Dr. Robert Rodriguez, President, DRR Advisors LLC

Dr. Robert Rodriguez is the president of DRR Advisors LLC (www.drradvisors.com), a boutique diversity and management consulting firm.  He is also the author of the book, “Latino Talent: Effective Strategies to Recruit, Retain and Develop Hispanic Professionals.”  He has worked with over 120 corporations helping them with their Latino and diversity initiatives. 

Many consider Dr. Rodriguez to be the nation’s leading expert on Latino talent initiatives in the workplace due to his book, extensive client list and academic research on the Latino experience in corporate America.  Recently, Dr. Rodriguez was named one of the top 100 Most Influential Hispanics in Corporate America by Hispanic Business magazine. Previously, Dr. Rodriguez was a senior vice president at ALPFA, held faculty roles at DePaul University and Kaplan University.  His past corporate experience includes leadership roles at 3M, Target, RR Donnelley and Amoco.  He is also the former board chairman for the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE).

He received his doctorate in Organization Development from Benedictine University and is a graduate of the Latino Leadership Institute at UCLA in Los Angeles.

Leonor B Gil, Senior Vice President, Corporate & Institutional Services, Northern Trust-Chicago

Leonor Gil is a Senior Vice President in the Institutional Product Services (IPS) group at Northern Trust Securities, Inc. In this leadership role, Leonor is responsible for core NTSI product servicing, including commission recapture, soft dollars and exchange funds. Prior to joining Northern Trust in 2008, she was the Director of Operations for high net worth and institutional clients at Harris Associates L. P. Her depth of experience includes Commission Management, Prime Brokerage, trading systems, operations, portfolio administration and management of project teams. Leonor has over twenty five years of industry experience. Leonor is also an active member of Northern Trust's Latin Heritage Leadership Council (LHLC) where she has served as the Treasurer and Secretary. She is the recipient of Northern Trust’s Global Diversity award for her leadership role in the LHLC. She has presented as key note speaker at the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement. Leonor was recognized and was chosen to represent Northern Trust to accept an award on its behalf for being one of “The Top 50 Employers for Latinas" from the Latina Style 50 Magazine. Leonor was featured in the spring 2012 issue of Diversity Profiles magazine. Leonor enjoys mentoring as an active participant in the Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago and as a mentor to Northern Trust partners.

Leonor received a B.A. degree in Finance from the University of Houston, is fluent in Spanish, and holds FINRA series 7, 24, 63 and 65 licenses. She is also a Mujeres de HACE, fall 2010 alumni. Leonor is the proud mother of two children, and grandmother to three children.

Ivan Ruiz, Commercial Banking Representative, First Midwest Bank

Ivan E. Ruiz is a Commercial Banking Representative working with middle-market commercial clients. Prior to becoming a Commercial Banking Representative, Mr. Ruiz completed an extensive, 3-year formal credit analysis training program at First Midwest Bank.  Mr. Ruiz is actively involved in Big Brother Big Sister program and speaks to young professional at University of Illinois at Chicago.

Mr. Ruiz attended Lewis University in Romeoville, IL on an academic scholarship. He graduated with honors in December 2010 with a major in finance and minor in economics.

Prior to joining First Midwest Bank, Mr. Ruiz worked for the Nation’s largest used-car retailer as a Sales Consultant. Mr. Ruiz also completed an internship for one of the world’s largest locomotive maker, where he supported a new remanufacturing plant that was built in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. 

He enjoys physical activities such as: boxing, flag football, and golf. 

Olga Camargo, Managing Partner, TOROSO Investments

Olga is Managing Partner at Toroso Investments, LLC, a registered investment advisor firm. Toroso is committed to providing its clients with strategies that allow them to express their economic point of view, consistent with their risk tolerance and time horizon, through core asset allocation and income strategies that are intended to perform well in all economic climates. Olga provides investment advisory and retirement plan advisory services to clients, which include high net worth individuals, business owners, public and private corporations, public sector entities, and not-for-profit entities and foundations. Olga is frequently called upon by some of the fastest growing businesses and policymakers to provide her unique perspective.

Olga has 15 years of financial service industry experience. Prior to joining Toroso Investments, she was a Senior Vice President with Mesirow Financial co-leading an investment advisory practice with Juan Avila specializing in culturally-relevant financial services to the Latino market. Prior to Mesirow Financial, Olga was at JPMorgan Chase and Thomson Reuters.

Diana Torres, Experienced Derivatives Analyst, Akuna Capital

Diana Torres is an Analyst who specializes in Risk, Operations, and Global Trading Development at Akuna Capital. Prior to joining Akuna Capital, she worked on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade from 2008-2013 with Infinium Capital Management.

Ms. Torres first started working in the trading pits at the age of 19.  She has seen firsthand the deterioration of open outcry market making and increased reliance on technology in the financial markets.  As a complement to her extensive experience with open outcry markets and her experience at Akuna Capital, she is also currently pursuing a Masters in Computer Science at DePaul University. She plans to facilitate further development of quantitative approaches in global trading markets. She is particularly interested in the development of evidence based research models and the application of machine learning methods in financial decision making.

Her experience in proprietary trading development is driven by her fascination with trading efficiency and calculated risk strategies. Diana has a Bachelor of Business (B.B.A.), Business/Managerial Economics from DePaul University and Business Analyst Certification from Northwestern University. 

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Even when you start your job search with a very strong "in" at an organization, landing a new job will likely require you to pursue multiple job opportunities at the same time. In fact, Amanda Augustine, a job search expert for TheLadders, recommends that job seekers continue pursuing new job leads even as they're entering the final interview round of another opportunity. To help you streamline this process and ensure you land a job with the right company, she encourages you to develop a target company list based upon your job goals. READ MORE

Latina moms are going to be the subject of the same fervor and focus that was put towards marketing to moms and social media back in the ’90s. One in four babies in the U.S. are born to a Latina mother and, by 2015, that number will change to one in three, with their purchasing power estimated to reach $1.5 trillion. According to Nielsen, “they are now the primary or joint decision-makers in every major category including groceries, finances, electronics and family care.”

As with every demographic uptick, this will have major effects on brands and their shopper marketing strategies. Here’s what we know about the rising influence of Latina moms and how brands can effectively reach them. READ MORE

Private equity and venture capital continues to boom in Latin America. Recent data from the Latin American Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (LAVCA), a non-profit dedicated to supporting the growth of private equity and venture capital in the region, shows that in 2013, companies invested $8.9 billion in 233 investments in Latin America – a six-year high, and a 13 percent increase over 2012. READ MORE

Are you a Hispanic? Do you like coffee? Well good news, your fondness for that “cup of joe” can be showing you liver some love.

Drinking 2 or more cups of coffee daily could reduce an individual’s risk of death from liver cirrhosis (liver scarring) by as much as 66 percent; great news for Hispanics who are disproportionately affected by this medical condition in the United States.

Cirrhosis of the liver can be caused by a number of factors, including exposure to hepatitis viruses, alcohol abuse, obesity, and diabetes—all issues the Hispanic population faces, making liver cirrhosis and liver disease one of the primary diseases affecting this demographic. READ MORE

Know your crowd
Research, research and research! Who are the folks you want to meet? Who do you want to know and be known on a first name basis? Do you have their numbers on your phone? What do they do? What businesses do they run? Where do they gather? What do they eat? (Okay, that’s too much info). Get info, stay off the gossip blogs please.

Use the social media
Say hello, follow, mention, be in their space without seeming desperate, retweet and commend. Thankfully, social media bridges gaps. Don’t spam. You can ask genuine questions about what they do. Successful business men like to talk about their businesses.

Make use of event apps
Download one today, download two for efficiency. As a matter of fact, download it now! Search online for events, what’s happening? Where is it happening? Who is coming? Register for events that suit you. Please, if you happen to be bus hopping, go early and don’t arrive there sweating. READ MORE

Targeting Hispanics, Google will soon launch a new domain, called .soy (.I am) — another avenue toward reaching the vast, tech-savvy, Spanish-speaking market, a Google executive disclosed during a panel discusssion at the Hispanicize 2014 conference on Wednesday.

As Latinos have become a powerful consumer force and the fastest-growing users of mobile devices, major companies like Google are increasingly looking for ways to attract them.

“Latinos are about to create a revolution in technology,” said Eliana Murillo, head of multicultural marketing for Google. “If they can determine the presidential election, they can definitely determine the future of technology." READ MORE

Diversity isn’t a word most people would use to describe sellers in today’s business-for-sale market. More often than not, sellers are Caucasian Baby Boomers interested in exiting their careers to enter retirement. In fact, BizBuySell.com’s recent survey of small business buyers and sellers found that 86 percent of owners interested in selling their businesses identify as Caucasian.

But what about the buyers in today’s market?

According to BizBuySell’s report, which surveyed over 2,000 prospective small business buyers and sellers, buyers are a more diverse group. READ MORE

Latinas are playing a critical role in California's economy, increasingly because many Latinas are opening and running their own businesses.

Recently in Los Angeles, as part of our work with the California Economic Summit, we met with a group of Latina business and organizational leaders, each of whom had an interesting and unique story to tell.

Our friends at HOPE, a non-profit, non-partisan organization committed to ensuring policy and economic parity for Latinas through leadership, advocacy and education, organized the event. HOPE brought with them the Economic Status of Latinas Report to illustrate the importance of Latinas in the California economy.

The number of Latina-owned small businesses in California expanded rapidly from 2002 to 2007, generating $13 billion in sales receipts and employing more than 70,000 workers. READ MORE

According to a recent report published by the Motion Picture Association of America, Latinos went to the movies in 2013 way more often than other ethnic groups in the U.S. relative to their population.

Last year, Latinos made up 17 percent of the population, but accounted for 32 percent of frequent moviegoers (that is, folks who went to more than one movie a month). Blacks represent 12 percent of the population and were 12 percent of frequent moviegoers in 2013. Asians (and other minorities) — who compose 8 percent of the population — were 7 percent of frequent moviegoers. READ MORE

Just 1.5% of computing occupations in the country are filled by Latinas, a startling Bureau of Labor Statistics number that illustrates the importance of pushing Latinas into the tech space.

There are a variety of different ways to promote and encourage Latinas into the tech space, and Becky Arreaga, president of Mercury Mambo, and Rebecca Gonzales, assistant director of Avindé, discussed several during their panel Friday, “Chicapreneurs: Latinas in Technology.”

More Latinas than ever are graduating from college, and this is changing the dynamics of entrepreneurship, said Arreaga. In a sense, entrepreneurship is engrained in Latinas — “How many of our moms were the Avon ladies of the neighborhood?” she asked — but the bigger question is figuring out how to harness that passion and those skills in a more formal way.

After all, she said, 1 in 10 women-owned businesses are owned by a Latina. READ MORE

Organizations have heard it over and over: There’s a serious business case to be made for implementing a meaningful diversity and inclusion strategy.

But organizations are still struggling to do that effectively, according to the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility’s 2013 Corporate Inclusion Index.

In its fifth year, the survey measures Hispanic inclusion among Fortune 100 and HACR member companies “by focusing on HACR’s four pillars of corporate social responsibility and market reciprocity”—employment, procurement, philanthrophy, and government, according to an HACR statement. The 2013 survey saw a number of positive trends continue—including an increase in participation among Fortune 100 companies (39 percent answered the survey) and in the number of Hispanics who make up the for-profit employment population (13 percent)—but there is still plenty of room for improvement. READ MORE

The Partnership for a New American Economy and the Latino Donors Collaborative today released a new report showing how the number of Hispanic entrepreneurs in America has grown exponentially over the past two decades, powering the economy during the recent recession. Hispanic immigrants in particular are now more likely to be entrepreneurs than the average member of the U.S. population overall.

“I am so proud of the Latino community and especially entrepreneurs who are creating new businesses and adding additional jobs in our communities,” Tony Yapias, director of Proyecto Latino de Utah and small business owner. “Entrepreneurs are a key driver of our economy. Latinos by nature are true entrepreneurs and given an opportunity for immigration reform they would do a lot more for this country and economy.” READ MORE

Chicago, IL.- This past Thursday, March 20th, Mujeres Latinas en Acción celebrated its annual Dinner & Silent Auction Voces Unidas 2014 at Hyatt Regency of Chicago. The banquet underscored the organization’s great commitment to continue efforts to provide the resources needed for Latina women and their families who are survivors of domestic violence.

“Each year more than three million children witness domestic violence in their homes. Just imagine the catastrophic damage this is causing and the high-risk situations these families are living in”, said Miguel Bassaíl, Midwest Area multicultural marketing strategist at Verizon presenting sponsor of the event. “Many victims don’t know where to go for help and often live in vulnerability and fear. I’m amazed at the work “Mujeres” is doing to change that”.

“Verizon, is strongly committed to supporting domestic violence awareness and prevention,” added Bassail. “To help build awareness of this important issue, Verizon introduced a program called HopeLine® more than 20 years ago. This multi-faceted initiative helps survivors of domestic violence by providing them with refurbished wireless devices, which come ready-to-use with 3,000 minutes of wireless service as well as text messaging capabilities”. Expressed Bassaíl at the Mujeres Latinas en Acción Gala.
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PHOTO CAPTION:
Verizon Presenting Sponsor “Mujeres Latinas Voces Unidas 2014”

Photo Credit: Ana Mirayes: LEFT TO RIGTH: Rosie Castro “Mamá Castro”, Educator & Civil rights activist who received the “Voces Unidas Award 2014”; Dr Esteban R López; Maria S. Pesqueira, President & CEO, Mujeres Latinas en Acción and Miguel Bassaíl, Midwest Area multicultural marketing strategist at Verizon in the annual Mujeres Latinas en Acción: Voces Unidas 2014 Gala.

Hispanic and Latino shoppers across the United States wield more than $1.2 trillion of buying power annually with projections of $1.5 trillion by 2015, according to Nielsen. That economic power is why Wal-Mart, Home Depot and most major retailers invest in marketing efforts to woo this important demographic.

Experts said consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies and other retail suppliers are just starting to scratch the surface with targeted marketing efforts to Hispanics. McKinsey Group reports that retail spending of Hispanic consumers will nearly double over the next 10 years and account for almost one-fifth of total retail spending. READ MORE

In a world that seems custom-made for those with outgoing personalities, attending networking events as an introvert may seem like a nerve-wracking experience, but it doesn't have to be. Introverts can have as many professional advantages as their extroverted counterparts, even when it comes to meeting new people.

The basic definition of networking is expanding your circle of contacts and nurturing mutually beneficial relationships. Start with these five tips:

Make a plan. Prepare a few conversation-starters to get the ball rolling when meeting someone new. Ask questions such as, "How long have you been in the oil and gas industry?" or, "Where did you originally meet our host?" Asking open ended questions has the added benefit of putting the focus on the other person. Most people enjoy talking about themselves and it positions you as being interested and engaged -- both positive networking tools. READ MORE

Your network is your net worth. It is a source of knowledge, job opportunities, potential business partnerships, future hires and so much more. Networking won’t only help you find your next job, but it will help you improve within your current position. In short, your power is derived from and amplified by your network.

One of the world’s most successful tennis stars; a pop singer from the 90s making her comeback; the beauty director at a major national consumer magazine for teenagers; the son of a former Pennsylvania governor; executives at a major personal computing company — these are some of the people I count among my network. READ MORE

Spring is the season for cleaning up, clearing out and starting fresh. It's also a great time for job seekers to ramp up their search efforts and finally land the position of their dreams.

A new batch of college students will be graduating soon, which means that companies are seeking applicants for both entry-level jobs and the higher-level positions needed to supervise those new employees. If you want to compete, it's important to make sure your résumé is current when it comes to both personal information and style. READ MORE

Square, the payments processing start-up, is looking for new users for its credit card device among the US’s growing Latino community.

The company, co-founded by Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, is today unveiling Spanish language support and software in hopes of tapping into the purchasing power of America’s more than 50m Latinos.

US consumer goods and media companies have long wisened up to the purchasing power of the country’s Spanish-speaking population, but tech start-ups have not tended to target that demographic. READ MORE

In some regards, UC Berkeley Ph.D. student Anastasia Chavez’s story should be commonplace: After graduating from college, the first in her family to get a college degree, Chavez went for her master’s degree at the behest of a “pretty amazing mentor” while marrying and starting a family.
Epitomizing the uniqueness of her story and ubiquitous problem facing universities across the country is the fact that this Latina student arrived at UC Berkeley’s math department among 161 Ph.D. students, 30 of which were women and six Chicano/Latino. READ MORE