Latino Leaders January/February 2022

JANUARY - FEBRUARY

2022

Vo l . 2 3 N o . 1 www.latinoleaders.com

BEST

COMPANIES TO WORK FOR LATINOS 2022

Our list and recognition of those companies providing the best place to work.

JEAN-CLAUDE TISSOT Taking Arca Continental-Coca-Cola Southwestern Beverages to the next level, a company with a proud Latin American origin.

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PLUS

THE LATINO INVESTOR MARKETPLACE;

INVESTORS IN SEARCH OF COMPANIES TO INVEST & COMPANIES IN SEARCH OF CAPITAL AND INVESTMENT SIX OUTSTANDING STORIES

ALSO IN THIS EDITION:

JORGE QUEZADA FROM GRANITE/ DANIEL DIAZ LEYVA/AEM DALLAS WILLIE HORNBERGER

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CONTENTS

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2022 FOLLOW US LatinoLeadersMagazine

Willie Hornberger

•13. Companies with Latin American Roots •14. Meet Jean Claude Tissot, President of Arca Continental •17. AEM DFW Chapter New Chairman, Willie Hornberger •21. Latinos Defining the Best Workplaces •22: Our annual list of best companies to work for •28: Adriana Graham, Senior Director Information Technology for Tyson Foods

Adriana Graham

•36: Jorge Quezada, Vice President of People & Culture for Granite Construction •39. Latinos in Search of Capital & Capital in Search of Latinos: Our newest section about Latinos investment and entrepreneurship •41. The Latino Investor Marketplace with Alta Growth Capital •46. Joe Aguilar, Acting Chief Investment Officer for Illinois State

Joe Aguilar

•48. Crypto Lucha and all about NFTs

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PUBLISHERS

Publisher Jorge Ferraez

President and CEO Raul Ferraez

Administrative Director Lawrence Teodoro Editor Ximena Vivanco ximena@latinoleaders.com Writters Bill Sarno Daniel Sanchez Torres Elsa Cavazos Joanne Rodrigues Luana Ferreira 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 Wendy Zacarias Events Coordinator Isabela Herrera 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, January/February 2022. 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

THIS IS AN EDITION that has always brought us a good deal of pride. First, our compilation of the Best Companies to work for Latinos; a great showcase of companies that care and thrive when it comes to their talent. Doesn’t matter what level, if we agree that for most businesses, People is the biggest asset; been perceived as a desirable place to work, doesn’t matter for what reason, is one of the best things that can happen to you. A year-long process, in which companies submit their cases, information, assets for employees, ERG groups, and many other factors, makes us recognize and celebrate all these companies for their championship in bringing people and offer them the “Best Place to Work”. Congratulations to all those featured, and those who made the effort to submit. Even if they were not featured, they are celebrated!

Another important piece is our 7th annual section on Companies with Latin American Origin. When we started it was only companies with a Mexican origin, but soon we discovered that we were leaving out an enormous pull of companies that have been either funded by a Latin American national or had their origin in Latin America as a continent.

These leaders are living the real “American Dream”, for they have succeeded in creating, growing and operating a company who’s origin somehow was south of the border. But at the same time, this companies are bringing to America what this Country is about; free enterprise, immigration, and economic growth for all. These leaders are the type of leaders that have built this Country, and we need more!

Finally, a fantastic idea that came from some of our advisors, which was to create a platform in which Investors in search of opportunities to invest, met directly with entrepreneurs and companies in need of grow capital and investment. We’re happy to say that we will keep the 6 examples we’re presenting in this edition on a web-based platform, free to everyone that wants to consult, explore and submit names or companies. Three small companies in search of capital are featured in this edition, along with three investment firms in search of companies to invest in. It’s a marketplace. A Latino Investor Marketplace in which we wish we provide an initial connection for a productive and successful future.

Please enjoy the great stories of our first edition of 2022.

Audited by Member of

Jorge Ferraez

Jorge Ferraez

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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LEADERS HUB WITH JOE

THE POWER OF INFLUENCE THE POWER OF INFLUENCE plays an important role in all aspects of our lives. Whether it is pitching a business idea or getting the kids to do their homework, we try to influence others daily.

American psychologist, Kevin Hogan, PhD, author of “The Psychology of Persuasion”, describes that most people respond to certain stimuli to common situations in the persuasion process. These responses provide the foundation for the following nine laws of persuasion:

7. Law of Scarcity: When a person perceives that something he might want is limited in quantity, he believes the value of what he might want to be greater than if it were available in abundance.

8. Law of Conformity: Most people tend to agree to proposals, products, or services that will be perceived as acceptable by the majority of other 1. Law of Reciprocity: When someone gives you some- people or a majority of an individual’s thing of perceived value, you immediately respond with peer group. the desire to give something back.

9. Law of Power: People have power 2. Law of Contrast: When two items are relatively dif- over other people to the degree that ferent from each other, we will see them as more dif- they are perceived as having greater auferent are placed near to each other in time, space, or thority, strength, or expertise. thought, we will see them as more different if placed In the art of influence, this is powclose together in time or space. erful knowledge. However, what if you 3. Law of Friends: When someone asks you to do learn to do or say that one thing at just something and you perceive that the person has your the right time before trying to influence best interests in mind, and/or you would like him/her to someone? Robert Cialdini, PhD’s new have your best interests in mind, you are strongly moti- book: “Pre-Suasion” goes deeper into vated to fulfill the request. this concept. As Cialdini explains, there is a moment in time just before the at4. Law of Expectancy: When someone you respect and/ tempt to influence (e.g., a sales pitch or or believe in expects you to perform a task or produce a speech) called a “privileged moment”; a certain result, you will tend to fulfill his expectation during this window of opportunity, influencers should get the people they are whether positive or negative. trying to focus on something that will 5. Law of Association: We tend to like products, services, help the influencer’s cause. or ideas that are endorsed by people we like or respect.

Here's an actual example from a research test. The researchers stopped 6. Law of Consistency: When an individual announces in people in a mall and asked them to fill writing or verbally that he/ she is taking a position on any out a survey. Only 29 percent agreed issue or point of view, he/ she will strongly tend to defend to participate. The researchers then that belief regardless of its accuracy even in the face of started stopping people and asking, overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

“Do you consider yourself helpful?”

Amazingly, most of the people (77.3 percent) responded yes and filled out the survey.

If you are interested in creating a powerful personal presence to influence and engage, visit the AlliancesHub website to learn more about the “Leadership Effectiveness” Executive Coaching Program.

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

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LATINO ART LEADERSHIP. WHAT WE NEED TO LEARN FROM IT...

“LATINX” STUPID AMERICA WITH ATTITUDE. AMERICA, YOU DID NOT GIVE UP ON US!?

My concern is about the integrity of the Latino culture and genre. It seems to me consistently, that the poor is who lights the candle and the ignorant who gets the miracle.

M

y constant goal is to promote Latino Art as American Art. The vehicle of a genre perspective that is not in solitude but aware of its uniqueness. To create an appetite in all Americans to understand why this culture is so important to the history and evolution of our country. Swamped by a supernatural evil force, the genre, is not equipped or prepared to deal with. Then there are those thoughts which are too numerous to list and just to awful - shameful to name.

The case in full… “Latinx” …a popular believe to look through the back mirror and not through the windshield!

Founding your actions in what you heard and not on what you see, the term “Latinx” is not using the head and only going by gut. Been this the reason why the term is stupid and totally wrong. It is a trendy and popular overleveraging and overvalued term. A minority inside a minority that is not using their head!

In Nicolás Bejarano, Colombian born American Latino, podcast “The Art Salon”. He talks against the term “Latinx” and the critical theory. He enlightens why the word “Latinx” is wrong, and why the term “Latino” is the correct representation. Remarking that “Latino” covers the entire variety of genders and races.

The term “Latinx” doesn’t align with the “Latino” narrative. It is greatly used by not native-born Latinos, that usually are not Spanish speakers and not capable to read or write in Spanish. In a few words, not a member of the community.

He calls “Latinx” the “Erosion of reason’. Exploring deeply into the term, and what he believes to be one of the most useless additions to the English language.

Been this one of the symptoms of a larger problem brewing in America.

He describes the roots of the adoption of the term “Latinx” and its unviability.

The term suggests a younger generation with college education, but the truth is, and he appoints the existence of data that proves that only 3% of Hispanics describe themselves as “Latinx” and 1% of them are college educated. That, is basically nothing.

In fact, there is substantial evidence that the Chicano and Hispanic community rejects it and doesn’t identify with it.

If we follow this trail, “Latino Art” as a genre, will die in less than 25 years. We have to keep in mind that “you have to live it, to be part of it”. Only artists that experience the everyday life, despite if they were born or not in this country can be considered part of the genre. Artists that juxtapose all the visible and invisible to impact the expression of their communication format and better grasp of the present suffering voice.

Consider that for about 245 years we have suppressed the importance of Latino history and for the past 100 or so, we have not been aware of the cultural complexity of our Latin-American inheritance. What about volition been seen as inferior acts of the will who’s occurrence makes the difference between voluntary and involuntary actions?

William Hanhausen

"Stupid America"

by Abelardo 'Lalo' Delgado Stupid America, see that Chicano with a big knife on his steady hand.

He doesn’t want to knife you he wants to sit on a bench and carve Christ figures but you won’t let him.

Stupid America, hear that Chicano shouting curses on the street he is a poet without paper and pencil and since he cannot write he will explode.

Stupid America, remember that Chicano flunking math and English he is the Picasso of your western states, but he will die with one thousand masterpieces hanging only from his mind.

Those interesting artists who keep us guessing — those, who to borrow Stephen Sondheim’s phrase, “Give us more to see” are the ones most likely to endure.

We, they and us, cannot be represented by such a miserable term.

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DE LA VEGA ON LEADERSHIP

THE BEST PLACES TO WORK IN THE FUTURE Ralph de la Vega

THE BEST PLACES to work in the future will be organizations that adapt quickly to an ever-changing environment and transform how work is done. New Covid variants, changing employee expectations, rising inflation, and evolving social norms will require agility and flexibility to define not only how work is done but where work will be done.

Leaders and organizations must also rethink how to create an environment where employees feel valued and included regardless of the mode or type of work they perform. In my opinion, all companies, irrespective of size or location, will be impacted by these trends.

As large national or multinational companies move to more flexible work-from-home arrangements, they will expand their reach and increase the competition for talent everywhere.

So what does this mean?

It means the manager's role becomes an even more critical factor in employee retention. In a future where work from anywhere is more prevalent, the manager's role will be crucial in establishing fairness, equity, and inclusion across an increasingly diverse employee base.

In this work environment, leaders and companies must provide equal opportunities for advancement based on performance, regardless of the mode of work or background.

If they do so, they will create the Best Places to Work in the Future.

LEADERS AND ORGANIZATIONS MUST ALSO RETHINK HOW TO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE EMPLOYEES FEEL VALUED AND INCLUDED REGARDLESS OF THE MODE OR TYPE OF WORK THEY PERFORM.

Ralph de la Vega is the former vice-chairman 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.

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LATINO

LEADERS

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In Collaboration with:

LCDA CORPORATE GOVERNANCE SNAPSHOT: LATEST TRENDS

LATINOS ON BOARDS

headquartered in their state and some of the largest Latino populations in the country, but the great majority of companies in each state lack US Latinos on their boards.

The 2021 findings confirm Latinos have been left out of Fortune 1000 boardrooms for decades. As a public resource, LCDA provides, The Latino Board Tracker, a searchable database of F1000 companies by state and sector.

LCDA Supports Nasdaq Diversity Rule In early 2021, LCDA submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in support of new Nasdaq rules requiring diversity disclosures by companies that list shares on its exchanges.

Noting that market research has demonstrated the correlation between board diversity and corporate financial performance. Corporate boards remain agile when they reflect the increasingly diverse marketplace and workforce. Latino market share is growing at an astounding rate, 70% faster than the US general population. Companies that do not capitalize on this growth are losing market share.

New Report Launched The Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA), the leading national organization advancing Latino representation on corporate boards, in fall 2021, launched a firstof-its-kind report to list all Fortune 1000 (F1000) companies with and without Latinos on their boards. The 2021 Latino Board Monitor, revealed a lack of US Latino representation on the largest company boards in the country.

US Latinos are the second largest US population group totaling 62.1 million, but have the widest representation gap to close in the boardroom. Latino directors are missing on 47% of Fortune 100 boards, while the Fortune 1000 fares worse with 69% of companies lacking a US Latino perspective. The Latino Board Monitor is released annually as part of the L'ATTITUDE business conference.

LCDA's review found that 53 Fortune 100 companies have US Latino boardroom representation, indicating that a majority of the nation's largest corporations value a US Latino perspective in the boardroom. Amazon, UnitedHealth Group, Berkshire Hathaway, AmerisourceBergen, and Alphabet Inc. top the list of 47 Fortune 100 companies without US Latinos on the board.

The report also reveals that state-by-state, the gap is even wider. California, Texas, and New York, respectively, have the largest number of Fortune 1000 companies

LCDA Leads with Talent & Growing the Supply LCDA is working to change the misperception that Latino business leaders are hard to find. Despite a strong qualified pool, Latinos have long been systematically bypassed. This is unacceptable in 21st Century America. There's ample Latino board talent with extensive business experience from all industries.

As part of its commitment to prepare and grow the supply of Latino board talent, the Latino Corporate Directors Education Foundation (LCDEF), BoardReady Institute (BRI) recently welcomed its largest cohort to date - comprised of 65 aspiring directors to participate in premier BRI programming.

Hailed as a game changer, the LCDEF BRI is the first comprehensive board readiness program to surface, prepare, and position Latino senior executives for corporate board service. Participants are highly credentialed individuals, including SVP or C-level executives from various industries and functional expertise, such as P&L and international portfolio leaders. They are selected after a rigorous selection process and BRI participants are enrolled as Executive Members of LCDA. BRI is supported by a leading team of faculty and curriculum partners, including KPMG, Boardspan, Diligent, Equilar, search firms, private equity/venture capital companies, and LCDA's seasoned Director Members, among many others. This growing pool of partners and subject matter experts assist candidates on their journey to and in the boardroom.

In partnership with Goldman Sachs, which will host our in-person sessions at their New York City headquarters, LCDA is launching the annual SPRING LCDEF BoardReady Institute (BRI) to keep pace with our growing membership and celebrate the growth of this signature program with the theme, Building Community. All LCDA members and partners are invited to join.

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COMPANIES WITH LATIN AMERICAN ROOTS The Latino community has been leaving a mark on the United States for years now. Today, businesses continue to bring their products, create jobs, and invest in the growth of the country. In projects such as technology, consumer goods, finance, among others, entrepreneurs and business leaders continue to establish successful brands.

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COMPANIES WITH LATIN AMERICAN ORIGIN ARCA CONTINENTAL

JEAN CLAUDE TISSOT PRESIDENT COCA-COLA SOUTHWEST BEVERAGES/ ARCA CONTINENTAL

PEOPLE: ONE OF THE BEST STRATEGIES FOR A BEVERAGE BOTTLER GIANT Bill Sarno

By all accounts, the kick-off of 2020 was going to be one of monumental importance and excitement for Jean Claude Tissot. Newly appointed as the President of Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages (CCSWB), a division of Mexicobased Arca Continental, Jean Claude was eager to begin his tenure with clear strategies in mind. However, we all know that the unexpected came to pass with the shutdowns of COVID-19 in early 2020. CCSWB - one of the nation's largest bottlers delivering its products throughout Texas, and parts of Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arkansas - would be operating as an essential business during a crucial time for its customers. These customers included grocery and convenience stores, as well as working with restaurants of all sizes as they transitioned their operations. The processes of bottling, distributing, and moving beloved Coca-Cola brands of soft drinks, sports drinks and bottled water had to stay on pace, despite the tremendous change in the landscape.

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"EVERYTHING is about people,” Tissot says. “Providing employees with the tools and the security they need while helping navigate challenges is a priority. At the same time, we also must stay in tune with the needs of our customers, understanding their challenges to be a true servant leader for what impacts their business.”

As a longtime beverage industry executive with more than two decades of experience, Jean Claude describes an emphasis on being solution-focused as a key element of his management style. This comes from his career devotion to building a company culture of appreciation for its employees as well as a focus on team and customer support, sustainability, technological advances, and community commitment. Certainly, Tissot’s journey to CCSWB has helped to solidify his approach.

The Journey

Tissot started work as a merchandiser and sales representative in 1993 for Warner-Lambert where he gained experience in employee engagement and a true culture of gratefulness, he notes. By 1998, he had the opportunity to work for Coca-Cola Co. in several countries. He said that these jobs helped him prepare to connect with consumers in the United States, especially the large Hispanic population in Texas.

His oversight as Coca-Cola’s internal representation of the merger forming Arca Continental in 2011 influenced his streamlined approach to transitions into Peru and the United States. It is important to note Arca Continental’s presence includes more than 118 million consumers in Mexico, South America, and the Southwestern U.S. (The company also produces and markets snacks under the brand names of Wise in the U.S and Bokados in Mexico.)

Even before Jean Claude’s tenure at CCSWB began, the Arca Continental brand name was well-established in Texas. Its Topo Chico brand, the company's sparkling mineral water sourced and bottled in Monterrey, Mexico since 1895, holds almost cult status in the state.

Fluent in French, Spanish, and English, Jean Claude embraced product and franchise management positions within the company in Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico. It was through these leadership positions that Jean Claude honed a devotion to cultivating a corporate culture of appreciation, which ensures employees understand the “why” behind business decisions, and that they can approach leadership and be heard.

Subsequently, Arca Continental invited Jean Claude to be its chief marketing officer.

"In that role, I worked with our team to implement a commercial business model that we call the ‘ACT model’ to help us drive efficiency, accelerate technological advances and build collaboration,” he said.

After Arca Continental acquired the territory that was to become CCSWB in 2017, Jean Claude worked as an executive with the new entity before being appointed president. Jean Claude notes that as CCSWB’s president,

MY MANTRA IS TO BE ADAPTABLE, APPROACHABLE, AUTHENTIC ADAPTABLE: TRANSFORMING COMPLEXITY INTO SIMPLICITY. APPROACHABLE: LISTENING, UNDERSTANDING, AND RESOLVING CONCERNS AT ALL LEVELS. AUTHENTIC: ENCOURAGING TEAMWORK AND EXPANDING CAPABILITIES OF THE TEAM. the most important part of his role has been taking Arca Continental’s strategy that was successful in Mexico and applying it appropriately in Texas.

Over the years, Jean Claude has seen how important the cross integration from both regions is, as well as how the cultures of Texas and Mexico make each region unique. For a company to operate successfully in the United States, Jean Claude said, “it needs a culture of integration and diversity, as well as a culture of change and innovation. A culture that is about prosperity and its focus on resources."

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COMPANIES WITH LATIN AMERICAN ORIGIN ARCA CONTINENTAL

When it comes to business, he believes this makes all the difference. Jean Claude notes that he feels blessed and thankful to operate in the United States, and the past five years have been extremely successful in delivering top-line and bottom-line results.

Jean Claude’s leadership comes from years of experience and overcoming challenges with confidence and creativity. His attitude was greatly influenced by his father who endured being a young teen in France during World War II. After the war, his father would grow up and share his perspective with Jean Claude, teaching him that “life will bring challenges, but you have to be a problem solver."

During his career in marketing and business management, Jean Claude's problem-solving acumen has provided not only an opportunity for personal career growth but also to develop the talent of his colleagues. “As a team, you are always going to face challenges and problems," Jean Claude said, “but what counts is how you solve them.”

Today, Jean Claude will tell you that his favorite day of the week is Wednesday. That is when the company conducts its Market Investment Days.

"We are not in the office but visit production facilities, warehouses, and other aspects of the business, listening to customer and employee concerns, what they need and their ideas," said Tissot.

It is an important part of the culture he champions at CCSWB. For Jean Claude, "that day is honestly when I receive more fuel than whatever meetings we have with corporate, the consultants or any other encounter that we have. I feel the excitement about what our role here is as a company.”

A Solution-Focused Approach

Among the major challenges that CCSWB has been resolving during Jean Claude's tenure: digitalization and building a strong relationship with its associates and local communities. Internally, CCSWB aims to be a pioneer in digital transformation, he said and is investing in how to serve its customers better.

The beverage company has affirmed its commitment to the community through its $250 million investment with its new production facility in Houston, which Jean Claude said is the first new bottling plant in the U.S. in more than a decade. The company has also taken a proactive approach to sustainability and the environment and

is the first bottler to use 50 percent recycled materials in all of its plastic bottles.

"We are developing programs that ensure net-zero carbon emissions inside and outside of our operations and working toward 100 percent renewable energy," he added.

But the company's community connection is not just a question of investment, Jean Claude said. "All of us have to play a role in the community where we operate."

This includes making sure that the company's managers participate in organizations that are going to provide the company the opportunity to connect with and serve the community. "We have been donating products when crises arise such as Hurricane Harvey (2017), COVID 19, and last year's devastating Texas winter storm," Jean Claude said.

As the company embarks on its fifth anniversary, Jean Claude notes his excitement to continue advancing its growth. In celebration of the team and the upcoming anniversary, Jean Claude has led a new internal initiative called the Recognition Roadtrip. The Recognition Roadtrip features a 5-foot tall Coca-Cola bottle, which has traveled to every CCSWB facility to celebrate each team in the company’s territory.

By the end of the trip, the Recognition Roadtrip Bottle will have traveled more than 11,000 miles to more than 30 cities. The entire Recognition Roadtrip is one of many initiatives Jean Claude has shepherded to ensure his team is recognized and represented, no matter where in the region they work.

His tenure as CCSWB president may have begun with significant challenges in the form of COVID-19, natural disasters, and more. However, with Jean Claude’s teamwork-centered mindset and the amazing team at CCSWB, they have overcome these challenges to deliver incredible results in both financial aspects and engagement.

Jean Claude lives in Dallas with his wife and two teenaged children. Within the industry, he is proud to serves on various beverage associations, the North America Hispanic Advisory Council, American Beverage Association, the Coca-Cola Bottlers Association, the Dr. Pepper Bottlers Association, the Coca-Cola North America Hispanic Advisory Council, and the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce. He said he likes to travel and learn, is an avid soccer fan and as a new Texan, he is learning a lot about American football.

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COMPANIES WITH LATIN AMERICAN ROOTS AEM

WILLIE HORNBERGER, Newest Chairman of AEM DFW Elsa Cavazos

PASSIONATE for Mexican culture, Willie Hornberger appreciates and honors his background. Growing up in Laredo, his grandparents immigrated from Mexico and worked hard to survive.

“I am living out my grandfather’s, dream. The dream that he had for his. grandchildren, the dream of a better life. I felt in my life a tremendous responsibility to give back to help people like us, the many people that helped him build and grow his business here. This is why I'm very proud to serve as President of AEM. There was no way that with my story I was going to turn this opportunity down,” Hornberger said.

Willie also shares about his father’s influence on him, lawyer and politically active. Willie grew up immersed in the political sphere. He pursued an accounting and law degree as well as a master's in tax law from New York University. At the beginning of his career, he was able to work with investors from Mexico and other countries which Hornberger said helped him launch his career.

Throughout his career, he has been able to work collaboratively with plenty of people in Mexico. He stressed the importance of the partnership and the important role Dallas plays in it. His goal is to continue to open market opportunities for people in Mexico.

“We were very selective about whom we wanted on the board of AEM DFW so that we represent various industries. We plan to have seminars, webinars, for businesses in Mexico, on helping them diversify here into the US, and helping them open up channels for the distribution of their products,” he said. “Mexico is one of Texas's five

“WHEN WE START WITH MORE COLLABORATION, WE WILL ACCOMPLISH SO MUCH.”

Willie Hornberger not only serves as a Partner for Jackson Walker but he’s also involved in several organizations serving the Latino community. He most recently took the role of Chairman for AEM DFW Chapter, an organization encouraging economic competitiveness by helping promote business between companies in the United States and Mexico.

largest trading partners and in the metroplex of Dallas it is like a “hurricane of businesses”.

“AEM is all about relationships. We’re not a chamber but we will be working closely with organizations such as the Dallas Regional Chamber and the Dallas Hispanic Chamber. Our objective is to enhance these relationships so that our main targets are reached including both Mexican companies and companies here that serve the Latino market,” Hornberger said.

“When we start with more collaboration, we will accomplish so much.”

AEM Dallas looks for members to meet a cross-section between business and community. They want various industries to be represented on the board as well.

AEM Dallas continues to grow together with its brand awareness. Willie wants businesses to understand how relevant they are in the DFW metroplex area. “I want businesses to grow a network here and have the access to the Latino buying power here in the US. I want to help them understand this access,” Hornberger said.

Plans for events in Washington, Guanajuato, New Orleans, and other places are in the works in order to continue that path of networking and collaboration.

“We want to share what we're about. We should be sharing the beauty and how wonderful Mexican culture is with everyone not only here in Dallas but at a National level as well.”

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LATINO INVESTOR MARKETPLACE

FORGE STRONG RELATIONSHIPS TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS Joanne Rodrigues

JORGE EURAN FOUNDER OF ALVENI

How do we find success in today’s fastpaced world of instant gratification? According to serial entrepreneur and changemaker Jorge Euran, the secret lies in everyday accomplishments and maintaining strong human connections. We picked Euran’s brain to learn more about what keeps him motivated, how he scaled his business from Mexico to the United States, and the important life lessons that have shaped him along the way.

A

lveni, Euran’s interactive digital solutions company, turned 18 years old recently. The firm has come a long way since establishing its headquarters in Monterrey, Mexico. It was one of the first Mexican companies to immerse itself in the development of personalized interactive kiosks.

“It was revolutionary,” recalled Euran. “Large corporations were struggling to streamline and effectively manage their HR processes. With hundreds and thousands of employees on their payroll, they needed us to provide a digitized solution to help systemize it productively.”

Since then there’s been no turning back for Alveni.

In 2010 the company successfully made it through the TechBA accelerator program, which facilitated their expansion into the US market. This breakthrough enabled Alveni to branch out into a diverse portfolio of sectors and niches. Today they provide digital signage and interactive solutions to most industries including healthcare, entertainment, and the financial sector.

But what sets Alveni apart from its competitors in the US? “My customers value the close relationship I have with them,” said Euran. “One of my first big clients was located in Dallas and purchased two kiosks from us. As soon as the pieces were ready and shipped, I got into my car and drove all the way to meet them on arrival,” he recalled.

Euran was able to provide a personal touch to a business transaction that his clients had never experienced before. That is something he holds dear to his heart and professional code.

“An important lesson my dad taught me is that ‘if you want to be successful, you can only do so by treating other people right’. I find ways to use my network in a positive way, to help whoever I meet. I know that good will come back my way when I least expect it,” he said.

Euran’s policies on business and life are further strengthened by his late son, who passed away in 2008. “Life is very precious and he taught us that you can’t waste a single moment of it,” he said. To commemorate this, Euran participated in the New York City marathon in 2009 and has been doing so every year since then.

“Through running, I raise money for nonprofit organizations related to sports and education, and tell my daughters that to live life to the fullest and to achieve longterm potential we need to work towards it every single day,” he added.

In many ways, Euran’s successful work ethic, entrepreneurial achievements, and personal triumphs can be attributed to his commitment to forging lifelong partnerships and living a life of positive impact.

Jorge Euran’s journey began in the small town of Tampico in the Gulf of Mexico. By the time he graduated from Tec de Monterrey in the ‘dot.com era’, he decided to put aside an MBA scholarship to start a business of his own. “It’s been a struggle ever since, but I don’t regret anything,” he said.

Since the current global pandemic, the potential to grow is endless.

“We’ve partnered with Zoom in Mexico to create its first video conferencing kiosk. It’s a gamechanger,” he added.

“We’re also excited about where the healthcare industry is headed since COVID19. Our solutions will make it possible for even the smallest towns and those with limited access to specialized doctors to get live consultations or check their blood pressure and temperature through a kiosk.”

Alveni has major plans to scale into the realestate and education markets as well. “Everyone needs a way to communicate and interact better with their customers. And that's what we're trying to help out with,” he concluded.

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COMPANIES WITH LATIN AMERICAN ROOTS

S.O.S TAX

Joanne Rodrigues

Luis González

FAMILY BUSINESS DEDICATED TO EMPOWERING THE HISPANIC COMMUNITY The long and winding road to prosperity is often filled with challenges and stumbling blocks.

There’s so little room at the top and we need to work together to build each other up and add more seats at the table.

This is exactly what a recent and inspiring conversation with Mario Motta has taught us.

M

otta, CEO, and Founder of S.O.S Tax used perseverance and resilience to carve his journey.

“My wife and I were working for the Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes in Baja California and we got an opportunity to move to the United States on a work visa more than thirty years ago,” he said. “The language barrier was real and made things tough. After a long time, I finally found work as a dishwasher at a restaurant.”

Motta soon worked his way up the restaurant’s chain of command as a cook and then a supervisor until eventually, he became a manager. We asked him how S.O.S Tax came about if he was spending most of his time within the restaurant.

“It’s all thanks to my wife. She’s a

Mario Motta CEO, and Founder of S.O.S Tax numbers lady and has accountancy in her. We had to learn to file our tax returns by ourselves using books from the IRS, while I was at the restaurant.

With no access to computers and no other help, the two of us set up S.O.S Tax right there from our dining table,” said Motta. “My co-workers asked us to help them with their taxes as well.

It soon became a small business.”

The Mottas would go knocking on doors to find clients – Even offering their services for free for three months to gain people’s trust. Motta goes on to explain. “Despite the obstacles, we had to continue. My advice to other Latinos is to never give up.

Hispanics are very hardworking people, and we shouldn’t let a language or cultural barrier get in the way of finding success.”

Motta’s ethos of staying true to yourself while doing honest, good work shines bright across his busi-

ness. “One thing that I love about my work is that we directly give back to the Hispanic community. I want people to know that if you do things the right way, and comply with the rules and regulations set by the governing authorities, then your future is going to look very bright.”

Motta is strict with his clients about adhering to rules and not trying to cheat the system. “Everyone wants to know how they can pay less in taxes. But that’s not how I work. We have to be careful and straightforward and pay what is fair. You’ll sleep better knowing that your accounting books are done the right way.”

Motta elaborates on the complexity that comes with operating a family-run business. There are plenty of family businesses in the Latino community, but not everyone has been successful for over 31 years like S.O.S Tax. “From a young age, we instilled the importance of hard work and earning each reward in our children,” he said.

Motta’s sons play an active role in running the businesses today.

“They’ve seen how dependent we’ve been on the company since the beginning. They know that it is our livelihood and that a lot depends on it. We work together to not only grow the company but to always maintain the trust of our clients.”

Now three decades later, S.O.S Tax is doing everything it can to uplift their community and help others.

“We have good roots and good values. But we also can’t do everything by ourselves. I want other Latinos to work together to build each other up. Many people hesitate to ask for advice, but you’ll learn a lot for free simply when you ask. That is what we are here for.”

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BEST

COMPANIES TO WORK FOR LATINOS 2022

Latinos Defining the Best Workplaces According to the U.S. Labor Bureau, one in every two workers that enter the workforce in 2025 will be Hispanic. That’s not far away from now. In fact, it’s already happening. Today, companies focus on the recruitment of the next generation of leaders by having to create unique hiring initiatives and strategies. We present our annual “Best Companies to Work For” list, a group of companies we value as the best companies to work for according to their diversity and inclusion strategies and development.

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BEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR 2022 Information Technology

Insurance

NVIDIA

Employees: 10,794

Diversity: 63.30%

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

✓

Latinx ERG:

Restaurant

Chipotle Mexican Grill Mauricio Gutierrez Board Director

Employees: 97,661

Diversity: 67%

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

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Latinx ERG:

Employees: 40,000

Diversity: 33 %

✓

Latinx ERG:

Financial Services

New York Life

Insurance • Progressive Insurance

Ralph de la Vega

Automotive • General Motors

Board Director, member of the Board’s Audit, Governance, and Insurance & Operations Committees

✓

✓

Latinx ERG:

✓

Latinx ERG:

Food and Drugstores • Walgreens Boots Alliance

Electric Utility • Southern California Edison

Consumer Goods • Procter & Gamble

Construction • Granite

General Merchandisers • Target

Telecommunications • Charter Communications • Verizon Communications

Beverages Food Processing • Coca Cola

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Apparel • Nike

Storage & Transportation of Liquids • NuStar Energy

Pharmaceutical • Merck • Pfizer

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Computer Software • Microsoft • Adobe

Healthcare • Nicklaus Children's Health System

Financial Services • New York Life • Navy Federal Credit Union

Diversity: 75 %

✓

General Motors has always strived for inclusion both in how they support their employees and how they operate globally with customers. In June 2020, they took this mission even further when Chair and CEO, Mary Barra took a stand to condemn intolerance and fight injustice. This included the establishment of the GM Inclusion Advisory Board (IAB) and donating $10M to support organizations that promote inclusion and racial justice, including its recent contribution to the National Museum of the American Latino as a founding donor.

They continue to foster an inclusive culture that celebrates unique differences and allows each employee the opportunity to use their voice and impact the course of their global innovation.

Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure • Hilton

Information Technology • NVIDIA • IBM

Industrial • Stanley Black & Decker

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

Diversity: 34.80%

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

Best Companies to Work for 2022

Restaurant • Chipotle Mexican Grill

Employees: 11,227

Employees: 88,435

✓

Latinx ERG:

"Our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) play an important part in leveraging our differences to support an inclusive culture and create a great place to work. With nearly half of all Progressive employees belonging to at least one group, ERGs act as a valuable resource for the business, providing an opportunity to support others and build a network of allies. They also provide opportunities for career development, such as workshops that expand business acumen, enhance interviewing skills and broaden professional networks.

Another key function of our nine ERGs, which includes the Progressive Latin American Networking Association (PLANetA), is their participation in product development, marketing and advertising, and customer experience. Members of our ERGs are frequently tapped by customer-focused business areas and project teams to help them address specific multicultural needs."

Stanley Black & Decker Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

General Motors

Diversity: 35%

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

Industrial

Employees: 53,100

Automotive

Progressive Insurance

Manufacturing • Hersheys

Transportation/Airline • Southwest Airlines

Travel & Cruise Industry • Carnival Corporation

Correctional Services Provider • The Geo Group

Food Production • Tyson Foods

Electrical Distribution / Supply Chain • Wesco International Inc

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BEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR 2022 Pharmaceutical

Healthcare

Merck

E Q U I T Y

Nicklaus Children's Health System

Employees: 26,544 (U.S. Only) Diversity: 32 %

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

Latinx ERG:

Jose Perdomo

Arianna Urquia

Iris Berges

Helenemarie Blake

Dr. Marcos Mestre

Elizabeth Menocal

Employees: 4,000

Diversity: 83.00%

SVP

CFO

VP CCO CMO

VP

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

Latinx ERG:

Nicklaus Children's Health System has the vision to inspire hope and promote lifelong health for their patients while building a culture that focuses on collaboration, responsibility, empowerment, advocacy, transformation, and empathy.

Beverages Food Processing

Coca Cola

Maria Elena Lagomasino Board Director

Beatriz Perez

Senior VP & Chief Communications, Sustainability Officer Manolo Arroyo, Global Chief Marketing Officer

Alfredo Rivera

President, North America

Employees: 18,000

Diversity:

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

Latinx ERG:

Storage & Transportation of Liquids

NuStar Energy Jorge del Alamo

Sr. Vice President & Controller

Martin Salinas, Jr. Board Member

Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure

Hilton

Executive Vice President & Chief Human Resources Office

Employees:

Diversity:

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

✓

Latinx ERG:

Hilton understands and integrates its Team Members’ unique perspectives and voices—along with those of their Guests, Owners, Suppliers, and Partners. It's essential to cultivate a diverse and inclusive environment for all. Through evolving Culture, Talent, and Marketplace initiatives, Hilton strives to reflect the global communities where they live, work, and thrive, as diversity will forever be core to their main Mission, Vision, and Values.

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Southern California Edison

Diversity: 32 %

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

Laura Fuentes

B

Electric Utility

Employees: 1,190

Latinx ERG:

Pedro Pizarro

Our mission is to ensure NuStar is a positive, inclusive and rewarding workplace with a diverse, representative workforce at every level, from rank and file to upper management. And the numbers tell the story! Fifty percent of our senior executive team are women and minorities; 49 percent of our corporate management employees are women and minorities; and 42 percent of our U.S. employees are women and minorities. Because of our great record, NuStar was recognized as one of Texas' Top 25 Companies for Diversity by the National Diversity Council in 2018.

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President and CEO, EIXMichael Montoya, VP Chief Ethics & Compliance

Employees: 12.937

Diversity: 34%

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

✓

Latinx ERG:

LEAD serves as a resource for employees, supporting members to achieve their full potential, driving awareness of Latino’s contributions, and supporting SCE’s business objectives. At the end of 2020, Latinos made up 34% of Edison’s workforce and 46% of SCE customers. LEAD has grown 69.55% since 2016. Given these numbers, we see that LEAD has a unique role to play in partnering with the company on internal and external strategic initiatives and in expanding its membership to include Latino employees from across the company.

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BEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR 2022

Granite

Southwest Airlines

Transportation/Airline

Computer Software

Louis E. Caldera

Juan Suarez

Carlos Rodriguez

Gaddi H. Vasquez

Ryan Martinez

Construction

Board Director

Vice President Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

Board Director

Employees: 7,200

Microsoft Board Director

Employees: 182,268 Diversity:

Vice President Investor Relations

Diversity: 40 %

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

Employees: 55,000

✓

Latinx ERG:

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

Diversity: 40 %

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

Latinx ERG:

While Southwest Airlines doesn't have traditional ERGs, they allow and encourage Employees to have Employee-led Groups.

✓

Latinx ERG:

Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Microsoft continues its commitments to address racial injustice including a sustained focus on increasing representation and strengthening a culture of inclusion.

Telecommunications

Charter Communications

Correctional Services Provider

The Geo Group

Mauricio Ramos Board Director

Jose Gordo

Christian Ruiz

Chief Executive Officer

Executive Vice President, Sales

Employees: 93,000

Joe Negron

SVP, General Counsel

Diversity: 49%

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

Pablo E. Paez

Latinx ERG:

EVP, Corporate Relations

Jose Rosario

Known through their Spectrum brand, Charter Communications, Inc. is a leading broadband connectivity company and cable operator serving more than 32 million customers in 41 states.

Over an advanced communications network, the company offers a full range of state-of-theart residential and business services including Spectrum Internet, TV, Mobile, and Voice.

They are committed to diversity and inclusion in every aspect of the business. As they continue to deliver high-quality products and services, they embrace the unique backgrounds, perspectives and experiences of their employees and partners.

EVP, CIO and CISO

Employees: 18,500

Diversity: 65 %

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

Electrical Distribution / Supply Chain

Wesco International Inc Employees: 18,000

Diversity: 25 %

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

I

N

C

L

Latinx ERG:

U

S

I

O

✓

Latinx ERG:

N

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BEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR 2022 Apparel

Pharmaceutical

Pfizer

Adobe

Andrea Perez

Nanette Cocero

Employees: 25,988

Nike

Global Vice President & General Manager, Jordan Women's

Employees: 73,300

Diversity: 58.1%

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

✓

Latinx ERG:

Nike's Latino & Friends Network is an inclusive group of both. Latinos and non-Latinos from around the world within the NIKE,Inc. family. Network members leverage their unique skills and contributions to create opportunities for professional success and infuse theire passion for art, food, music and community into their work.

Computer Software

Global President, Vaccines, Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals Group

Employees: 78,500

Diversity:

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

Latinx ERG:

Pfizer holds the purpose of unleashing the power of Latino talent to support Pfizer in being an amazing workplace for all and advance the breakthroughs that change patients' lives.

Diversity: 41%

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

✓

Latinx ERG:

Adobe's HOLA, the Hispanic and/or Latinx ERG, focuses on recruiting, developing, and retaining Hispanic and Latino employees within Adobe while increasing social awareness and supporting outreach efforts in our local Hispanic and Latino communities. HOLA runs a mentoring program to build the leadership capabilities of Adobe’s Hispanic and Latinx employees in a way that leverages the richness of experience within the community.

Consumer Goods

Procter & Gamble

Food and Drugstores

Walgreens Boots Alliance

Joseph Jimenez Board Director

Employees: 315,000 Diversity: 49% Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

Latinx ERG:

Employees: 101,000 Diversity:

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

Latinx ERG:

P&G strives to be a company and create a culture where they encourage, embrace, and value each employee for being their authentic self. They enable access and opportunity for all while harnessing their differences to solve problems, expand opportunities and grow stronger together.

Telecommunications

Verizon Communications Diego Scotti EVP & CMO

Melanie L. Healey Board Director

Employees: 13,3395 Diversity: 43%

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

✓

Latinx ERG:

FOLLOW US @latinoleadersmag

A N

A M A Z I N G

One in every two workers that enter the workforce in 2025 will be Hispanic.

U.S. Labor Bureau

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BEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR 2022 Financial Services

General Merchandisers

Target

Navy Federal Credit Union

Monica Lozano

Employees: 20,700

Board Director

IBM

Diversity:

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

Rick Gomez

Information Technology Dario Gil

Senior VP & Director of IBM Research

Latinx ERG:

Mike Perera

Executive Vice President and Chief Food and Beverage Officer

Employees: 409,000 Diversity:

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

General Manager IBM TSS

Jesus Mantas

Senior Partner IBM Consulting and Strategic Acquisitions

Chris Padilla

✓

Latinx ERG:

One of seven Diversity and Inclusion Business Councils at Target, the Hispanic/Latino Business Council’s (HLBC) mission is to create a sense of belonging and inclusivity by sharing Hispanic/ Latino culture and experiences that authentically engage and connect all team members. HLBC members regularly work together to provide onboarding, networking, and professional development opportunities for team members across the company, and share their experience and expertise to support their business.

VP, Government & Regulatory Affairs

Daniel Hernandez

General Manager Data & AI

Employees: 270,000 Diversity: 21.30 %

Travel & Cruise Industry

✓

Carnival Corporation

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

✓

Latinx ERG:

Enrique Miguez

Carnival Corporation, General Counsel

Arnaldo Perez

Carnival Corporation, Company Secretary

Employees: 6,223 ( North America) Diversity: 38.1% (based in North America)

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

Latinx ERG:

Manufacturing

Hersheys

Food Production

Tyson Foods

Hector de la Barreda

President Amplify Snack Brands & New Ventures

Employees: 16,500

Diversity:

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

Maria C. Borras Board Director

✓

Latinx ERG:

One of the ways Hershey works to ensure their employees feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work each day is through their eight, diverse, employee-led Business Resource Groups, including the Latino Business Resource Group (LBRG). LBRG members, connect the company to the Latino Hispanic American community by syncing the LBRG members with the commercial team to identify new and better ways to connect to the growing segment of Latino consumers, as well as volunteering within the local community.

FOLLOW US www.latinoleaders.com

Cheryl S. Miller Board Director

Ildelfonso Silva

Executive Vice President, Business Services

Employees: 139,00

Diversity: 64 %

✓

Latinx in C-Suite or Board:

✓

Latinx ERG:

CREATE A SENSE OF BELONGING AND INCLUSIVITY

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LATINOS DEFINING THE BEST WORKPLACES TYSON FOODS

TYSON FOODS IS TRANSFORMING LEADERS Luana Ferreira

ADRIANA GRAHAM SENIOR DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AT TYSON FOODS

SINCE ADRIANA GRAHAM started her career, she decided to make a difference. As the Senior Director of Information Technology at Tyson Foods, Adriana is deeply committed to making the organization an inclusive place that positively impacts employees' lives. "It is all about the team. I think we are all in the people business, regardless of the business we are," she said.

Adriana defines a leader as a person that should inspire people to do the right thing. "We represent a brand that has been here for a long time, with a true sense of ethics and the purpose of feeding the world and caring for each other. That same mission inspires my personal leadership - “embracing and supporting my team; I am dedicated to helping them grow” Born in Medellin, Colombia, Adriana is a world citizen. Her parents were university professors, and they both valued education and motivated her to become independent very early on in life. Adriana had full support when she told her parents her dreams of becoming a professional athlete and moved to Germany where she became a successful tennis player, competing in the Women's Tennis Association in over 30 countries.

Adriana moved to the United States, where she studied International Business and Economics at the University of Arkansas. During her time at the university, she became involved in projects that triggered her passion for technology and its impact on people's lives and she decided to get a master’s degree in Information Systems.

"My background has helped me a lot. A foundation in business with a passion for technology that came after," she says. "I really embrace strategic initiatives and find opportunities to bring IT solutions and services to help support and propel those initiatives."

Having a multicultural background was essential in Adriana's career and she was able to bring to the table unique skills. She started her career at Tyson Foods where she has been allowed to develop all her leadership skills.

Adriana is fluent in four languages (Spanish, English, Portuguese, and German) and has worked abroad in Mexico, Brazil, India, and China. "I came straight from college to Tyson and here is where I have grown up professionally, "Adriana said. "It has been a journey supported by tremendous opportunities, even in some

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cases when I wasn't completely ready, and Tyson gave me an opportunity to stretch and continue to learn and grow in myposition."

Adriana is aware that women in leading positions in technology are not the "norm "in business and she brings added diverse experiences and insights to the company as a Latin woman. "I felt valued by my ideas and the diversity of thought that I brought to the table. For me, that is the best example of inclusion, not what we look like, but the value that we can bring to the conversation, to feel heard and respected. " While most people would define Tyson Foods as a food company, Adriana sees much more in the company she has been working at for nearly two decades - she describes it as an innovative organization that is transforming itself every day. "I have been here for almost 20 years. The change has been a constant, which is wonderful, and technology has been propelling the change.”

Technology is a core factor in innovation at Tyson Foods, bringing efficiency and safety to the team. "There is a convergence of the technology capabilities and the business initiatives in creating a better future for Tyson, its food products, and the industry as a result," said Adriana.

However, Adriana has always been aware that a genuinely innovative company doesn't focus only on technology but also invests in people. In 2007, she became a founding leader of the Multicultural Business Resource Group (BRG) at Tyson Foods and later the Chair of the Latinx Business Resource Group established in 2020. "This has been a very meaningful transition," she said. Through our Business Resource Groups we’re able to say "We embrace diversity. We welcome the opportunity to celebrate the uniqueness of each demographic group and champion an environment of inclusion” The Latinx Resource Group has three main pillars: business impact, team member development, and community outreach. Using the slogan Vamos Juntos, the Latinx BRG has dedicated lots of effort to motivating and inspiring the team. According to Adriana, it is a "call for action. " Tyson Foods has embraced diversity, in some facilities Team Members speak more than 10 languages - Spanish is the second most spoken language at the company.

Adriana takes pride in working for an organization that "makes a difference in the life of the Team Members" and promotes those initiatives through technology and education. "The things we have done are all connected to business impact," she said.

The organization has a big focus on creating opportunities for promoting and upskilling its team and improving their life quality. "Whether it is English as a second language training, ensuring they have access to high school equivalent education or that we help them with their citizenship program," Adriana said.

Communication became crucial for this process and the organization made investments to guarantee that

The Latinx BRG embraces and celebrates the

uniqueness of the Hispanic and Latino heritage, championing an environment of inclusion and MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER as ONE TYSON to serve our Team Members and positively impact our communities.

the language barrier would no longer be an issue. "We speak to the Team Members in their native language," Adriana said. They aim to "communicate, engage and, most importantly, to activate our Team Members and give them a voice with real-time translation capabilities.

"Those initiatives help to create opportunities, to promote inclusion and equity."

Technology played an essential role in helping the company overcome language barriers, a significant issue in the past. Tyson Foods used devices to create a learning environment, and the team members felt much more empowered. "A couple of months ago, a team member was performing a task that was challenging and after having an opportunity to leverage rich media tools that we put at their fingertips to overcome the language barrier, he came back to the line, completed the task," Adriana said. "He looked back and said 'I learned it. I saw it and I did it,' and it was with a sense of pride. He just needed to see it and to have the confidence to do it himself."

The last part of this transition was creating an enterprisewide Diversity, Equity & Inclusion team, and establishing a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council to help the organization focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. "It is the first time we’ve had a Chief DE&I Officer who is fully dedicated to helping us realize the dream of becoming the best place to work for ALL” ," said Adriana.

In the coming years, Adriana hopes to continue investing in technology, improving its products, and making sure Tyson Foods is still a company that welcomes people from any background. She is aware that diversity also adds a lot to the company by "having the perspective of our diverse Team Members embed on who we are at Tyson Foods."

After nearly two decades at Tyson Foods, Adriana is still as motivated as when she started. "I feel extremely proud to be able to say when I go to work, that I am making a difference," she said. "We have a very strong purpose to feed the world."

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LATINOS DEFINING THE BEST WORKPLACES THE GEO GROUP

CHANGING THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM Elsa Cavazos

Jose Gordo, CEO for The GEO Group, a world-wide leader in the provision of security-related support services to governments around the world, did not get to where he is today easily. Gordo is the son of immigrant parents.

He came from a working-class family with struggles that many, if not most, immigrant families face. Gordo’s father is from Spain and his mother is from Cuba. He grew up in Miami, and attended the University of Miami. Jose believes his rich and proud heritage has given him important insights and perspective into the many healthcare, criminal justice, and immigration challenges faced by our country today.

G

ordo always wanted to go into business. He thought a law degree might best prepare him for whatever line of business he might later pursue so he decided to attend Georgetown Law School where he received his Juris Doctor degree. Gordo soon became a young associate and worked at several law firms.

“I represented private equity firms, public companies, and venture capital firms. I had a good sampling of different kinds of corporate clients. I was able to learn a lot about how they operated their businesses and, in particular, what their best practices were,” Gordo said.

For him, those first few years were a learning experience that helped him develop some of the skills he would use later in his business career. Gordo went on to become managing director of a private equity firm in Palm Beach.

“That's when I embarked on my journey toward the business side, and the only condition I had in joining that firm was that I’d be able to retain my role as an advisor to my favorite client, which was The GEO Group,” he said.

“I still wanted to push out on my own. For me, I wanted something a little more dynamic that I could run myself.

My vision was to have more of a private vehicle, where I could maybe do fewer deals, become more involved in operating the companies, and still invest in businesses with very significant growth potential. I was comfortable taking risks and getting involved with earlier stage companies as long as I had confidence in the business plan,” Gordo said.

He started on his own in 2012 with a partner. They focused on investing in different industries such as healthcare, telecommunications, and consumer products.

Gordo was happy doing his own thing, but he always maintained a strong relationship with GEO. Going from one work environment to another was a journey Gordo felt he had to make.

In every setting he was in, Gordo had people to look up to and learn from, which helped him apply those skills to his future goals. “I don't think I would have been nearly as knowledgeable, experienced, or ready to face the challenges I’ve had to face without having been surrounded

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“MAINTAINING OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE STARTS WITH DOING THE RIGHT THING. OUR MAIN MISSION IS TO TREAT THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN PLACED IN OUR CARE AND CUSTODY WITH RESPECT AND BASIC HUMAN DIGNITY, AND TO REDUCE THE RATE OF RECIDIVISM OF THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN SENTENCED FOR CRIMES BY PREPARING THEM TO RETURN TO THEIR COMMUNITIES WITH JOB SKILLS AND OPPORTUNITIES THAT WILL HOPEFULLY PREVENT THEM FROM RE-OFFENDING AND RETURNING TO PRISON”

by very sophisticated, successful people throughout the years. I’ve had some of the best business mentors you could possibly have. Our Founder and Executive Chairman, George C. Zoley, is at the top of that list. He is the best business leader and operator I have ever been around and I feel fortunate to have watched him grow our business into the multibillion dollar enterprise we are today.” Gordo said.

“I was always like a sponge, I think that's a trait I always had,” he added.

Gordo’s close relationship with The GEO Group began when he represented GEO in its split from its former parent company. He also helped to guide the company through different phases of growth.

In 2019, he joined the Board of Directors and became even more involved in the dayto-day operations of the company.

At GEO, Gordo is now the CEO of the largest support services provider for contracted correctional facilities, immigration processing centers, and community reentry programs in the world, providing secure environments, healthcare, meals, access to recreation, rehabilitation, and legal counsel to persons in its custody and care.

“Maintaining operational excellence starts with doing the right thing. Our main mission is to treat those who have been placed in our care and custody with respect and basic human dignity, and to reduce the rate of recidivism of those who have been sentenced for crimes by preparing them to return to their communities with job skills and opportunities that will hopefully prevent them from re-offending and returning to prison, “ Gordo said.

“The statistics over the years show that if you take better care of people, provide them with better housing, better facilities, better nutrition and healthcare, and better opportunities and programs for rehabilitation, they will be more committed to finding their way back to civil society,” he noted.

Gordo understands it is a controversial industry. He stressed GEO does not in any way lobby for tougher criminal laws or longer sentences—GEO leaves that to the policy makers and legislators. All of GEO’s contracts are the result of government requests for services.

“Our involvement begins with people under our care. If you are unlucky enough to have someone you know go to prison,

do you care if their care is being provided by a private company? Or the government?

I don't. I would care a lot more about their conditions. Are their living quarters clean and safe? How is their nutrition? Do they have access to programming so they can learn something and come out with relevant job skills? In today's world, a lot of that is completely lost. I have met many individuals who have come out of our facilities, and who have gone through our rehabilitation programming. They thank our employees, and they say, “You changed my life for the better,” he said.

When it comes to the future, he hopes for continued improvement in the provision of inmate and detainee healthcare and new living environments for those who are serving time or whose immigration status is under review. “We can do a lot in correctional healthcare, that is a really important component of making sure people who are in our care can stay fit and healthy and are better prepared for release. And it's an area where you have aging populations, the demographics of people, especially in long-term prison facilities across the country, are shifting toward an older population. They have healthcare issues related to aging. We've put a lot of emphasis on healthcare, and we will continue to do so,” he said.

Gordo agrees that the challenge ahead is daunting but maintains it’s one that can and must be met.

“With almost 40 years of experience, our skilled workforce, our modern world-class facilities and our unparalleled rehabilitation programs, we can help to meet the challenges by bringing world-best practices to the table. We are committed to making an important contribution to our public-sector partnerships and to making a meaningful, positive difference in the lives of those who have been placed in our care.”

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¡Bravo Otra Vez! For the second consecutive year we are honored to be recognized and continue to be committed to being the best we can be.

Nicklaus Children’s Health System is once again proud to be recognized

by Latino Leaders Magazine as one of the Best Companies for Latinos to Work 2022. This recognition reflects our deep commitment to all facets of diversity among our physicians, nurses and staff throughout our Health System. Together, we are committed to providing the best care for children here and around the globe.

If you are looking for a unique environment with rewarding experiences where you make a difference in every life you touch, don’t hesitate to apply today and join our team. For more information visit careers.nicklaushealth.org

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LATINOS DEFINING THE BEST WORKPLACES NICKLAUS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

ARIANNA URQUIA,

VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER FOR NICKLAUS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

Arianna oversees the financial and support operations for the 309 bed Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and its network of pediatric outpatient centers. She also serves as a partner to operational leaders in assessing strategic initiatives for their financial viability. Prior to joining Nicklaus, she served as the CFO for multiple hospital sites across South Florida operated by Tenet Healthcare.

1. How would you describe the diversity within the healthcare industry?

Diversity in healthcare is very common because healthcare is about people. It’s about understanding where someone comes from so that you can understand how to help them heal. Medical professionals have an oath to help all those in need regardless of their race, understand the importance of promoting a ethnicity, sexual orientation, education, eco- workplace environment that is welcoming and inclusive of people of all backgrounds. nomic status, or other differentiators.

This is why, our executive leadership team 2. What is the culture like at Nicklaus incorporated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as one of the goals within our three Children's Hospital?

Nicklaus Children’s Health System values year strategic plan. With their support, we our diverse workforce where over 80 per- have been able to develop a DEI program, cent of our employees are part of a minori- led by a cross functional group of leaders and ty group (almost 70 percent of employees employees, that guides the path of our deconsider themselves Latin). While we are cision making, especially when considering a remarkably diverse organization situated programs and practices that directly impact in the melting pot of Miami, FL, we also our employee and patient populations.

www.nicklauschildrens.org @Nicklaus4Kids @NicklausChildrensHospital nicklaus4kids NicklausChildrensHospital

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3. Why did you decide to focus your career in healthcare?

As a young adult, I would always find myself problem solving, organizing, and fine tuning processes all with a goal of driving value and performance with great precision. This drove me to pursue a degree in business. I also knew that no matter what I did, I wanted to make an impact and be part of something greater than me. While pursuing my college degree, I took on a role as an Emergency Department registrar in a local community hospital. Nearing the completion of my academic journey, I decided to pursue roles within my field of study. I was able to join the accounting department within the same hospital I had been working in, seeing a different side of hospital operations. It was through this work that I became passionate about using my skillset to drive impact on behalf of the patients I had previously served.

vision, and dental insurance options, a robust retirement plan that includes an employer contribution program, professional development opportunities at all levels, a tuition reimbursement program, and many other employee benefits, perks and rewards. More than the benefits we offer, Nicklaus Children’s gives employees the opportunity to belong to a family with a common goal creating a healthy future for every child. When you join our organization, you become part of the Nicklaus Children’s Family.

4. How does Nicklaus Children's Hospital create and attract a diverse workforce?

The Nicklaus Children’s community is diverse in every sense from foods to traditions and even places to visit. A talented professional with a desire to impact the lives of children 5. What has been your personal expeand their families is just the kind of children’s rience growing both personally and champion that we need. To retain and attract professionally in this industry? a brilliant and diverse workforce we offer a Each and every one of us will require total rewards package that includes medical, healthcare services at some point in our lives.

Being on the receiving end recently during my father’s passing allowed me to truly appreciate the value of healthcare services, especially in a moment of high vulnerability. Having that perspective from a personal standpoint, not only allows me the opportunity to use my skillset to drive operational and financial performance but it ensures that I keep the patient at the forefront, understanding that the healthcare we build today is for all of us.

6. What have been your biggest challenges?

As a young, Latin female executive, earning a seat at the table hasn’t always been an easy feat. For me, the key to success in this space has been the ability to provide value to others.

Whether I am seen as a subject matter expert in my field or as a reliable, ethical partner, this has helped set me apart from others and helped develop my personal brand.

7. What advice would you give to those trying to become future healthcare leaders?

My advice to anyone looking to become a leader in healthcare is to find your passion.

Healthcare has many career paths. Whether as an administrator or a clinical leader role, find the path that makes you excited to show up to work every day. Focus on the quality of services you provide. When you focus on value, everything else follows. Collaborate with other healthcare leaders and solicit feedback often. Everyone has a different perspective depending on their skillset. Use this as a resource to drive value. Become a mentor and help pave the way for others starting their journey in healthcare.

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LATINOS DEFINING THE BEST WORKPLACES GRANITE CONSTRUCTION

2021 REPRESENTATION "AT GRANITE, INCLUSIVE DIVERSITY IS MORE THAN A CONCEPT." Luana Ferreira

Courtesy

Carlos Cuevas

In the last decades, companies have increased their effort on bringing diversity and inclusion to their teams - and people commonly think they have the same meaning. However, an organization can be inclusive but not diverse and vice-versa. While a diverse company hires people with different backgrounds, inclusive companies create an environment where all those people feel valued.

JORGE A. QUEZADA, Vice President of People & Culture at Granite Construction, wants to bring more people to this discussion and have companies understand that diversity and inclusion have to walk together in order to retain their employees. For him, developing those professionals is just as important in the long run. "If you are not careful, you get distracted, and you can have inclusion and not have the diversity” Jorge said. "Then if you only have diversity and not have inclusion is not going to work, people will leave."

He is confident about the future of Inclusive diversity at Granite. "Four years from now, people are going to write a case study on how Granite was able to bring so many women and people of color into the industry and our company and then moved them into leadership positions," he said. "We have been a company that has had a solid population of Latinos, so currently we have a pool of Latinos that we are going to be developing here in the years to come, and getting them into leadership roles."

Born in El Salvador and raised in Los Angeles, Jorge believes that diversity, inclusion, and equity are front and center of changing things. "Innovation to me means disrupting the status quo," he said. "To me, it means creating an environment where you change people's perspective of how they do things, and that is what we are doing here." When he started at Granite in 2019, Jorge rebranded the department to Inclusive Diversity, aiming to make all employees at Granite feel they are also part of the discussion.

Jorge studied Political Science at Whittier College and has an MBA in marketing. He started his career at Allstate Insurance as a Human Resource recruiter and later became the director of Inclusive Diversity. He was also the president of the Latino Allstate Network.

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"It was a moment where I realized that my passion, my leadership skills, and my ability just to get involved were perfect at the time," Jorge said. "I took the role and realized I didn't know anything about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Just being Latino, being passionate about it was not going to be enough." Jorge had mentors who guided him along the way and to taught him to put theory into practice.

When Jorge started his DEI career, inclusion was a new conversation," people talked more about diversity in the workplace. "Companies were bringing people in, and they were leaving out the back door. Then inclusion became more prominent." According to Jorge, now organizations must think about diversity, inclusion, and equity. "If you don't have equitable practices, you won't see the development of talent; you won't see the numbers in leadership improve."

He highlights the dimensions the word diversity brings to the table, including, for example, the LGBTQI+ community, women, and disabled people. Jorge believes that getting the dominant culture in your organization into the DEI conversation is essential because they are "the ones in leadership roles, that we need to be sponsors and mentors. "According to Jorge, the dominant culture in your organization is also part of diversity when we look at their backgrounds. For him, bringing the dominant culture into the conversation has been a game-changer.

One of his missions at Granite has been to create a partnership with the company's learning and development team to create a women's leadership program. The program aims at women who have been in the company for at least one year and accelerate their development, giving them new career opportunities. "So now they are on the radar for people to be thinking about developing our younger employees.

Granite has realized that the talent pool in the industry has changed, and they now come from different places. "That is why I say we are going to have more women and POC leaders." Developing talents seems to be among the main goals at Granite. "We have been fortunate to have an outstanding representation of Latinos; now we are focused on their development," Jorge said.

Inclusion is among the core values of Granite, and it is part of its strategic roadmap, so they aim to continue innovating in that area in the coming years. Jorge highlights that it all starts with the" leadership at the top," and Kyle Larkin, CEO at Granite, has given him the tools to develop his work.

Jorge also co-hosts the podcast Construction DEI Talks with Stephanie Roldan, VP at Rosendin, twice a month, where diversity in the industry is a recurring topic. "It has been awesome to talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion. So, we don't have a problem being the tip of the spear in this conversation because we know that one company cannot do it by itself. It has to be all companies working on it together," he said.

If it depends on Jorge's efforts, Granite will become the place people aim to work when they leave college because they will see Granite projects that helped change the country's topography. He knows that young professionals need guidance and often lack experience after leaving college. Therefore, it is

vital to have experienced professionals willing to share their wisdom and help them navigate through things.

Granite is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and Jorge is thrilled about it. "We are bold enough to be thinking about how cool it is going to be a hundred years from now.

One hundred years from now, people will look at moments in 2022 and talk about the strategies we developed and executed to make the company relevant in 2122. We have the tradition of a 100-year-old company, but we have this thinking of a startup. It is inspiring. "

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LATINO INVESTOR MARKETPLACE It is not a hidden fact that Latino owned businesses have the highest growth rate, and that the Latino community is highly entrepreneurial.

However, there’s many more businesses that never start, or take too long because of lack of seed money or investment capital. Everybody has known for years, how bad is the situation when it comes to Latino businesses to access capital; lack of assets, lack of collateral guarantees, poor relationships with bankers, low awareness on funding solutions, and other are often cited as obstacles to start a business.

On the other hand, we have an ever-increasing number of capital looking where to invest. Private equity, seed money, angel investors, and many other forms of funds are looking, sometimes desperately on where to invest. Not all this money in focused on Latino owned initiatives or businesses, actually the proportion is too low to

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even reflect the population, however some of these experienced investors claim there’s a problem with the “deal flow”, in which there’s a lack of good fluid communication between the two parties: the ones with the money and the ones with the need of it.

In an initial effort to create more bridges between these two ends, we wanted to interview three investment funds and three entrepreneurs with the same set of questions each.

Basically, what are they looking for and what are their needs. Also, what are their best qualities and strategies for their investments and operations. What kind of opportunities are they looking and what kind of investment is required.

This is just a small sample of three great cases. We will continue to build these bridges on the future.

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OPINION

A

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF A MAJORITY-MINORITY POWER SHIFT

s the largest and fastest-growing segment of the population in the United States, the Hispanic community is poised to account for the biggest gains in wealth generation, investment, and entrepreneurship. Initially, interest in the Hispanic community was largely focused on immigration where the largest demographic of immigrants into the U.S. hailed from Latin America, particularly Mexico and Central America. This trend accounted for a substantial portion of U.S. population growth. Coupled with the Hispanic immigrants’ propensity to form families, in the absence of this immigration, the U.S. population would have stagnated and led to a major decline in economic growth.

I recently had the privilege of attending the Aspen Institute Latino & Society Program in Washington, D.C. where McKinsey & Company published and presented their study “The Economic State of Latinos in America”. The data was abundantly clear. The immigrant’s willingness to assume the risks inherent in migration bakes entrepreneurship into their DNA. Even though presently the Hispanic’s wealth per capita was deficient compared to the majority, the Hispanic community is largely responsible for entrepreneurship and job creation in America.

This trend will inevitably result in substantial wealth creation within the Hispanic community for the foreseeable future.

The pandemic has provoked a mass migration from traditional employment centers like New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco to Miami and Austin. I am confident that this will produce a major economic impact on Hispanic business. As a majority-minority (Hispanic) community with a diverse representation of nationalities, Miami should lead in this trend.

Anecdotally, I had a conversation with Angel Morales of Morales Capital Partners who

recently moved to Miami from New York.

A successful private equity investor with an eye towards investing in small and medium-sized Hispanic-owned businesses and assisting them to scale, the move to Miami was a natural fit. Aside from better climate and preferential tax treatment than New York, Angel identified that if he wanted to invest in Hispanic-owned businesses, he should be in the mecca of Hispanic entrepreneurship.

Like Angel, cascades of family offices, private equity, and institutional investors are moving to Miami which should make access to capital and the opportunity to scale and innovate accelerate the growth of Hispanic entrepreneurship, job growth, and wealth creation.

The traditional capital flows to the U.S. from Latin America have not abated. As the unfortunate trend of instability and insecurity in Latin America continues, investors are incentivized to withdraw capital from the region and seek a safe haven in the U.S. Those investors have found traditional institutions like Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan to assist them with managing their money. However,

investors have begun seeking alternate investments that generate higher yields with trusted advisors. This has given rise to various co-investment platforms and asset managers across the country.

For example, Camilo Nino co-founded Linkvest Capital as that co-investment platform to assist investors, initially from his native Colombia, to diversify their holdings and generate higher yields. Camilo is another example of the growth of the Hispanic entrepreneur supported by Latin American investors. Having been born and raised in Colombia but educated in the U.S., including earning an Owner/President Management degree from Harvard University, Camilo has leveraged his network serving as a trusted advisor to family offices in the region to provide them with a transparent model of allocating their funds into various real estate investment opportunities.

I foresee the acceleration and continued success of Hispanic entrepreneurs like Angel Morales and Camilo Nino in the coming years. This tide should lift all boats and establish the golden age of job growth and wealth creation for the Hispanic community in America.

DANIEL DIAZ LEYVA IS THE CEO AND FOUNDER AT DIAZ LEYVA GROUP IN MIAMI, FL A WELL ESTABLISHED LAW FIRM WITH SPECIALTY IN CORPORATE AND REAL ESTATE PRACTICES.

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LATINOS IN SEARCH OF CAPITAL & CAPITAL IN SEARCH OF LATINOS ALTA GROWTH CAPITAL

Johanna Hoyos

THE LATINO INVESTOR MARKETPLACE ALTA Growth Capital Founded in 2006, is a private equity firm comprised of multicultural and fully dedicated group of professionals who focus on buyouts and growth stage investments, capitalizing in established companies in Mexico, Latin America (LATAM) and U.S. with growth potential. The objective is to achieve high returns through capital gains by investing in a diversified portfolio and improve margin efficiencies. Scott McDonough and Javier G. Teruel from Alta Growth Capital, explain their mission, investment objectives, fund goals, and distinguishing characteristics, setting them apart from their competitors, when helping the future of Latino-owned businesses based in the U.S.

S

cott McDonough is one of the founding cofounders of the private equity firm. His has over 20 years of experience focused in private equity, venture capital, entrepreneurship, Mexico and United States law. Javier G. Teruel, is the chairman at ALTA Growth Capital, with 44 years of experience in business management, private equity investing and impact investing in various countries throughout the world. He made significant contributions during his tenure at Colgate Palmolive’s worldwide strategy, restructuring and business program, and business development group in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean, Central America, and New York. Currently, both Scott and Javier serve actively on Boards of several different organizations utilizing their extensive experience in Mexico and Latin America in private equity investments and extensive transactional experience in the United Sates, including venture capital investing.

The purpose of ALTA Growth is to share the collective knowledge, strategies and solutions in order to help Latino-owned businesses take informed action to help accelerate the pace at which they grow and scale.

According to the State of Latino Entrepreneurship, “Latinos are starting business at a faster rate than the national average across several industries, growing 34% over the last 10 years compared to just 1% for all other small businesses.”

Scott McDonough

This statistic supports that Latino-owned businesses in the United States are growing yet the scaling of these businesses is not scaling effectively in the near future. They are growing in quantity, not in quality because they do not have additional revenue and financing to get to the next level of growth. This is where a private equity firm like ALTA Growth Capital comes in, to change that by helping Latino businesses with higher level of performance, higher growth, better futures for their businesses and family.

The Added Value Equation ALTA Growth Capital aims for significant added value from their investors to their companies who they invest in, all aligned with the interest of helping underserved Latino-owned U.S. businesses. A relationship with an investor(s), the company and ALTA Growth Capital must be a relationship of real added value. The private equity firm not only gives the company access to capital but also can help them grow their business by helping develop a strategy for growth and bring them best practices to expand their business.

For instance, sharing best practices in sales, such as how to approach their customers, how to disseminate information to stakeholders, how to best present themselves to customers and investors.

ALTA Growth focuses on opportunities in sectors that are benefiting from growing middle class Latinos in the U.S. such as, retail, healthcare, financial services, education, industrial and manufacturing. Their first funds started in Mexico because of its tremendous platform for manufacturing. Part of the attractiveness of Mexico is the macro situation, with a large, stable economy and large population, strong trade relationships with the primary being with the U.S. Scott believes it’s one of the largest trade relationships in the world, and in the macro standJANUARY /FEBRUARY 2022 LATINO LEADERS 41

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LATINOS IN SEARCH OF CAPITAL & CAPITAL IN SEARCH OF LATINOS ALTA GROWTH CAPITAL

“THERE ARE NO SPECIFIC SIZE FITS ALL, OUR STRATEGIES ARE ADAPTED FOR EACH OF OUR CLIENTS.”

Javier Garcia-Teruel

point, there is limited capital in Mexico which provides an interesting opportunity for investment. Most of ALTA Growth Capital’s investors come from the U.S. who have invested in Mexico in the past and some who have also invested in Europe.

In the process of investing in their first and second funds (in fourteen companies) they had now raised a third fund. While exploring and venturing in new geographies and new products to grow the business, they found a business need to invest in the U.S. Latino market. It was a natural expansion for them to use what they were doing from the investments with Mexico and apply them into the U.S. with the Latino/a market. It’s a tremendous opportunity with the fastest demographic in the U.S. Also, Hispanic businesses in the U.S. are a segment of the market, that is underserved. This opportunity would benefit this segment for additional resources of capital, to help finance their growth and expand their future. The U.S. Hispanic consumers, industrials and manufacturing markets are other tremendous investment opportunities where they foresee high returns and where they have most experience in. Retail, healthcare, education and financial services are other areas of interest. Another category is cross border opportunities because of the dynamic commercial relationships of Mexico and other parts of Latin America, which are quite robust for expansion of companies in LATAM, Mexico and the U.S.

The main sources of capital for their third fund are similar to the sources coming from their previous funds in Mexico and Latin America, which tend to be large institutions that manage various assets such as pension funds, family offices (wealthy family groups), foundations, endowments, funds of funds, typically, large institutions deploying capital from various fund strategies. Once ALTA Growth Capital analyzes particular businesses, they go out and talk to potential investors who are interested in investing in private equity. Once they reach a certain amount of capital from investors, they then are responsible to decide on how to administer that money and where to deploy those assets.

Challenges, Standstills and Gaps ALTA Growth Capital’s focus is to invest in established businesses who are operating for a long period of time, who have been able to generate profitability - to accelerate their growth. They do not invest in start-ups and new businesses. The firm looks for investments from a minimum threshold of $10 million and above, the sweet spot is $10-$30 million range.

There are many types of investments, they could either do a buyout investment, where they buy the entire company or where they invest capital for growth initiatives where a minority or majority stake of the business is taken, also called growth equity.

Given the recent thriving growth in the number of Latino-owned businesses, it follows generational change, the ability to pass down ownership (family histories of entrepreneurship) and equity across generations, is an important cultural consideration. The business owners are at a standstill, where they have grown their business, they have found their market though they don’t know what direction to take to reach higher lengths. Perhaps this is due to not having access to capital and/or simply do not have the competencies in their management team to take it to the next level of growth. That is where a private equity firm like ALTA Growth Capital comes in, they seek and guide companies to grow faster so that the full benefits of their businesses can be realized. Leveraging their understanding of Latino family businesses (by seeing immediate clear gaps and needs) and having strong ties with capital providers, provides opportunities to build the relationships needed to facilitate funding and capture profit.

One of the distinguishing characteristics that stands out from ALTA Growth Capital compared to other firms is, they do not require a majority stake to invest in a company. They are aware that some business owners are

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hesitant to pursue this type of capital because they fear losing equity in their business. For that reason, they are very comfortable with minority investments, allowing flexibility for the current owner(s) of the company to continue to have control of their interests, if that is what is important to them.

Strategies As private equity investors, they are long term investors, when investing in a company it’s for a period of several years. They bring to the company an effort to develop the vision while thinking about where the company is today and how they envision the company being in 4-5 years. Deciding what steps to take to get to their long-term vision. It’s a process which provides long term thinking, a benefit when working with a firm like ALTA Growth Capital, versus worrying about what to do the next month or next quarter. Teruel says, “There are no specific size fits all, our strategies are adapted for each of our clients.” Strategies are adapted for each of their clients, its dependent upon company size, capital needs, distinct business and sales needs, as well as levels of performance and awareness. ALTA Growth Capital enjoys working with business owners who have a certain level of ambition, who are not satisfied continuing with the way they are currently doing things, rather would like to take it to the next level. “It takes a certain level of ambition to reach the next level of business growth potential,” says McDonough.

“IT TAKES A CERTAIN LEVEL OF AMBITION TO REACH THE NEXT LEVEL OF BUSINESS GROWTH POTENTIAL.” The Future There is no doubt the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have dramatically changed the way many companies do business. The world changes so quickly resulting in fluidity with the economic market, resulting in attractiveness, riskiness and danger with investing trends. The key question here, is how does a company adapt and stay up at top of these developments, to take a step ahead on opportunities correlated to positive funding outcomes. The benefits of partnering with a private equity firm is to be able to receive advice about macro trends, to see how those trends affect your own business and other different businesses to then know how to adapt accordingly. Certain business models have changed dramatically as well. Take shopping malls, due to this pandemic, they have found a need to change by embracing innovative ways to keep customers to come back by rethinking the role of the store. Teruel believes there are currently huge business opportunities in logistics, tourism, and service areas. Unquestionably, a business to succeed, must adapt to meet the marketing needs, have a clear business model, access to appropriate capital, strong cash flow management, and a clear direction/long term vision of where their growing business is heading.

For more information on Alta Growth Capital, visit https://altagc.com.

Rafael Payro

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LATINOS IN SEARCH OF CAPITAL & CAPITAL IN SEARCH OF LATINOS

‘WEALTH IS NOT MADE OVERNIGHT’: LUIS MAIZEL OF LM CAPITAL GROUP SHARES STRATEGIES FOR PRODUCTIVE LONG-TERM INVESTMENT

Joanne Rodrigues

Courtesy

Carlos Cuevas

Luiz Maizel, Co-Founder and Senior Managing Director of LM Capital Group, has grown the company into what it is now and tells us there is plenty more to come. Even after several successful decades in the business.

MAIZEL IS a Mexico City-born serial investor at length and he shared his journey towards becoming one of the most prominent Latino names in the world. He refers to his business style as being ‘careful, yet assertive’, and we couldn’t agree more.

Luiz Maizel has been President of LM Capital Management since 1989 and LM Advisors Inc. since 1984.

Today his company is one of the most important investment funds for Mexican people and Latinos in the United States and beyond. Maizel received a Masters of Science in Industrial Engineering from the National University of Mexico in 1971 and an MBA from Harvard in 1974, where he graduated as a Baker Scholar, the School’s highest academic honor. He also had a stint at teaching for a few years at his alumni and is still a faculty member at Harvard Business School.

Maizel shares about his start as a financial advisor back in the 1980s. “When I went back from Harvard to Mexico, I was manufacturing agricultural equipment. The situation in Mexico got very difficult,” recalls Maizel about the water and irrigation crises of the 80s. “I was helping the person running the water department in Mexico City and realized that water was going to be a long-term problem. It was then that I decided that I wanted my family to live in the US. We came to San Diego and I started looking for a manufacturing operation.”

As Maizel spent his first few weeks looking for a venture to purchase, his contacts started approaching him for advice instead. He quickly noticed a pattern. “In July of ‘84 there was a dramatic change in the law,” he said. “They stopped withholding taxes on fixed income for nonresident aliens.

All of a sudden, US brokers decided that Mexico was fertile ground. And they went there looking for clients.”

Mexicans who knew that Maizel was in the United States immediately started reaching out for his opinion on what they were told by their own brokers. Luis Maizel found that this trust and relationship could be turned into something more lucrative.

“It started out small. First friends and then family and pretty soon it became a full time business,” Maizel shared.

“99% of them were Mexicans all high net worth individuals. It grew and turned into LM Advisors. In five years we raised about $600 million of assets under management.”

Maizel is quick to differentiate the split between being a broker and an investor. “We decided from day one that we were going to be on the side of the investor. We were not going to be brokers of anything,” he asserts. “I got a license

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for broker dealer and a license for advisory.

I have never used the broker-dealer license.”

Throughout our conversation with Maizel, it is evident that his relationships with the right people live at the forefront of his work ethic. “It's very hard to demonstrate to people that you are offer-ing them something that's best for them if they think you're making money along the way,” he said. “So we sit on the same side of the table as them. We don't sell insurance. We don't sell annuities. We don't sell mutual funds.”

This approach led to huge opportunities and growth for Maizel, as he worked towards establishing LM Capital.

In 1989, congresswoman Maxine Waters was pushing hard for minorities to start managing money and set up institutions.

A broker from Merrill Lynch, who Maizel had a good and long-standing relationship with, brought up the topic of Maizel starting his own institution. “It was not a market I was familiar with and I didn’t know where to start,” he recalls. “I asked him to join me, but he didn’t want to leave his high-income role at Merill. John helped me part-time for three years and joined fulltime as soon as we nailed the first client.”

And a big first client it was.

MTA, formerly known as the Rapid Transit District in Los Angeles, gave Maizel $5 million, and today the firm manages about $6 billion at LM Capital Management. “It's the largest Hispanic, fixed income manager in the country,” he proudly declares and rightly so. Some of LM Capital’s biggest investment management projects include managing $1 billion for Illinois Municipal about $600 million for CalSTRS. The firm is stirred by a consistent and active senior management team, led by Luis Maizel and co-founder John Chalker, to manage an ever-expanding portfolio of more than 31 clients comprising of foundations, hospitals, public funds, and corporations.

With this in mind, we definitely needed to know how he splits his time and resources between the two major companies and keeps the scales balanced.

To this, he answered, “The nature of both companies, and their ownership, is different.

LM Advisors is closer to my heart because I don’t have clients there - I have friends.” Maizel tells us that once you have the trust and friendship of somebody who is a high net

worth individual, you be-come their advisor, their consultant, and their partner. This is a crucial piece of advice to keep in mind when managing other people’s finances for them.

Even when times are tough, Maizel has a plan to keep things moving for the long term.

“2008-2009 were disaster years in finance.

But our accounts remained positive,” he opened up. “We've created an image of getting good results with little risk. And everyone in the institutional markets knows that we’re the safety blanket you can depend on.”

Maizel goes on to explain how this is mirrored in the firm’s real estate division, which was started during this time of recession.

“We’ve done 86 transactions over 12 years now – A little bit over $2 billion in the acquisition and about 800 million in equity. We have already closed 49 out of the 86, and they’ve either been sold or the money has been returned to the investors. And the returns have been extremely good. We’d rather pass ten deals to find a good one than make three mediocre ones,” he added.

Maizel finds opportunity in almost every market he turns to and is optimistic about the future, yet overtly cautious about whom he does business with. “We don’t do investments in countries run by a dictator that can change the financial markets by design,” he stressed.

“I’m also a firm believer of diversification.”

Maizel advises us to allocate different percentages to different ‘buckets’. “If you do this, then when one goes up, the other goes down and you diversify your risk.”

The businessman does not shy away from big international names either. The FAANG giants (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google) are on his radar as ones to watch in recent times of distress. “I find biotech, FinTech, clean energy, artificial intelligence, and everything to do with the cloud very interesting right now,” he added. Maizel also recently drove a Lucid and is eager to see where EFTs and the electric car markets go.

With no shortage of items to do on his list and ventures to invest in, Maizel says the key thing to remember is “Don’t try to become wealthy overnight”. He is astutely careful yet resilient with whom to work with, and his advice to those looking to invest is this: “If you aim for home runs, you tend to strike out more often. Make sure that you hit a lot of singles and doubles along the way, and eventually, you're going to hit a couple of home runs.”

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LATINOS IN SEARCH OF CAPITAL & CAPITAL IN SEARCH OF LATINOS

MEET ILLINOIS’ NEWEST LEADER Daniel Sanchez Torres

Courtesy

Carlos Cuevas

From birth, it was clear that Joe Aguilar would possess the tenacity of hard work and commitment. Aguilar is the Chief Investment Officer for the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer and one of the youngest of his peers to hold such a role.

BORN ON the Northwest side of Chicago to Mexican-American father his mother worked at a school district in computer programing while his father – who recently retired, and passed on the profession to his brother – spent his career as a union electrician. With his mix of white and blue-collar upbringing, it’s no surprise that Aguilar understood that hard work can beget opportunity and success.

His parents were invested in his and his brother’s education and made a move to Batavia, Illinois a suburb of Chicago. It was a small town, but it had a great public education system, which is exactly what his parents were looking to provide their children.

After Aguilar finished high school, he spent a stint at nearby Waubonsee Community College before transferring to Aurora University. While Aurora University may not be the typical university that comes to mind when thinking about getting an education in finance and investment management, Aguilar favored the smaller college setting because it allowed him to be close to home. He balanced a job throughout college and eventually graduated, becoming the first in his immediate family to earn a bachelor’s degree.

After graduation, Aguilar would go on to secure a fulltime job at the Treasurer's Office in Illinois, but his ambition continued and he made the decision to attend the University of Miami and received his Masters in Finance, graduating as one of the top students of his class.

When reflecting on why Aguilar would pursue finance as a career, he recalls a conversation with a friend who

asked a similar question and how it unlocked a memory of how he fell in love with numbers. “I used to read the paper,” he says. “I would always read the box scores of sporting events…and I loved those numbers and dissecting them.”

As he recalls the conversation it unlocks another memory, “I watched the financial news networks [CNBC] – still do. And it fascinated me seeing the tickers go by.

Wondering what that meant. What is this? And then, to come to find out these are financials, and it’s part of the world of finance. That’s what really sealed my fate.”

“I’m extremely lucky, that this was my first career aspiration. And that it really took off for me and just snowballed into a life of continuous learning,” Aguilar says.

There’s a clear excitement for what he does.

Aguilar understands that success does not happen in a vacuum, though. He is quick to name-check Margarita Perez, who founded Fortaleza Asset Management, Inc. and offered him the opportunity to intern going into his senior year of university.

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The internship at Fortaleza turned into a full-time role in operations when he graduated. While Fortaleza may not be a typically blue-chip company compared to the positions at JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs his peers got, the small size of the organization proved to be a significant advantage to Aguilar.

While his peers quickly chose specializations in their career paths, Aguilar had the intimacy of a small company to deeply understand how the organization works and expand his skill set beyond just his initial interests. He was able to learn about being an equity analyst reviewing companies alongside doing more fundamental research.

Developing and honing skills that many of his peers were unable to.

The decision to start at Fortaleza was a significant building block for Aguilar, and after Fortaleza, he would go on to work for the Treasurer of Illinois. The role came after Michael Frerichs was elected to the Illinois State Treasurer when an upstart Chief Investment Officer, Rodrigo Garcia, was empowered to fulfill Treasurer Frerichs’ vision. The duo was invested in building a team that looked like the state of Illinois: Black, Latino, Asian, and white. Through the trust of Frerichs and Garcia, Aguilar was made Deputy Director of Investment Analysis and Due Diligence.

While capable of the role, the position was in the public sector handling a broader range of public market as well as private equity investments, which were different from the private sector work that he had been doing. Aguilar returned to the root of what his parents taught him and put in the hard work to engulf himself in learning about the new asset classes. He was able to play a critical role in standing up new investment programs and launch a third on behalf of his constitutes in the municipalities of the state of Illinois.

As he continued to produce positive results, he continued being offered opportunities to grow and would eventually become Director of the Division and, in July 2021, become Acting Chief Investment Officer.

As Chief Investment Officer, Aguilar oversees a team of eight and administers approximately $18 billion across five different portfolios. In addition to this, he oversees the stewardship activities and the sustainable investment strategies of the office with a focus on diversity and inclusion.

In his role, Aguilar is focused on managing the money that typically comes to the state via tax revenues, state administered fees, and invests them across different pools of assets. He’s also focused on participant-driven programs which are programs that are accessible and available to the citizens of the state of Illinois who are looking to save for the long-term.

In discussing the participant-driven programs, it’s clear that it is something that Aguilar is proud of. From programs that help people save for college, save for disability-related expenses, or retirement plans, the programs are

focused on providing sustainability for their constituents and the ability to plan and enjoy the future.

Aguilar notes that there are 3 goals he has in mind as he fulfills his duties: “ Number one, we want to make a return [on the investments we make] for the constituents of the state of Illinois. Number two and three are colinear goals. The second goal is supporting and spurring economic development across the state of Illinois. So what that means is creating jobs, helping businesses stay within the state, so retaining them, attracting businesses to locate here expand their physical footprint within the state of Illinois. And the third goal of this - this is [what] makes us extremely unique - in fostering a more diverse and inclusive venture capital ecosystem.”

There is a clear-cut understanding that Aguilar is expected to have positive returns on the investments he makes on behalf of the constitutes. But his approach points to social awareness of who his constitutes are. Not dissimilar from his own family and upbringing. Hardworking citizens with an interest in a stable and prosperous future.

Aguilar plays a critical role in making sure that the Treasury Department doesn’t miss out on opportunities that could have a prosperous return. And that includes being “a little bit creative and critical thinking of strategy and that we don’t get caught up in the institutional investor norm where we focus only on the short horizon.”

In reflecting on his job and it’s clear that Aguilar himself used a bit of creative and critical thinking strategy to get to where he is. He’s keenly aware that his academic background looks different than his peers, but he used that as a tailwind to motivate his ambition and hone in on his mission: “My mission is to ensure that we are prudently allocating our capital on behalf of the State of Illinois.

And [that] we're ensuring that [our] constituents have [the] opportunity to invest these dollars to have a true impact in our local economy, our local communities. And when I think about myself as a Latino, in a position of leadership, like every other Latino Latina, African American should be doing when they are in this leadership role, is they should use this to effect change.”

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LATINOS IN SEARCH OF CAPITAL & CAPITAL IN SEARCH OF LATINOS

MEET CRYPTO LUCHA,

THE NEWEST ADDITION TO THE NFT’S WORLD Curious about learning more about NFT’s and everything that’s behind this world? We asked Luis Arellano, cofounder of Crypto Lucha, some questions about his latest project and what this new trend is all about.

How was Crypto Lucha born and how does it work?

Crypto Lucha was born out of opportunity; the opportunity to create a more inclusive economy, especially with Latinos. Crypto, NFTs, and Web3 are here to stay and will help shape our future in many ways. All you have to do is look and see the renaming of major sporting arenas to companies innovating in these areas for some validation. However, there are still many people that are skeptical of these new technologies, but the reason for this skepticism is simply just time. We are still very early in these technologies where only spots of clarity exist, but that's where great opportunities live.

Crypto Lucha's mission is to educate, especially Latinos, on what these technologies are and how they work through first-hand experience. Our goal is to educate on what is an NFT and why it is just more than

an image, it's value, how to begin to invest in crypto and NFTs, but most importantly, to learn about DeFi or Decentralized Finance through Crypto Lucha's introduction of it's powerful token, $TACOS. Crypto Lucha is one of the most successful, Latino-created NFT collections in the world.

The collection art was inspired by 90's video game nostalgia and the power of culture, in this case, the iconic Mexican lucha libre.

Why NFT's? Where do you see them in the future?

NFTs are a technology that offers endless possibilities. It is a technology that is transparent as everything is registered on the blockchain for anyone to see. It is a technology that allows everyday people to participate in industries that were normally closed to them. As an example, NFTs are already revolutionizing the music industry

To learn more visit getcryptolucha.com

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by letting artists and fans build much closer, mutually-beneficial relationships. NFTs will change the way projects are funded, how people connect, etc. NFTs and smart contracts will play an important part in our future which is why we built Neefter. In fact, Crypto Lucha is a project of Neefter.

What has been Crypto Lucha's impact today?

Crypto Lucha's impact has been tremendous.

As we mentioned before, we are one of the most successful, Latino-created collections in the world, and we are just getting started.

We're educating A-list Latino celebrities, influencers, gamers, legendary luchadores, and many others on Crypto Lucha and everyone is super excited. We have built an amazingly strong community that is very active daily on our Discord and Twitter that is eager to "fight" for $TACOS via our Playto-Earn game that is coming soon. And just recently, our community benefitted from a super exclusive event celebrating the 69th anniversary of the legend that is Huracán Ramírez, an icon of lucha libre. Crypto Lucha is a project that aims to build a cultural movement and unparalleled value for our community.

What's your take on diversity in

the blockchain world? Is there an opportunity gap for Latinos?

Yes! There is a clear opportunity gap for Latinos, which is why Crypto Lucha was born. Our mission is to educate and get as many Latinos into the blockchain world, crypto, NFTs, metaverse, Web3, everything, as fast as possible because now is the time. This world moves fast and there's already a diversity problem developing just like venture capital or any other current industry.

Unfortunately, we're battling long-standing issues like cultural adoption (as Latinos we're not taught to risk or invest but rather save), disposable income, access to information in our language, lack of knowledge, etc. all of which contribute to a potential widening in a diversity gap, but we're still early to educate ourselves on the opportunity, on how things work, etc. and be proactive about the opportunity instead of reactive. The beauty of Web3 is that it allows for more inclusivity.

It allows for the user to benefit from platforms much more than just socially. As an example of the opportunity, Latinos are one of the top users of social media, if not the top market, so if Latinos educate themselves on Web3 and the opportunities that are being built, Latinos stand to take advantage of these opportunities simply by knowing how things work.

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LATINOS IN SEARCH OF CAPITAL & CAPITAL IN SEARCH OF LATINOS

ABSTRACTA,

TECH WITH PURPOSE FROM LATIN AMERICA Federico Toledo, co-founder of Abstracta grew up in the countryside in a humble family near Atlántida in Uruguay, 50 kilometers from the capital, Montevideo. He attended a rural school of only 50 children where he never lacked the basics, but it was a very strained situation, where they got by day to day. He completed his degree in Computer Engineering as College in Uruguay is free. He was able to develop professionally and continue studying. He now holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the UCLM, in Spain. He published the first testing book entirely in Spanish called "Introduction to Information Systems Testing”. We talked to him about his venture, Abstracta.

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About Abstracta

Abstracta is a leading agile software testing company. It applies highly sophisticated engineering and automation processes to testing practices and the software development lifecycle.

To achieve this, they focus on increasing product quality and reducing software build times.

Identity

Abstracta is a bootstrapped company that was born from the idea of 3 college friends: Fabián Baptista, Federico Toledo, and Matí­as Reina. Years later, Sofía Palamarchuk was invited to join as a partner.

Founded in Uruguay in 2008 currently, it has offices in Silicon Valley, Latin America, and the UK. Fernando and the team believe in the method, warmth, and in dedication. And, above all, they know that extraordinary software increases performance simplifies lives, and transforms communities. Promoting a culture of mutual care and being a positive influence in the lives of their people and clients is above all else. That is the core of their identity.

It is an ethical and immutable imperative.

Inspiration and Purpose

“I know how having good growth opportunities at work can improve people's quality of life. My dream is to help people to improve their quality of life through employment, as I did.

That is what truly motivates me and guides my path.

Much of my growth is thanks to the opportunities my home country has given me. There are incredible opportunities to grow in Uruguay and be the change we want to see. That's why I founded Abstracta with my partners,” Federico Toledo.

Revenue and Investment Structure

In order to turn their dream company into a reality, the team received support from the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII) and other organizations. They stand out for offering services that are charged to clients on a "time and materials" basis, or with a fixed monthly cost. The value depends on the monthly dedication and the size of the team needed to cover the objectives. On the other hand, they currently have some testing products that have taken a life of their own in a spin-off form, as is the case of Apptim. And some products that are still within Abstracta, such as GXtest.

Once Abstracta became a household name in software testing and it was established as a profitable, sustainable and scalable company, they decided to start franchising worldwide. The first franchise we opened was in Chile in 2019, and they expect to continue expanding much further.

Markets and Industries of Impact

Their main markets/industries to impact are e-commerce, financial services, healthcare, and the tech industry

• E-commerce:

The main focus is on software testing to achieve the delivery of high-quality online shopping experiences on both desktop and mobile devices.

• Financial services:

Internet banking is the fastest-growing channel in the Financial Services sector. This growth, combined with the increased importance of providing access via mobile devices, makes it imperative to find the right strategic partner for software testing. Abstracta helps to ensure that systems are reliable and secure leaving companies free to focus on running their business.

• Healthcare:

Abstracta ensures that the healthcare systems keep patient data safe, reliable, comply with regulations and adhere to industry standards while reducing risk and costs.

• Tech Industry:

Creating reliable and robust software to bring to market and minimize risk is one of their main objectives. Abstracta has over a decade’s worth of experience working with eminent technology companies and solution providers across the globe. They understand the challenges that companies face in today’s competitive market and can provide the extra capacity they need to move forward faster.

Current Funding and Capitalization

As a financing strategy they have leveraged loans from IDB Labs for new spinoffs focused on solving social problems, and loans from ANII, for expansion into other markets.

To expand to other countries, they follow the strategy of finding partners to open a franchise, who should invest in opening the business in other countries and develop the testing community locally.

For Abstracta, it’s very important to share common ground with their partners to co-build better software while contributing to community development and people's quality of life.

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LEADERSHIP JAVIER LOYA

JAVIER LOYA CHAIRMAN, AND CEO OF OTC GLOBAL HOLDINGS LP AND MINORITY OWNER OF THE NLF’S HOUSTON TEXANS.

RISING INTO SUCCESS

THROUGH AUTHENTICITY Daniel Sanchez Torres

J

avier Loya is part of a familial lineage of hard work and ambition. The Chairman and CEO of OTC Global Holdings LP, Loya is a native of El Paso, Texas, and a first-generation Mexican-American. He is also the child of parents who came to the United States in pursuit of the American Dream.

Javier came from a large family of seven kids.

In thinking about his roots, he recalls that his grandfather of Spanish roots moved his family to Chihuahua, Mexico where his father was born, and met his German/Italian mother. His family was a family of farmers, so while they didn’t have a formal education they did have the tenacity to work hard and the quest to provide a better life for their children.

“My father was my hero growing up,” Loya says. With nothing but his ambition, his father emigrated to the United States with the intention to join the army and fight during World War II. His father was too young, though, so he instead joined the Red Cross.

Javier recalls hearing stories of the war and when he was growing up he thought that they were memories of his father.

What they actually were, were stories that his father had read.

Though his parents did not have a formal education and lived a humble life, both of his parents were well-read and would pass on this thirst for education to their children.

After the war ended, Javier’s father’s dedication to the Red Cross granted him American citizenship and he made a home in El Paso, Texas. In Texas, his father would join an American manufacturing company. He started at the company loading trucks but over the course of his 34 years with the company, he rose to the position of supervisor.

Javier was the sixth of seven children and when he was born his family would make a permanent move to El Paso. While his older brothers and sisters spent much of their childhood in Juarez, Mexico Javier has vivid memories of crossing the border often. “It was an intertwined community,” he says of life between the two countries.

His family was close, Javier remembers fondly of 6 o’clock dinners with his whole family talking about what they learned in school that day. These dinners not only instilled the importance of education but also helped nurture a healthy competition as he grew up listening to the ambition and success of his brothers and sisters.

Javier jokes that he is the 4th most successful person in his family, but the anecdote proves that his home environment was a place where he was challenged to find his passion and encouraged to be exceptional at it.

When it came time to think about college, Javier understood that going to a top university would open up a lot of doors for him. He had his sights set on playing football for a top Texas university, but it soon became clear that while he was good at football, his skills were not necessarily on par as other players competing for the same spots.

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Javier Loya and Roger Goodell

His grades, however, were exceptional and when coupled with his strong talent for football, Columbia University in New York became his ultimate choice. In reflecting on the decision, Javier admitted that with time he understood that there is a “difference between a college that wants you, and a college that will take care of you.”

Columbia University did allow him to play football, but more than that it provided him the professional support that was instrumental in helping him land Summer jobs and find employment after graduation. And, after a young life growing up between Juarez and El Paso - New York City seemed like an exciting adventure.

University was a defining time for Javier because it saw him grow out of an ambition to play professional football and focus his energy on a Political Science degree and train his focus and ambition to a career in law.

However, through a connection from his older brother Javier got the opportunity to intern at Amerada Hess, a commodity brokerage firm focused on crude oil.

Loya, with a smile, describes his first impression of the firm as “a bunch of young people screaming and yelling [into phones]. When the market closed, they all jumped into their Ferraris and Porches.” He was so overwhelmed and unfamiliar with the language of commodities that he didn’t think that this would be something he would be interested in.

His intern days were full of picking up dry cleaning and delivering lunch, but in a strange twist of fate, during his time there, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and overnight oil prices shot up and the brokerage firm experienced a boom in business.

His boss at the time offered a full-time position to Javier.

He was hesitant at first because he was a semester away from graduating and felt a familial obligation to fulfill the dreams of his parents, to receive a college education. But a lucrative offer swayed him and he took the job with the caveat that he

would talk to his professors to figure out how to finish his last semester. Fortunately, he was able to work with his professors to graduate and he has been a commodities broker ever since.

The efforts of hard work that his family instilled in him allowed him to gain experience and develop a network of clients and supporters for Javier to decide to start his own company, Choice Energy Group, in 1993.

While the company experienced early success, the early 2000s saw Enron as a strong competitor. The competition of Enron discouraged his parents and allowed Javier to buy out the equity of his partners and push forward on an aggressive growth strategy that saw the company rebrand as OTC Global Holdings, and expand the portfolio beyond just energy, to include agricultural products and metals. This shift allowed for the company to transform from an organization of one office and 7-8 employees to what it is now: a company with 350+ employees, 200+ brokers, and headquarters in Houston, New York, Chicago, London, Singapore, and soon Shanghai.

His love for football never went away, though. And in a serendipitous moment of a morning spent reading the newspaper, Javier learned that Bob McNair, an American businessman, and philanthropist, was the principal owner of the newly formed Houston Texans. McNair had worked diligently to put together an ownership group that was reflective of the Houston community but had run into severe criticism for not having a Hispanic member. McNair was clear, thought that he was eager to find one.

Javier reached out and shared his story with McNair and how football gave him - and his brothers - the opportunity to pursue an education and develop a huge passion for the sport.

His enthusiasm was clear and Javier was able to buy into the franchise and become the first Hispanic investor in the NFL. Reflecting on his career and success Javier doesn't think that there's any “secret sauce” to success. “It’s about communication and authenticity,” he says. Javier has had the experience to see how companies, industries, and businesses have evolved; and the lesson that he has learned is that as long as he is committed to communicating with his team and customers about what they are doing, how they are doing it, and what’s in it for them and remaining authentic people will follow and support.

Javier continues to be excited about the growth of his company.

But he’s also invested in giving back to the community that made him. Specifically a student showcase in both Houston and El Paso that brings together college coaches and administrators focused on a range of sports and disciplines to come to one place and provide academic scholarships to students who may not necessarily get the attention they deserve. In the past 10 years, he’s proud to say that $30-$40 million of scholarships have been awarded.

Despite all of his success the topic that clearly brings him joy is his family. He has two young daughters and a wife who have their own ambitions and goals and he is excited and proud to be along for the ride and support them in any way that they need. The Loya legacy of hard work and ambition continues.

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LATINOS ON BOARDS 2021 THE ADVOCATES

DANIEL DIAZ LEYVA

MANAGING PARTNER AT DIAZ LEYVA GROUP Bill Sarno Courtesy Luis González

THE LEGAL VIEW

Daniel Diaz Leyva, a successful and respected Miami attorney, sees a correlation between an emerging minority community and representation at the board level.

AS DANIEL DIAZ LEYVA paves the way for his Miami-headquartered law firm, Diaz Leyva Group, a firm well-established in the corporate and real estate practice areas, new challenges await. With hopes of scaling in the near future, his strategic plan includes more work in his current transactional space, expanding to support his owner-operator entrepreneurial clients with estate planning and immigration, and a new path toward litigation. He believes in a natural transition and growth pattern to business arising from serving as a trusted advisor to clients who organically request support in other areas of the law. “My relationship with my clients evolves over time as trust and confi-

dence is earned over the course of each mandate. Eventually, clients request our counsel in other areas outside the scope of our mandates because of our ability to trouble shoot and give honest, effective advice," says Diaz Leyva, who left one of the nation's largest law firms to open his own practice and has built a client portfolio that includes the nation's largest homebuilders, banks and wealthy Latin American immigrants.

In addition, the new trajectory he envisions for Diaz Leyva Group responds to the fact that Hispanics are gaining in all sectors of life in the U.S., and he wants his practice to be a part of it.

“With more than 62 million Hispanics across the country, you need to be a reflection of the community you represent,” says Diaz Leyva. “More and more, companies are taking note of the growing population they are selling products and services to, and engaging and hiring more Hispanics to handle their legal work at firms like mine.” Having said that, it’s no secret that population growth among minorities is driving overall U.S. population growth. It’s just that these realities need to be felt across the spectrum, according to Diaz Leyva, including in corporate board membership. “As access to the board room grows to include an increasing number of Hispanic leaders, a trickle effect begins with a community a company serves reflected at all levels of that company. And it is this that I think will happen in the not-too-distant future.”

A very personal project for Diaz Leyva is the creation of a foundation which will manifest his commitment to sustained mentoring and give him the chance to pay forward the opportunities he has received. While his agenda is ambitious, its underpinnings rest solidly on the inspiration of Cubans, like his family, who have lived in exile for more than 60 years. "Our generation has benefited significantly from our parents and grandparents’ generations," says Diaz Leyva. “They bore the brunt of the challenges – the need to integrate themselves into the community and learn the language.” Diaz Leyva’s grandfather, who was an attorney and editor of some of the largest newspapers in Cuba, worked as a janitor when he arrived in the U.S. "I draw a lot from those hardships that my parents and grandparents experienced. I live my life with gratefulness and appreciation of their sacrifices and the opportunities that were given to us because of the adversity they endured,” reflects Diaz Leyva. "This has helped shape my life, my perspective on the world, how I treat people and on how I build my business.

It is a big part of who I am.”

One of those opportunities was access to education. Diaz Leyva attended the University of Miami, majored in finance, and then obtained his law degree from St.

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Thomas University School of Law in Miami Gardens, FL. "I realized that everything you do in business touches on the law so I felt that going to law school would be very helpful in the business world." He credits his family for his career choice as he felt a deep responsibility to make the most of the higher education he had been afforded.

At the beginning of his career, he worked with various mid-size and large law firms, including Foley & Lardner LLP, where he had the opportunity to work with distinguished and long-established clients, including publicly traded companies and innovative tech companies. This experience inspired him to go out on his own, even though it meant a bit of belt tightening. "I didn't start the practice to take over the world," he said. “I just wanted to be in control of my own destiny and support people that I thought big firms were not capable of supporting in a cost-efficient way." Initially it was friends and family that gave Diaz Leyva the opportunity to represent them. But today, his firm is anchored by a large publicly traded homebuilder, LGI Homes, the 10th largest publicly traded homebuilder in the country, based in The Woodlands, Texas.

Diaz Leyva represents LGI Homes across the state of Florida, managing all of its land acquisitions, homeowners’ association (HOA) work, and generally trouble shooting issues as the need arises. Other major clients include Farm Stores Franchising, a national drive-through convenience store chain; and real estate, investment and development companies such as Barlington Group, Orion Real Estate Group, The Estate Companies, and LinkVest Capital. He also represents several banks including City National Bank of Florida, Ocean Bank and Valley National Bank, handling their loan transactions. Other clients include family offices and investors from Latin America who are able to capitalize on Diaz Leyva being bilingual. "I do a lot of acquisition and sale work, leasing, and financings in the real estate space and direct investments with sponsors in the real estate private equity space for these kinds of clients," he said.

Diaz Leyva and his wife Cristina have two children, Daniel Jr., 9, and Adriana, 7. They have been very involved in their community for more than a decade and along the way, he has been honored by several organizations for his community

“WITH THE U.S. HISPANIC COMMUNITY GROWING IN SIZE AND INFLUENCE, BOTH POLITICALLY AND FINANCIALLY, WE ARE SEEING ENGAGEMENT WITH FIRMS LIKE MINE THAT IS GOING ALL THE WAY UP TO THE BOARD ROOM." service. He has garnered the Ruth Shack Leadership Award from the Miami Foundation and the Head of School Alumni Award from Palmer Trinity School, his high school alma mater. He has also served on the board of trustees of the nation’s largest institution of higher learning, Miami Dade College; and helped establish and served as the executive director of the U.S. chapter of the Consejo Empresarial de América Latina, an organization that promotes economic development across the western hemisphere supported by some of the regions’ most successful entrepreneurs.

As his career evolves, he continues to draw upon his grandparents and parents.

"Any time I find myself in a challenging situation, I tighten my belt and say: what would they have done? And that has pushed me through, it has helped me break through barriers."

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Luis E. González

A

LTHOUGH I mostly like dry white wines, I need to confess that the fragrant, floral-perfumed sweet aromas of the Grüner Veltliners from Austria are delicious. I never waste an opportunity to have a glass (or two) before a luncheon on a bright day. This Kremstal Reid Kremser Watchberg Reserve 2019, showed fresh citrus and flowery aromas. It drank easy and had medium bodied structure with lemongrass, tangerine and mineral notes. As an ending impression it was perfumed and crisp. Just sipping slowly while preparing lunch or over a good conversation with friends, this wine is a real deal!

•On a trip to Chicago, I made a quick stop at one of my favorite places for Italian wine: Eataly. They have a very nice, organized section with the wine regions explained very well on the walls and the wines under each section; a 101 for Italian wine lovers. Browsing up and down I found this fantastic one from Tuscany: C. Berardenga “Castello di Rossi” Corbaia 2011. A rich blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a fantastic mix with soft and ample fruit and earthy notes.

An elegant powerful and yet sophisticated wine with a delicate character and delicious palate. It shows; fig, balsamic and rose petals too.

•As the winter goes away and the bright spring days start, I discovered this white Bordeaux, which I guess is mainly Sauvignon Blanc. Talbot is a very well-respected Chateau in Saint-Julien, however their white wine is constructed on a wider regional base. Château Talbot Caillou Blanc 2019 has a nice and fresh approach with white flowers, grapefruit, and peach notes. Although medium bodied, well balanced and acid but with a very round and long finish. It is elegant with a mouthful grip, silky texture and could be more expressive but its youth is expressed a little still stiff character.

•Trying to get out of the ordinary wines, for some mid-week dinner with friends, I found this nice blend of Rhone varietals.

Not expensive at all ($34), the Jeff Cohn “misc. stuff” 2013 (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre: GSM) started with impressive with dark fruit notes of cherry and plum. At the palate was interestingly peppery, spiced and plummy with a bold character. We sipped it through dinner, and it was still stiff and chewy at the end. It definitively needs time to open, but I would also try to buy some more to cellar for a couple of years. It is a very good option for that last minute visit with friends or family.

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