as a Latina role model seriously and is firm in her position that Latinas are not inferior. “The more we learn, the harder we work, the more that we communicate appropriately and effectively. I think that there’s room for all of us.” She recommends Latinas who want to break into the industry to be confident with who they are, how they communicate, and what their ideas are.

She emphasizes networking is important as you can learn from anyone. She’s obsessed with Linkedin and uses the platform to connect with her peers. “I’d encourage young girls to ask for help. Just ask. But be very specific on what you’re asking for so that somebody knows what they need to do for you.” She recommends avoiding broad questions. “People want to help, so the worst thing you can do is just not ask because you’re afraid to or because you think somebody’s not going to respond because you definitely won’t get an answer then. But, if you do go out and ask the question, you’re more than likely going to get a yes.”

“We’re all here for each other. I talk to Latinas all the time and hear the same thing from them. We just want to help each other because the more we rise, we rise together.”

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LATINAS

INTEL CORPORATION

INFLUENCING THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OF TECH Virginia Isaad

Sandra Lopez is a mother, first-generation Mexican-American and the vice president at Intel Capital and general manager at Intel Sports. As the VP of Intel, one of the largest and most powerful technology companies, she’s part of the 3 to 5% of Latinx who are in executive roles in technology, while a report found that 83% of tech executives are white.

SANDRA WAS BORN in San Mateo, California after her family moved from Mexico when her dad, a horse jockey, received an opportunity to work in the U.S.. She grew up in an “arguably middle class neighborhood,” mainly white and went to private Catholic school with only two other students of Mexican descent. ”I grew up a majority of my life really trying to figure out how I fit in because when you’re growing up [in a predominantly white neighborhood], oftentimes you become the outlier or you become ostracized.”

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“MY UPBRING ALLOWED ME TO LEARN THE TALENT OF BEING A CHAMELEON AND AT THE SAME TIME MY PARENTS DID A WONDERFUL JOB OF MAKING SURE WHEN WE CAME HOME WE SPOKE SPANISH IN THE HOUSE, WE UNDERSTOOD OUR VALUES AND WHAT WE REPRESENTED FROM CAME FROM MEXICO, THE NOTION OF RESPETO.” Sandra recalls returning to the small town of San Miguel el Alto in Jalisco where her mom grew up. It was this every Summer trip that allowed her to realize that “the advantage of being bicultural is that you recognize the importance of looking at the world from different points of view.”

She explains how growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood in California meant living with a lot of presumptions. She specifically describes how people would presume her father was a gardener. or how she would be asked about getting into college due to her ethnicity instead of her intellect. Sandra accepts that because of the prejudice happening in California she hid her ethnicity leading people to assume she was Italian, Mexican, or white American.

“This is where I learned how to fit in, how to survive in the chameleon aspect. Then I went to college and I started to get more active in the Latino community. I didn’t really get active until I fast forward my career. I started in Corporate America and I learned how to be one of the guys.”

Then in 2005 a colleague at Intel, Ernie Felix, scheduled a meeting on her calendar about Latino leadership at Intel.

It was during this meeting that she was asked by her friend “What does it feel like to be a Latina?”

Sandra replied saying how she didn’t really understood what he was talking about because she had never made herself that question or even think that gender or ethnicity was an issue.

It was a question that bothered her for months. It was that moment when she realized that her being a Mexican American gave her so much to offer to society and to her company.

"We were becoming the majority, I represented 50% of the population, why should I be hiding who I am?” said Sandra.

She describes her experience as a long journey to self discovery. A discovery about the power of being bicultural, the gift of being Mexican and the power in her gender and the responsibilities it entails to make sure Latinx voices are represented in the tech industry. She emphasizes how the

“power of belonging” is just as important as ensuring there’s diversity in order to people feel valued.

Sandra also shares about how she got into technology though she was initially interested in fashion. During college she took software engineering courses that piqued her interest. It was a combination of both industries that launched her career in Corporate America. She first started her career working in the fashion retail industry as a buyer . During a luncheon in Silicon Valley, the Chief Operating Officer of the company she was working at told her she was never going to succeed inside that company specifically because she was a woman.

Being in Silicon Valley helped Sandra realize that her passion was more about human interactions and “what drives society forward”. She was intersted in how technology played into that. She decided to leave fashion and take what she learned in college to pivot into tech. It was that executive leader's comment, she says, that pushed her to quit the next day and set her sights for a job in a C-Suite position.

She began in Silicon Graphics and has since remained in this industry. She explains how she remains in the techi ndustry because technology, similar to music, sports and fashion, is always driving culture. She cites the power of social media specifically in the Arab Spring in 2010 and more recently with the Trump rally where TikTok users reserved seats though they had no intention to attend.

While she acknowledges the digital divide, she also sees how technology can make education more egalitarian as long as someone has access to devices and wifi.

Throughout her career both in startups and corporate, she’s discovered the number one theme that has enabled her to succeed:"In some cases women have an advantage when it comes to emotional intelligence. Having as much IQ (intelligence quotient) as you do EQ (emotional quotient).”

According to Sandra, whether at the startup level or in a corporation, it's always a people business. This is why EQ is so valuable. She finds her way back to her roots recollecting the importance her family placed on respect and how she leveraged that in every aspect of her career. One of the cultural challenges she specifically faced was how to speak up to your boss especially because she was raised with the idea of never challenging her elders. She once got a coach to teach her how to have her voice heard without that internal tension. Sandra reinforces that one can have all the skills and intelligence, but "without humanity it’s easy to develop a toxic work culture where the work may get done but the negative effects on performance would also be apparent."

Today, Sandra continues her global relevant work with Intel after fifteen years and her advice to young women, especially Latinas, interested in the technology field is to prepare more than men as they’re already at a disadvantage. "Like we like to say in Latino culture, ‘si se puede’, you can achieve anything you want as long as you set your mind towards it and leverage one of the greatest strengths that our culture has to offer which is the power of hard work.”

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LATINAS GP MOBILE

AN ENTREPRENEUR EXPANDING POSITIVITY IN WORKSPACES Yara Simón

Jesse Nogales

Strong support systems are at the heart of Adriana Perales’ success.

At a young age, she learned the importance of a nurturing environment. So as an entrepreneur, she sought to bring that positivity into the workspace.

PERALES IS the president of GP Mobile, a subsidiary of Sun Holdings, LLC. Her company owns and operates more than 140 T-Mobile stores in eight states. As a boss, she has worked to build a diverse team that meshes well with each other. Being able to do the job is one requirement, but she prioritizes finding employees that fit into the culture. After building the right team, it’s all about providing great training so that they are set up to perform well.

Her career could have turned out completely differently – Perales studied industrial engineering at Tecnológico de Monterrey, after all – but it was taking on an exciting challenge that pushed her into her current role. Growing up in Mexico City and then in Saltillo, Perales played sports and was a “little bit of a tomboy.”

But it wasn’t just that working with T-Mobile appealed to her competitive nature, it was also that her parents didn’t push gender-based expectations on her.

This allowed her to aim high, to not think of her options as limited.

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01 Adriana and her family reside in Dallas, Texas 02 Adriana inside her home.

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“I never second-guessed myself while going to college,” she says. “It was not really an option [to not attend]. My parents had gone to college. They kind of guided me to going into an engineering degree. It was challenging, and I’ve always loved challenges since I was a little girl. Thanks to them, it was never an option for me [to not go to college]. It was just the path that I needed to continue on, and I think [I was lucky] to have role models – your father, your mother – where they don’t treat you different because you’re a girl.”

She’s doing something similar within her company. While women have made great strides in the workforce over the decades, they still lag men in pay and leadership positions. Through GP Mobile, Perales offers mentorship so that women can develop their careers.

In 1995, Perales moved to the United States with her husband. The two worked on opening restaurant franchises in the country, and while she was involved in the process, it wasn’t always in a formal role, as she also juggled raising her children. About a decade ago, T-Mobile approached the couple about building “Estamos Juntos,” a program designed to serve the Latino community.

Ultimately, the campaign didn’t work out according to plan, but the company was impressed with Perales and made her a regular partner. The growth was slow at first. Between 2009 to 2012, GP Mobile grew from one store to 13 locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

But the rise has mushroomed in recent years.

The last few months have not been easy for Perales or her employees. As the COVID-19 pandemic dictates the ways we do business and interact, Perales and her team have had to be nimble. On March 17, she had to shut down 80% of her stores, an order that came from corporate. Two weeks later, they opened back up because they are an essential business. She credits her team with being able to adapt to these difficult, unprecedented times. And because she is approachable and has an open-door policy, her team members have someone on their side, which now more than ever, is necessary.

Despite her dedication to her work, Perales is clear that it’s her family that brings her the most joy.

“Keep your priorities in order,” she says.

“For me, my family will always be my priority.

They come first. I mean, they will always come first. Organize yourself. Surround yourself with people that can support you, and again, keep your priorities in order.”

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LATINAS

ARCHITECTURE

MEET MONICA, AWARD WINNING ARCHITECT Monica Ponce de León is an architect, educator, and Dean of the Princeton University School of Architecture. She is A National Design Award winner and principal of MPdL Studio.

Share with us your background, your roots.

I was born in Caracas, Venezuela and immigrated to the United States with my family when I was a teenager. Living in Miami and then going to school in Boston also had a great impact on me because of the diverse Latinx communities in both cities.

My husband is Chicano from Los Angeles, which is given me another perspective. I have been blessed to have roots that spread wide.

Who has been your inspiration?

Venezuela has a significant legacy of extraordinary architecture and a great education system. One of the great influences in my life was to spend time visiting the works of Carlos Raul Villanueva as a child. He was a practicing architect and the Dean of the School of Architecture in the Universidad Central de Venezuela. I have modeled my practice and my passion for education after him. There have also been very important women in my life. My mother never went to college. She worked as a secretary staring when she was 15 years of age and she saved enough money to open a business which she ran with my father. I get my work ethic from her. I always wanted to be an architect, and everyone always said “that is a man’s profession.” My best friend’s mom is an architect and she was proof that women could also be architects.

Why would you say architecture is so special and important?

Architecture is everywhere from the spaces that we live and work in, to the buildings that serve the public, to the monuments that symbolize our values. Architecture represent us as a culture and enables our daily life. Howwe build is also critical today because buildings have a huge environmental impact.

What have been some of the top challenges you’ve faced during your career?

Architecture is a profession where only 32% are women and only 1% is Latino (of any gender). There is discrimination at all levels.

I have my own architecture practice and I am also the dean of the Princeton School of Architecture and before that I was the dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Michigan. It is very common for deans of a school of architecture to also be a practicing architects but it is rare for a Latinx woman. I am excited that I get to do both.

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"I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE AN ARCHITECT, AND EVERYONE ALWAYS SAID “THAT IS A MAN’S PROFESSION.” MY BEST FRIEND’S MOM IS AN ARCHITECT AND SHE WAS PROOF THAT WOMEN COULD ALSO BE ARCHITECTS."

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What role do you see Latinx playing in the future of architecture?

Most building’s today are built by people that do not represent the diverse communities of the US. I hope that Latinx who commission architects to build buildings, hire Latinx architects to ensure that multiple voices are represented at the table. If Latinx hired only Latinx architects, it will make the Latinx community more visible and stronger.

What challenges do you see for your industry?

I don’t see how the architecture industry can grow if it does not support the success of multiple groups of people in leadership positions.

Can you share with us one of the proudest moments in your career?

Receiving the National Design Award by the Smithsonian in 2008 was very meaningful to me. I was the first Latinx to receive the award in Architecture.

What are you working on right now and what are some dreams you’re still looking forward to achieving?

I have several projects under construction, but one of my favorites is a house that I designed for aging in place. The house not only accommodates people as they get older and loose mobility, but also, is designed so that it can be easily transformed into a different kind of house. One big problem in society is that homes are designed for a certain family size. So

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when the kids grow up the empty nesters are ether stuck with a large house or have to move and downsize. This house is laid out so it can be easily transformed into a house with smaller rental apartments, or with a separate workspace, or so that the kids and their new family can come back to live with you with some independence.

I am excited because it functions like a regular single-family home, but it is set up so that it can transform without remodeling. I like design that responds to our lives today.

Since you are asking about dreams: One of my dreams would be to design a National Museum of Latinx History and Culture to be built in the National Mall in Washington. Or to design a Presidential Library for the first Latinx or the first Woman President.

01 Located at the heart of a community where the average annual income is under $40,000 per family, the Pompano Beach Library, Cultural Arts & Media Center was developed to provide broad access to knowledge, technology, and 21st century tools for creativity. Achieved LEED Gold Certification.

Selected Awards: AIA FL Merit Award of Excellence for New Work, AIA Miami Design Award 02 Paying careful attention to technological efficiency, the Macallen Building is a 350,000sf mixed-use project which is a fully-integrated systems building whose environmentally-focused features made it the first LEED Gold certified multi-family housing building in Boston. The Macallen building was awarded the prestigious AIA Housing Award for Multifamily Housing and was named one of the Top Ten Green Projects in 2008 by AIA/COTE. 03 The Helios House is a gas station in Los Angeles, located on Olympic Boulevard. It is designed as a green station with special features and is considered to be the "station of the future." It is the first gas station in the United States to be submitted for LEED certification. The gas station was designed by Office dA (Principal architects Monica Ponce de Leon and Nader Tehrani) in Boston and Johnston Marklee Architects in Los Angeles.

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LATINAS AFLAC

ONE ON ONE WITH CATHERINE Catherine Hernandez-Blades is senior vice president, chief environmental, social and governance (ESG) and communications officer at Aflac.

She is responsible for corporate communications, organizational communications, philanthropy and ESG activities for the company, including the company’s Global SABRE award-winning corporate social responsibility (CSR) program.

Share with us your background, your roots.

I grew up in a very small town in south Louisiana – in bayou country – the nearest big city being New Orleans. Like most Cajuns, I am of mixed heritage. On my father’s side, I am of French and Spanish descent, and on my mother’s my heritage is Irish and Native American. With the exception of the latter, Catholicism is robustly practiced.

I went to Catholic schools my entire life and chose to attend a small university in Lafayette, Louisiana. Having been educated

by Catholic nuns, in my case the St. Vincent de Paul Daughters of Charity, instilled a sense of responsibility of care for others, taught me discipline in every meaning of the word and embedded a “don’t stop until the job is done” attitude. These are lessons you never lose and that help you in your career. They certainly have helped me in mine.

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When did you realize you wanted to follow this path of a career?

I didn’t choose this career; it chose me. Growing up, I always thought I wanted to work in broadcast journalism. During my junior year of college, I was taking 21 hours a semester and waking up at 3 a.m. to work on a morning television program called “Good Morning Acadiana” as an unpaid intern. Yes, you read that correctly.

I didn’t find it fulfilling and went to work as a social worker for two years after graduation, thinking I would find my purpose. I quickly learned from both experiences that if you really want to help others, corporate philanthropy could have a real and much more meaningful impact.

From there, curating a career carefully became very important. I made sure that I worked a reasonable amount of time in all of the disciplines within the function. I also rounded out my public affairs experience by working in government. In my case, that meant becoming the youngest gubernatorial appointee since Reconstruction to run a state agency – The Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board. From there, I spent 10 years in aerospace and defense at two different companies, where I was able to travel to and be responsible for efforts in 40 countries.

Then came more curation. This time, I spent three years in Silicon Valley as the chief marketing and communications officer for a Fortune 500 technology company. After that, I came to Aflac, another Fortune 500 company, first as the chief communications officer, then as head of Brand and Communications, and now as chief ESG and communications officer. ESG stands for environmental, social, and governance, and as a publically traded company in the financial sector, it’s a critical function.

Serving the hardworking men and women in the restaurant and seafood industries in my home and other coastal states, in military uniform in our country and those of our allies, and our policyholders to whom we sell a promise on a piece of paper with the responsibility to be there when they need us most has provided a personal fulfillment that is difficult to put into words. What is as fulfilling is building and nurturing a team of wonderful people who like and respect each other, as well as create great, award-winning work. Serving those people is why I continue to get up in the morning.

What have been some of the top challenges you’ve faced during your career?

I’ve always been a problem solver – the more complex the better! That has led me to “volunteer” for very difficult assignments. I put the word volunteer in quotes because sometimes, it’s more about someone “voluntelling” me to do something.

These are the projects I love – the diving catches, the crises, the transformations, the turnarounds, the heavy lifts – and each always presents a number of challenges.

The most difficult things for me have been my youth and working in mostly male industries. There were days I could walk around a building and not see anyone else who was

female. Also, I have been fortunate to move through the ranks quickly. Both have caused me to be underestimated. However, over time, you learn how to fuel that to your advantage.

I’ve been on the receiving end of some very inappropriate remarks. We all have. My advice is that you should never change the essence of who you are by becoming bitter.

Anger serves no purpose. Let the work speak for itself, and when it does, no one listens to the inappropriate remarks anymore. Trust me.

What role do you see Latinxs playing in the future of your industry?

There is a huge opportunity for the Latinx community in the work that I do. We reflect a growing demographic and are not well represented in the industry. Candidly, our whole function struggles with diversity of all types, and we need to fix that. There are some tangible things we can do right now around education, recruiting, hiring, retention and providing diverse candidate slates for promotion.

Can you tell us about a pivotal moment in your career?

I worked for the most incredible boss. He was a rocket scientist who really understood and cared about people – a brilliant man by the name of Jon Jones. He not only made you a better leader; he made you a better person. He treated everyone with great respect and care. His leadership inspired all of us to take the hill time after time. I learned so many lessons about being a good leader from him. For many years, I drove my teams hard, and they got results, but I can’t imagine that anyone had any fun working with me. I was too driven and expected everyone around me to be that way, too. He died unexpectedly, and in my grief, I began making great efforts to mirror his example and become a leader that my teams would take the hill for time after time, not because they had to, but because they wanted to.

What are you working on right now and what are some dreams you’re still looking forward to achieving?

Right now, my favorite work project continues to be My Special Aflac Duck®, a social robot that supports children during their cancer treatment by helping them engage in medical play and communicate their feelings through emoji cards that allow the duck to serve as a kind of translator. It is the most rewarding project of my career.

Aflac is providing them for free to any child above the age of 3 who is diagnosed with cancer when requested by their medical facility in the U.S. or Japan, two countries where we have operations. Any medical facilities who treat pediatric cancer patients can request My Special Aflac Ducks online. There is no cap on the program. The medical facilities can order as many as they wish and aren’t even charged for shipping. They only have to promise that the ducks will go to pediatric cancer patients. How wonderful is that?

As for the future ... well, I’ve had a book swirling around in my head for years now, and someday, I will finally put it on paper! It’s going to be a page turner – stay tuned!

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SPECIAL FEATURE TOP LAWYERS

THE MULTIPLE SIDES OF A LAWYER'S ROLE Elsa Cavazos

Courtesy

Moisés Cervantes

“I WILL DO TODAY WHAT MOST OTHERS WON’T SO I CAN ACHIEVE TOMORROW WHAT THEY CANNOT." JASON VILLALBA FINANCIAL LAWYER, FOLEY & LARDNER AND FORMER TEXAS LEGISLATURE

Jason Villalba did not become who he is today without hardwork and a background to get inspired from. He grew up in Dallas but comes from a strong Mexican descent he is proud of. His mother was born in Chiapas, his grandfather was a local villager and his grandmother a missionary. When his grandfather became a widow his mother and grandfather moved to Texas. His mother did not speak any English but soon met his father in Oak Leaf, Texas. Villalba added his father’s family has a legacy of ancestral Mexicans. His family came from Chihuahua since over a hundred years. “My great great grandfather was a man named Federico Villalba. His father was from Spain but when he came here he started farming and mining and became one of the largest latino farmers who owned land,” Villalba said.

His great grandfather ended up buying a mining company and ranch area. Eventually, his family landed in Dallas. His parents married at 17 and Villalba was born when they were 21. Though his ancestors proved to be successful, his parents came from humble beginnings.

“My parents were not wealthy by any means. They did not finish high school, they got their GED’s and went to work,” he said.

Villalba was the first one to attend college.

“My mother and father were hardworking industrious people and my father became an airplane mechanic. He works for

Southwest Airlines fixing engines and my mother who is recently retired was an executive assistant for many years,” Villalba said.

Though Villalba attended Baylor University for his Bachelor’s Degree he said he was always in the public school system.

“I ended up there with scholarships and finished two majors at the top 10 percent of my class. I worked full time. I left school early because I couldn’t afford to stay another semester,” he said.

Villalba worked for an airline company as a financial analyst where he learned how to do build econometric forecasting models and health care analysis. From that gig, an opposite route was taken. Villalba went to law school on scholarship at the University of Texas at Austin. Soon after he joined a law firm for the Dallas Cowboys.

“I became a corporate lawyer which is what I always wanted to do. I was always inclined to be an attorney because of my love of the law, it made a lot of sense,” he said.

“I didn’t want to be in court I wanted to make deals. I wanted to buy and sell companies,” Villalba said.

His focus shifted to acquisitions, it is what he was passionate about. Villalba felt he owed Texas for his accomplishments and knowledge and decided to give back.

“I served as chairman for couple of groups raising money for local hospitals. I served on the board of the citizen’s advisory

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committee, I served in my church and I was always community service inclined,” he said.

Because his help wanted to go further than simply joining organizations, he decided to join the political world.

“I became the Vice chairman of the Dallas County Republican Party, the first Latino to ever serve on that role,” Villalba said.

Then, Villalba ran for office.

“Nobody thought a Latino with an unpronounceable last name could win but like my parents we worked hard, knocked on doors and talked to the people about was important,” he said.

“That message seemed to resonate,” he said.

Villalba served for six years and kept focusing on his political activities which led him to run for Mayor of Dallas.

“Now I’m back to being a lawyer again and came full circle. I have enjoyed my time serving my people and I will continue to do so in other capacities,” he said.

While being a lawyer, Villalba wants to focus on his family and the Latino community as well.

To become a skillfull lawyer though required several tactics and strategies which he shared with Latino leaders.

“My analytical skillset in my history as a financial analyst helped me be a critical thinker early on. In my field you have to be able to deconstruct everything before you and then rebuild that in a way that is beneficial for your client,” he said.

“The ability of bringing different people together and to make things happen. To collaborate rather than to oppose,” Villalba said.

He added, usually being a brainiac does not go with being eloquent too but he said his clients have recognized he is a little bit of both, which has helped him as a lawyer.

Now, as a Latino attorney Villalba faces and used to face various challenges others have not had to deal with.

“I experienced blatant racism from people of color and others.

People’s expectations were always that I got my grades or my job because I was an affirmative action. Because I was given something because I was Latino and that was always difficult to address,” he said.

“When I was admitted into UT the assumption was I got in for being Hispanic, he must have checked the box,” Villalba said.”Growing up that was difficult,” he said.

Though the remarks done to Villalba were discouraging, he never gave up in accomplishing his dreams.

As a politician, the culture instilled by his family to watch the news sparked an interest in politics for him. He remembered Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan but at the time Villalba was barely nine years old.

“I was just observing the world around me. I think at a very early age I came to the ideas Republicans resonated with me and I quickly identified,” he said.

Though he wanted to be successful as a politician Villalba stressed the importance of working in teams and collaborating with people who might be of a different mindset too.

However Villalba is now focusing solely on law, while also juggling other organizations.

For the future, he plans to have new accomplishments in the next five years.

“I have realized the number of Latinos in boards is anemic and it is unexplainable. I am working in getting other talented individuals to be able to sit on these boards because I think it is important to keep representation,” he said.

Politically, Villalba wants more Latinos to begin voting and make policy based on what people believe and benefitting communities.

“That means providing more opportunities for higher education, for upper level executive leadership,” he said.

“I am teaching my children to be leaders in their community and to have my children to go to college and have their children so hopefully they can say they are the fifth graduating from Baylor and more and more families are able to achieve that,” Villalba said.

To give knowledge to future lawyers, Villalba added a quote he keeps next to his bedside since high school.

“I will do today what most others won’t so I can achieve tomorrow what they cannot. The advice I took was to always be doing more and working harder,” he said.

“In order to rise above that boils down into working hard and the consumption of information about everything,” Villalba said.

“Always try to understand the world around you in a way most people do not.”

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PUBLIC IN FRA STRUC TURE

Without infrastructure not only would communities wouldn’t be able to thrive but U.S. businesses would lack connectivity. Roads, water systems, energy grid and more help drive the economy, support communities’ quality of life, and ensure public health and safety. In 2019 the U.S. spend just 2.5 percent of the GDP on infrastructure, down from 4.2 percent in the 1930s. Today, there is a total infrastructure gap of nearly $1.5 trillion needed by 2025.

The U.S. Public Infrastructure Today: There are currently 46,100 structurally deficient bridges across our country, and at today’s investment rates, it would take 50 years to fix them all.

Dams in America were 56 years old in 2017. Due to the lack of funding for maintenance, the number of deficient high-hazard potential dams is climbing.

Many drinking water pipes in the U.S. were laid from 1900 to 1950. Today, aging pipelines contribute to the estimated 240,000 water main breaks per year in the U.S., wasting over two trillion gallons of treated drinking water.

The nation is underinvesting in school facilities, leaving an estimated $38 billion annual gap. As a result, 24% of public school buildings were rated as being in fair or poor condition in 2016.

Estimates regarding the number of people without high-speed internet access range from 21 million, according to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), to 163 million, according to Microsoft. Uneven broadband access has social and economic implications, leading to greater disparities between those that have access and those that do not. *Resource: American Society of Civil Engineers

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PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE CONSTRUCTION

CONSTRUCTING DREAMS

01 Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library, Long Beach, CA 02 Solar Preparatory School for Girls, Dallas, TX 03 Los Angeles World Airports, Los Angeles, CA

CEO and Chairwoman of Vanir Group, Dorene Dominguez is also a member of the governorship group who purchased NBA's team, Sacramento Kings, serves on the Coca-Cola Hispanic Advisory Council and other corporate boards.

All while helping others achieve their American Dream

IT WAS A FRIDAY like no other in January 2004 when Dorene’s life changed forever. Dorene Dominguez, daughter of H. Frank Dominguez, who founded Vanir in 1964, became in charge of her father’s company moments after her father passed away. Her first move as a leader was calling a board meeting. She had full board support to become Chairman and CEO and she felt ready to take on and continue her father’s legacy. “Transition was so immediate and demanding”, says Dorene. The first year as Chairwoman and CEO, Dorene kept the business going in “status quo”. She worked on emergency mode making decisions similar to what her dad would make. In her second year,Dorene began to ask herself, “Ok, what am “I” going to do now?” She began to take control and make decisions that would shape the company as her own and began creating her own legacy. Today, Dorene’s company is one of the

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top companies in the country by all standard – in program, project and construction management and Real Estate Development.

Dorene is proud to say that her biggest added value and strength is her commitment to excellence and being a Latina. She is confident to say that with Latinos or a diverse team, companies add that extra bottom line that many tend to ignore. Vanir Construction Management is ranked twenty-six in the nation, number one as Hispanic-owned and number one as Woman-owned for its program management because of its diverse perspective and thought from the employees. “We’re successful because of diversity. It’s part of our culture and DNA.” An example Dorene uses is their work with Valleywise Health, one of the company’s latest projects. This Arizona collaboration is a two billion-dollar program in health care. What makes this one particularly special is the fact that eighty-two percent of staff are women and “clients love it,” said Dorene.

Philanthropy is also important to Dorene. Therefore, in memory of her father, Dorene founded The Dominguez Dream, a nonprofit 501(c)3 dedicated to empowering children in underserved communities to achieve their full potential through Literacy and STEAM. It has become one of her focuses.

“My father always emphasized the importance of helping others.”

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As Texas’ Latino community grows exponentially and becomes the majority in the state, Vanir focuses its efforts on partnerships and projects. Vanir has four offices in Texas: Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio and growing. One of their current and most important clients is with the Dallas ISD (Independent School District). This current strategic plan to invest in Texas is critical to Vanir’s growth. She truly believes that Texas is the state of the future where risk and needs lead to opportunity and success. She envisions these schools to be a resource for students and their families, especially with their fully equipped technology needed to bridge the digital divide. Students will have the opportunity to be creative with technology and parent engagement can improve.

Dorene believes that people today desire to give back. Philanthropy is important to her and therefore, her company is involved in programs like The Dominguez Dream. Especially when it comes to younger people, she knows many are looking for companies where they can contribute to something that is bigger than themselves not just a job. Vanir is Dorene’s full-time family, including her mother at 80, and sister with down syndrome whom she resides with. Vanir is a family business and there is no doubt that one of their biggest values is family Dorene wishes to continue mentoring young Latinos and giving them all of the resources needed to succeed, both with their education and careers. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Norte Dame University, KB Homes and CIT Bank Board, and Coca Cola Hispanic Advisory Council. In addition, she is at the table with the big boys in business for she is a Governor of an NBA Sacramento Kings team and an investor in the MLS team, Sacramento Republic.

She imagines a future within her company that continues being socially responsible while being a premiere national company. She can see Vanir expanding and growing their number of offices.

Through it all, Dorene embraces her heritage, she advises future leaders to be proud of who we are. “Once you know that is an advantage, use it. Bring your best to that company, team, profession or wherever it is that you are currently at,” says Dorene. During this political climate when our country is greatly divided, Dorene asks for all Latinos to really speak up. “It’s time we raise our voices.

Sometimes it might need to be forceful and sometimes kinder, use discernment. There’s no wrong way of doing it but it should be done now.”

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PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT ON THE BORDER

CLIMBING UP THE BANK LADDER Elsa Cavazos

Courtesy

Moisés Cervantes

Calixto Mateos started his new role as Managing Director of NADB, taking on new challenges and using his past experiences to solve problems.

“MY PARENTS taught me the philosophy of hard work and studies,” Mateos explained.

While working at the Central Bank, he began his professional curriculum at the bottom, as many do when just starting.

“I was doing whatever your bosses tell you to do. I was doing things like gathering data and graphing. The Central Bank is a really great institution, there is a mentoring way of doing things,” he said.

Mateos got a PHD in Stanford partly financed by the Central Bank in Development Economics. He specialized in finance and agricultural economics, once he finished he went back to the Central Bank. He began to work as a researcher and was “climbing up the ladder” to end as director.

He has also been a professor of Economics at the graduate school of business administration (EGADE) at the Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM),participated in international and national seminars hosted by financial institutions, such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Mateos has been able to gain recognition not only in Mexico but all over the world.

He was once in charge of all the monetary and financial statistics of the Central Bank where he worked in an area of strategic planning called Internal Risk Unit and he soon became the head of this. “It gave me a very good view about what the bank was doing and that is how I became the manager of the Instiutional Liason,” he said.

While working on strategies, he worked with those who supervised the development banking of Banco de Mexico. He applied for a risk management position and presented a program in order to obtain it.

“Fortunately they chose me and I moved to San Antonio, five and a half years ago to become Risk Management and Control manager for the North American Develop-

ment Bank,” Mateos said.

Today, Mateos leads the role of Managing Director, a position he started in November of 2019.

Mateos believes that to have a successful journey in his industry once needs to always keep broadening their knowledge. More specifically it is crucial to always be precise on data and be clear on analysis.

Mateos is passionate about improving lives and the welfare of others in the communities. He uses his experience and role to focus on this.

“I knew about funding and the way you have to deal with investors and different stakeholders and that has helped me over the years to reach the level where I am here now. I am very fortunate,” he said.

The North American Development Bank is a true binational bank. “It is a forum where you can make the two governments work together towards a common goal to achieve results,” he said.

When describing his role as a Managing Director, he sees himself as someone who has to make it happen. “ I'm someone that works on making meetings go smoothly and tries to anticipate the needs of each area and present it in a way everybody will agree,” he said.

His future goals focus on increasing capital and environmental infrastructure. “Traditionally the bank has specialized in projects related to water and energy efficiency. What we want now is to focus more on sustainable development on communities. How can we put some projects in zones where they are needed the most? We are exploring more on smart cities” he said.

Mateos is passionate about the border region. He expresses how the border has integrated zones that need both regions' contributions, especially with the water processes.

Mateos advices the future leaders of the world to “always do what you like most, and that is for any career. Understand why and how your role is important to the world. Though money is important, it will come naturally while working for a bigger purpose."

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PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE DIGITAL DIVIDE

LEADING EFFORTS FOR TEXAS' DIGITAL DIVIDE Yara Simón

Courtesy

Moisés Cervantes

Whether it’s bridging the digital divide gap, teaching college students about social capital, or promoting community and economic development, Jordana Barton’s desire to help Latinos traces back to her humble beginnings. Now the Senior Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Barton grew up in Benavides, Texas, a colonia – known as unincorporated, low-income communities on and near the U.S.Mexico border – with scant resources.

FOR JORDANA, growing up in Benavides helped her develop a strong sense of wanting to improve opportunities for Latino kids. She identifies kids who grew up just like her, in places where maybe the school system doesn’t have high expectations for their future opportunities.

It was a challenging place, particularly when it came to learning. Jordana, one of six siblings, explains that it’s almost as though her undergraduate schooling served as her true high school education. Yet, her hometown challenged her in different ways. Looking back, she calls her childhood the most creatively fulfilling time in her life. She wrote and put on plays for her small predominantly Mexican-American community.

The lack of opportunities also never made her feel like college was out of reach.

The daughter of two college-educated teachers, she knew the importance of education. She ended up at the University of Texas at Austin, where she majored in English. She first worked as a teacher, following in her parents’ footsteps.

After teaching English at a public high school for four years, Jordana returned to her alma mater to work in the Department of Mexican American & Latina/o Studies. It was there where she began her journey into the world of finance.

Knowing that low-income students weren’t always knowledgeable about wealth and asset building, she developed the Latino Financial Issues program. On top of teaching them about how to build wealth, the program also delved into community economic development, the policies that affect low-income communities, personal financial education, and the importance of connections via paid internships.

To strengthen the program, Jordana worked with banking executives, non-profit organizations, and community development institutions. Finance was beginning to become a central part of her career. “[Then] I went into microfinance with Accion Texas, which is now LiftFund, community development banking andvnow, the Federal Reserve,” she says. “I’ve worked in every sector, public education, higher education, non-profit, corporate, and now government, quasi-governmental.”

Though her path is unconventional, every aspect of Barton’s career has shaped her. For example, working in microfinance, she focused her energy on making credit available to low-income communities. After Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Prize for microfinance, she saw a chance to educate people on the topic. She held a summit on microfinance, which helped her link up with banking professionals and Ben Bernanke, the former Chair of the Federal Reserve, who spoke at her event.

Barton joined the Federal Reserve in 2013. She works to make sure everyone has equal access to the same opportunities, that they can participate in all aspects of the economy. One of her most important studies to date revolves around colonias.

In “Las Coloinias in the 21st Century: Progress Along the Texas-Mexico Border,” in which she served as the lead author, she broke down the conditions that led to health disparities, missed educational opportunities, and incomplete infrastructure in these towns.

While “Las Colonias” presents a lot of necessary data and facts, it’s the personal stories about lack of internet access that led to another impactful study, “Closing the Digital Divide: A Framework for Meeting CRA Obligations.” Even before the COVID-19 pandemic forced us all, including the youngest of students, to go entirely digital, Barton was looking at the ways that lack of internet had long-lasting effects, which is why access to broadband became a part of the Community Reinvestment Act, ensuring that banks will lend to broadband providers in underserved communities. Barton is also leading a new initiative, “Connecting Beyond the Classroom”, for local stakeholders to work on closing the homework gap by creating a private network that expands broadband infrastructue and allows students to access at home the ducational institution's intranet or network.* More than anything, Barton’s job allows her to bet on those often overlooked.

To see past the numbers and show us who they really are.

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PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE WATER EQUITYX

FIGHITNG FOR SYSTEMATIC CHANGE Virginia Isaad

Courtesy

Moisés Cervantes

Maria Echaveste has devoted her decades-long career to working for the people with a passion for serving the community. She’s worked as an attorney, public policy adviser, senior White House official and board of director for nonprofits. Her family moved from Mexico to California with her dad working as a bracero and it’s that humble beginning that led her to pursue careers with a mission. She recalls how her mother was the one who taught her father how to sign his name and that reading was her escape so she realized the power in education and dreamed of a life beyond what she’d always known.

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Today, Maria acts as CEO and President of Opportunity Institute, an organization that works to increase social and economic mobility and advance racial equity through partnership and collaboration with those seeking to promote systematic change.

Some of her main focuses through the organization are math equity and whole child equity. On the side, Maria has been recently invited as a board member for Cadiz Inc., a natural resources company that established a water project to provide a new water source for Southern California. It has the potential to “address the increasingly - as we’ve seen - water shortage particularly to communities that suffer from inadequate water as we saw in the last drought.”

The Cadiz Water Project is working to create a new water supply for up to 400,000 people annually. The most intense period of drought occurred the week of July 29, 2014 where exceptional drought affected 58% of California land, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System.

“I feel a sense of duty to try to improve the lives of others because we are no different. We are ultimately, all human beings, deserving of dignity and respect and an equal opportunity to achieve our potential.”

“UNDERSTANDING THAT THE BOXES THAT PEOPLE PUT US IN, WE CANNOT LET THEM BE DEFINING FOR US, WE HAVE TO MAKE OUR OWN DEFINITION.”

MARIA GREW UP “In a traditional Mexican family [here] the expectation is you get married and you don’t need an education.”

She’s the oldest of seven children which she attributes for teaching her to be responsible and get things done. “Soy muy mandona, I’m constantly telling people what to do and that started in my family. ” She saw college as the only way out and though her dad was not supportive she ended up attending Stanford with a full scholarship which allowed her to not have to rely on her parents financially. He did, however, later commend her for what she did after she graduated law school at UC Berkeley and for also inspiring her siblings to go to college. Yet for her growing up, she shares there weren’t that many role models in the ‘60s of Latinos in high positions.

“I know I’m talented and smart but I also know that I was fortunate and I believe to the very core of my being that the accident of birth should not determine whether a child is able to achieve their potential.” Knowing there were children who grew up in similar situations to hers but ended up in jail or using drugs is what drives her to help her community.

Maria recalls being a corporate litigator from 1980 to 1992 as her most transformative job as it forced her to navigate spaces as the only woman of color. Maria learned how to navigate a mostly male, mostly white world and being successful. “Understanding that the boxes that people put us in, we cannot let them be defining for us, we have to make our own definition.”

Maria ran the Latino desk while campaigning for Bill Clinton after the opportunity of meeting Hillary as a board member for the New World Foundation. During that time she worked part time at the law firm to make ends meet and eventually became a senior White House official for Clinton.

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SPECIAL FEATURE CONTRIBUTOR

MOMENTOUS INSTITUTE With the uncertainty of what school will look like for children in the Fall, there is one thing that is certain: social emotional health of children and parents will be higher than ever.

01 Jessica Trudeau, MPH, is the Executive Director of Momentous Institute in Dallas, Texas and advocates for social emotional health. She has worked in the field of public health including unintentional injury, HIV/AIDS and child abuse prevention since 2001. Most notably, her prior experience includes her work as the Executive Director of Family Compass for over six years.

Jessica received a Bachelor of Science in microbiology from Louisiana State University and a master’s degree in public health from Tulane University.

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AS THE PANDEMIC, protests and national conversations on race continue throughout the world, Momentous Institute in Dallas, Texas is preparing to show up in one of the places that the mental health crisis will hit the hardest this fall: classrooms.

Momentous Institute has worked at the intersection of children’s mental health and education utilizing a concept it coined - social emotional health - for 100 years. Currently and in addition to using a trauma-informed focus, the model also utilizes an equity lens to inform the agency’s work. Founded by the Salesmanship Club of Dallas in 1920, the nonprofit partners with over 5,500 children and families annually through its therapeutic services and its PK3 through 5th grade school, majority of whom are Latinx and have been affected by poverty, trauma, and systemic oppression.

In addition to its direct services, Momentous Institute has conducted decades of research, trained thousands of individuals throughout the United States and has been nationally recognized for its work in children’s mental health and education.

No one was prepared for the events over the last six month. The world as a whole is undergoing toxic stress, which occurs when we experience continuous and prolonged adversity – like poverty, trauma, racism, systemic oppression, or the stress of a world pandemic. It is even more concerning for our Latinx, Black and Indigenous communities who are disproportionately affected.

And, there is collective concern that the damage done to children is irreparable, because it is children in their prime development years who are most susceptible to toxic stress.

At Momentous Institute, though, they say there’s hope.

The research shows over and over again two things: first, children are incredibly resilient. Second, strong social emotional health is a game changer in the classroom and can reduce the long-term effects of toxic stress.

When a teacher is trained to bring a mental health, trauma and equity lens into the classroom, and when students are taught to self-regulate, breath and talk through their emotions, the classroom can become a healing, safe and more equitable place.

When children develop strong social emotional health, they demonstrate self-control, communicate well, problem solve, are empathetic, respectful, grateful, gritty and optimistic — traits we typically admire in the people with whom we want to work and maintain friendships Social emotional health is something all people can benefit from, but when taught at an early age, research shows children can have far higher long-term and more equitable outcomes. At Momentous Institute, 96 percent of students who leave Momentous School after 5th grade go on to graduate high school. And, 81 percent of students go to college, many of whom are first generation college students.

Momentous Institute notes that while social emotional health is something to be hopeful about, it is not a mission they or even the nonprofit sector can do alone. It will take leaders from all sectors to come together and invest in children’s mental health and education.

Like many children who have lived through intense, emotional world events and mass loss throughout history, what our children have experienced so far in 2020 will be embedded in the fabric of their being. It is now up to us to equip educators, mental health providers and parents with the social emotional health tools they need to help children process, unpack and heal from this time.

For more information, free resources, and training opportunities, please visit Momentous Institute’s website. If you are interested in adopting social emotional health practices in your district, school or classroom, please visit here to learn more about Momentous Institute’s new CASEL-certified PK3-5th grade curriculum available.

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SPOTLIGHT HEALTHCARE

DISRUPTING HEALTHCARE FOR THE UNDERSERVED Cecilia Corral, Co-Founder of CareMessage

Share with us your background, your roots.

I am a first-generation Mexican-American, my family moved to south Texas (Rio Grande Valley) from Mexico when I was one and had to basically start from zero. I am the youngest of four, and I also have four older half-siblings from my dad's first marriage.

Needless to say, we had a very large, busy, and at times chaotic Mexican family. During my childhood, my parents sold at a local flea market to make ends meet and we relied heavily on food stamps and Medicaid. Things improved as I got older, and my family and teachers really pushed me to focus on my education.

I went to Stanford University where I earned my Bachelor's in Product Design engineering. I am a first-generation college grad and the first in my extended family to earn a Bachelor's degree. After Stanford, I started a Ph.D. program in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, but after my dad passed away in my first year I began to reevaluate my priorities. I dropped out in my second year to co-found a health tech nonprofit called CareMessage and fight for equity in healthcare.

Who or what has been your inspiration?

My dad has been and continues to be my inspiration. He had a level of perseverance I was not able to fully comprehend until after he passed away. He was an entrepreneur in his own way, both big and small. In the 80s, he worked on a social enterprise in Mexico to help distribute farm animals in rural communities that could be used to generate income for families. Some of my favorite photos are of him distributing toys in schools back then, and the smiles of the children he would help. He never lost that sense of giving back, and even when we were at our poorest, both of my parents found ways to help others.

I remember going back-to-school shopping and wishing I had a nicer notebook or backpack, but my parents would buy the cheapest things for me and then a whole extra set of everything. The extra supplies were for kids in Mexico that couldn't afford school supplies. When I think back I am grateful for those lessons that I didn't understand at the time. The commitment to helping others is something my dad would remind me of constantly when I was at Stanford, and it is what guides me to this day.

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Why is a product / company like CareMessage so special and important?

CareMessage is a patient engagement platform for underserved populations and today reaches over 5 million patients nationwide.

CareMessage was created because we believe all people regardless of their income or background deserve equitable health outcomes.

As the healthcare technology sector has evolved, we saw a gap in the way tools were being developed for low-income minority populations. To this day, you will still find healthcare technology tools that don't even have their product available in Spanish. Some tools that are now marketed for underserved populations simply provide a Google translated version of their product and call it a day without realizing all the ways being from a low-income background affects your ability to access healthcare. CareMessage is the response to that, and we work tirelessly to ensure technology is developed for the patients that need it the most first and that they are not simply an afterthought. CareMessage is also a non-profit, which is very unique in the tech sector. We hope our organization can continue to be a model for building scalable technology and a financially sustainable organization.

What have been some of the top challenges you’ve faced during your career? What role do you see Latinx playing in the future of your industry?

The last seven years of my career while building CareMessage have been some of the most challenging yet most rewarding. I would probably categorize the challenges into 3: Personal Life, People Management, and Product Scaling. In regards to my personal life, growing a company is very very lonely. You work long hours, hardly see your friends, and have to make a lot of compromises. It took a few years for me to find work-life balance and find a balance between what I want to achieve professionally with my personal values and goals, which oftentimes were at odds. Secondly, managing people is one of the hardest things to do, much much harder than building technology. I've had to hire, manage, and even fire probably over 100 people that have come through our organization, each with their unique skillset and values. I have learned a lot from every single person and it's easily been the hardest thing I've done, but when I see people I've coached and mentored go on to do amazing things in their career I am reminded of why it's all worth it. Lastly, there have been a number of challenges tied to scaling our product from the initial 13 patients to over 5 million. The challenges have varied from building out our technical teams to fundraising for growth to continuing to innovate on our feature set. I've been forced to become a jack-of-all-trades, but I really enjoy the challenges of having to learn completely new skills in new areas of our organization like sales and marketing.

I continue to be hopeful that Latinx representation in the tech industry will continue to rise. There's a lot of untapped talent within our community that still needs to be nourished to solve a number of problems in our society. I am inspired by the number of Latinxs I see starting companies as well, and I hope we can continue building our own types of companies on our terms that in turn serve as a model for why Latinxs deserve to be in tech. As more and more Latinxs build their own companies, we will be able to lift our entire community by creating our own doors without having to knock on someone else's.

What challenges do you see for your industry?

Shifting from tech into healthcare, I think it's important to highlight the immediate impact COVID is having on the safety net of our country. Since the start of the COVID pandemic, we had to change our entire company strategy to respond to the changing national needs to disseminate key information to patients. I think the work in the healthcare industry is only starting. Given the high unemployment rate and social isolation, there were will be a lasting impact on behavioral health and the overall social determinants of health that were previously impacting low-income populations. More and more solutions are going to be needed to ensure the most underserved people in this country can weather this storm, and I do hope more Latinxs will join forces to create the necessary solutions.

Can you share with us one of the proudest moments in your career?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we made our product free to any healthcare organization that served low-income patients. So far, we've exchanged over 16 million COVID-related messages alone and those range from letting people know where to get tested to distributing food boxes to people in need. As the infection and death rates started to show racial disparities in outcomes, we mobilized to launch what we called "Project Equity" which was our response to try and increase the number of clinics we work with that serve predominantly Black, Latinx, and/or Native American communities. All the ups and downs of the last 7 years have been worth it to be able to step up to the current challenge in our country.

What are you working on right now and what are some dreams you’re still looking forward to achieving?

We continue to try and predict how COVID will impact our industry long-term and are mobilizing to develop new products that will help patients and clinics respond to those changing needs. I hope to see CareMessage become a financially self-sustaining organization and impact over 10 million patients in the next few years, and hopefully, one day make it all come full circle by taking our product to Mexico.

I am also working on making a new life and have my first baby due in December. It is a very tumultuous time to bring a new life into this world, but I am looking forward to the challenges motherhood and my career will bring as I find a way to balance those two together.

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LET’S SUPPORT OUR LATINO WINEMAKERS Jorge Ferráez @ JFerraez_Latino Luis E. González

Elias Fernandez, winemaker

A

LTHOUGH I need to confess that I’ve been drinking more wine in the past few months due to spending more time at home, the wine industry has suffered the impact of Covid-19 as well. Not only retailers, but thinking in all the consumption from bars, restaurants, catering and events, it is a huge amount of wine that has not been consumed.

As a wine enthusiast I want to support this industry and specially the Latino owned bodegas and wineries.

The same way local communities have embraced the scarce business situation and are supporting the local restaurants and businesses, we all wine lovers need to support our wineries, and being Latino we need to support our Latino wine producers. By buying a couple of bottles here and there, we can support this industry that usually brings to us the best of their work and talent.

So, recently we registered for the Shafer Vineyards Fly-By, in which you buy their wines and they designate a rep from the winery to be in your Zoom meeting. This time we had the privilege to havec, the winemaker and it was a great experience to drink his wine while listening to his comments in each of them. For that occasion I pulled out from my cellar a long treasured Hillside Select 2013 which I decanted five hours before drinking and it opened beautifully: bold character, full bodied and complex.

Fruit explosion with silky texture, berries and ripe plum. Delicious, elegant, chewy with chocolate and graphite hints. Just bold and delicious!

Another fantastic winemaker is Michael Trujillo, winemaker of Sequoia Grove in Napa, he also has his own label. Very talented wine grower and wine maker with a big reputation. He recently sent me his 2016 wines and I was really impressed on his quality; His Trujillo Cabernet Sauvignon Gary Morisoli Reserve 2016 is a beautiful wine; showing complexity, ripe fruit and velvety texture. Dark berries, forest spice and some cocoa hints, it is an impressive, mouthwatering wine.

So, I strongly recommend you, host your wine party, virtual tasting and support the Latino wineries.

Some of my favorites this month:

Trujillo Cabernet Sauvignon Gary Morisoli Reserve 2016

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01 MONGEARD MUGNERET ECHEZEAUX

GRAND CRU 2012

• Region: Burgudy • Varietal: Pinot Noir • Price: $148 • Aromas: Citric, floral, plum • Flavors: Cherry, cinnamon, rose petals • Impression: silky, delicate • Structure: Full body, ample, balanced • Drink with: Duck, Lamb, Salmon • Why I loved this wine? Round and ever complex • My Rating: 97 pts.

02 ERNESTO CATENA SIESTA EN EL

TAHUANTINSUYU 2014

• Region: Argentina • Varietal: Cabernet Franc • Price: $39 • Aromas: Berries, ripe fruit, pepper • Flavors: Red currant, fresh blacberry • Impression: Bold, succulent • Structure: Medium body • Drink with: Steak, Chorizos, Sausages • Why I loved this wine? Interesting rosemary and chocolate hints • My Rating: 90 pts.

03 THE PRISONER WINE COMPANY “BLINDFOLD” 2017

• Region: Napa Valley • Varietal: White Blend • Price: $42 • Aromas: Orange peel, white flowers, pinneaple • Flavors: vanilla, apricot preserve, kiwi • Impression: Fresh and very well balanced acidity • Structure: Rich, medium body • Drink with: White fish, shell seafood.

Avocado and crab salad.

• Why I loved this wine? Nice perfume • My Rating: 89 pts.

01 Mongeard MugneretcECHEZEAUX Grand Cru 2012

02 Ernesto Catena Siesta en el Tahuantinsuyu 2014

03 The Prisoner Wine Company “Blindfold” 2017

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