Consulting with a Social Conscience

Ingrid Duran, ’98, tolerated the skeptical questions entrepreneurs often face: What do you know about running a business? Why leave the security of your job? What if you don’t succeed?

But when she founded her business in 2004 with Catherine Pino, she endured a more formidable question: What if people don’t want to do business with a lesbian couple?

“The mindset around the LGBT community wasn’t what it is today. Despite the naysayers, we launched D&P Creative Strategies in an open, authentic way,” Duran said. “If people didn’t want to work with us because of who we are, then we didn’t want their business. It was a hard-and-fast rule…and we’ve never looked back.”

Fifteen years later, D&P’s mission —“consulting with a social conscience” — continues to guide their work to elevate the social, economic and political status of the Latino and LGBTQ+ communities. “To expand their visibility, D&P helps open doors to resources and partnerships that stir action and create change.”

D&P’s mission continues to attract an impressive roster of clients including Comcast, Microsoft and NBCUniversal, and national nonprofits and associations such as Edison Electric Institute, Excelencia in Education and United States-Spain Council. Clients benefit from D&P’s collective 40 years of expertise in public affairs, government relations and strategic philanthropy.

“Diverse cultural groups play an increasingly critical role in economic and political arenas,” Duran said. Recently, the Washington, D.C., firm expanded its scope to work with the Congressional Tri-Caucus comprised of the Black, Asian Pacific American, Hispanic and LGBT Equality caucuses.

In 2008, Duran and Pino also founded PODER PAC, the first-ever political action committee dedicated to support Latinas running for elected office. In 2018, 11 Latinas ran for Congress and five were elected.

Open Doors

The power of an opened door is something Duran knows personally. Raised in Los Angeles, her parents separated when she was 10 years old. Duran moved with her mother to Wichita, Kan., and spent school breaks in Washington, D.C., with her father who worked as an appointee during Jimmy Carter’s administration as president of the Hispanic National Bar Association. “That’s when my interest in Latino issues began,” she said.

After starts and stops at two state universities, Duran joined the U.S. Marine Corps. After boot camp, she was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, and later in Norfolk, Va., where she discovered Park University. “Park made it possible for me to earn my degree at my own pace, while working full-time both in the military and later on Capitol Hill,” she said. As a Marine corporal, Duran credits the military for her work ethic and leadership skills. “I learned to go where I was needed without complaint and get the job done,” Duran said.

With a desire to work on issues that impact Latinos, Duran left the military in 1989 and reached out to U.S. Congressman Esteban Torres, a family friend. “He said he could open the door, but after that, it was up to me,” she said.

That first door was an administrative job in the U.S. House of Representatives where she worked for Office Systems Management under the Clerk of the House. That led to work as a legislative calendar clerk/staff assistant on the House Banking Committee and then as legislative assistant for former U.S. Congressman Gene Green.

Doors continued to open as people saw Duran’s dedication and passion.

In 1996, she was recruited to run the Washington, D.C., office of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials representing Latino community interests to Congress. In 1998, she became the first openly gay Latina to run a national Latino organization as the president and chief executive officer of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, a nonprofit that develops emerging Latino leaders.

Her advocacy has garnered national accolades. Both Hispanic and PODER magazines named Duran one of the nation’s 100 Most Influential Hispanics. LATINO magazine named her among the Top 10 Leaders in the Latino Community and People en Español selected her one of the 25 Most Powerful Latinas in the U.S. Last year, Duran was named one of The Hill’s 2018 Top Lobbyists in Washington, D.C.

“For me, success has been about working hard to do whatever job I’m responsible for at the moment,” Duran said. “And I’ve learned that you never know who’s watching.”

She’s also learned her worth. “It’s competitive in D.C. Many people come from Ivy League schools which used to intimidate me a bit. But I have a college degree and know I’m just as smart and capable,” she said. “The lesson I like to pass on is to never let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. Never let others diminish you. Find your own voice and believe in yourself.”

Supreme Friendships

Ingrid Duran and Catherine Pino were invited to the U.S. Supreme Court by their friend Justice Sonia Sotomayor on June 26, 2015, to hear the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges decision that ruled the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples. Four months later, Duran and Pino were married by Sotomayor, her first official same-sex marriage. Sotomayor is the third female and first Latina to sit on the Supreme Court.

The D&P Creative Strategies team in Washington, D.C. (from left): Jose Mercado, Ingrid Duran, Dane Pedersen, Catherine Pino, Lena Hernandez, Sophia Garcia and Juan Rangel.

The Identity Project

To change negative perceptions of Latinos and underrepresented communities, Duran and Pino founded Freemind Beauty Productions in 2009. Together, they produced “The Identity Project,” a series of six award-winning documentaries for HBO and PBS’ American Masters that explore race, gender, sexuality, accomplishment and identity in America.

The Black List: Volumes 1, 2 and 3 (HBO) features Toni Morrison, Chris Rock, Angela Davis, Colin Powell, Susan Rice and Bill T. Jones.

The Latino List: Volumes 1 and 2 (HBO) includes Eva Longoria, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, George Lopez, Gloria Estefan, America Ferrera and Pitbull.

The Out List (HBO), which aired on the 34th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, includes Ellen Degeneres, Neil Patrick Harris, Wanda Sykes, Larry Kramer and Janet Mock.

The Women’s List (PBS’ American Masters) features Madeline Albright, Gloria Allred, Edie Falco, Wendy Williams and Rosie Perez.

The Boomer List (PBS’ American Masters) features perspectives from Billy Joel, Erin Brockovich, and Samuel L. Jackson, to Rosie O’Donnell, Steve Wozniak and Amy Tan.

The Trans List (HBO) features Caitlyn Jenner, Alok Vaid-Menon, Bamby Salcedo, Buck Angel, Laverne Cox, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy and Nicole Maines.