By Linda Castillo
This year marked the 10th Anniversary for the Silicon Valley Latino Leadership Summit. Frank and Molly Carbajal and the Es Tiempo team did an amazing job bringing together amazing speakers to capture this year’s theme “Looking Back, Moving Forward: The Latino Future of Silicon Valley.” I left the summit feeling inspired, empowered and positive about the future!
Strategic Conversations
The day summit included to plenary discussions: Diversity and Inclusion – Taking Action and Disrupting Health Care for Latino Empowerment where attendees were able to learn from presenters and panelists shared their insights, stories and strategies for everyone to apply.
There was also questions raised about what we can do now. Are we creating a culture where all human beings are equal and where we are all included? It’s time to challenge Wall Street and all the companies there to rise up to the occasion. There is a social responsibility if you want to tap the Latino Economy.
Elevating
One of my favorite part of the conference it to hear the inspiring stories from the awardees and this year the awardees delivered above and beyond my expectations.
SVLLS recognized the following inspiring three awardees:
Lifetime Leadership Award: Ralph De La Vega, Chairman, De La Vega Group
Ralph de la Vega is the founder and chairman of the De La Vega Group. Mr. de la Vega is the former Vice Chairman of AT&T Inc. and CEO of Business Solutions & International. In that capacity, he had overall responsibility for the company’s integrated Business Solutions group which, at the time served more than 3.5 million business customers in nearly 200 countries and territories, including nearly all of the world’s Fortune 1000 companies. He also had overall responsibility for AT&T’s wireless business operations in Mexico and DIRECTV in Latin America. Previously, he was President and CEO of AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions, where he had overall responsibility for the company’s wireless and business services operations. Before that, he was President and CEO of AT&T Mobility. Under his leadership, AT&T Mobility became one of the world’s leading smartphone and mobile Internet providers and expanded into new growth areas such as connected cars, and home security and automation.
During his career he has held numerous executive positions, including COO of Cingular Wireless and President of BellSouth Latin America. As the COO of Cingular Wireless, Mr. de la Vega was responsible for the integration of AT&T Wireless and Cingular Wireless, following the largest all-cash merger in U.S. history at the time. As President of BellSouth Latin America, he was responsible for wireless operations in 11 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela and Uruguay.
He serves on the boards of American Express Company, New York Life Insurance Company, and Amdocs Corporation. He is the former Chairman of Junior Achievement Worldwide and continues to serve on its board of directors. He also served as the Chairman of the 2017 Jamboree for the Boy Scouts.
He has received numerous awards recognizing his leadership, including induction into the U.S. Wireless Hall of Fame, the Atlanta Business Hall of Fame, and the prestigious Global Innovation Award from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. Mr. de la Vega has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and a master’s degree in business administration from Northern Illinois University. He completed the Executive Program at the University of Virginia and received a Doctor Honoris Causa from FAU. He is the author of the best-selling book Obstacles Welcome: Turn Adversity to Advantage in Business and Life (Thomas Nelson, 2009).
Pioneer Leadership Award: Anna Maria Chávez, Chief Strategy Officer & Senior VP, External Affairs, National Council on Aging (NCOA)
As one of the world’s top experts on women’s leadership, youth development, and aging, Anna Maria Chávez is a dedicated advocate for helping others across every stage of life. With 25 years of public service and non-profit leadership experience, Chávez is passionate about teaching the value of teamwork, inclusion and diversity, resiliency, strong leadership and self-motivation. Her keen insights and dynamic presentations have inspired thousands of individuals and organizations to lead authentically, work more collaboratively, and create dynamic impact.
Chávez was named one of FORTUNE’s World’s Greatest Leaders (2016) and honored as one of the most creative people in business by Fast Company (2014). She has been inducted into the U.S. News & World Report’s STEM Leadership Hall of Fame. Recognized for her work supporting and empowering Hispanic communities, Chávez was the recipient of the 2013 Excellence in Community Service Award from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, as well as the 2013 Graciela Olivarez La Raza Award from UnidosUS (formerly the National Council of La Raza). She is also a member of the National Board of Directors for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
In April 2017, Chávez joined the National Council on Aging (NCOA), our nation’s oldest advocacy organization dedicated to helping Americans navigate the challenges of aging, as their chief strategy officer and senior vice president of external affairs. Less than a year later, Chávez was promoted to the leadership role of NCOA’s Executive Vice President and Chief Growth Officer where she is responsible for the day-to-day operations of NCOA and leading the national team in advancing the organization’s mission to improve the health and economic security of 10 million older adults by 2020.
From 2011-16, Chávez was the first woman of color to lead the iconic Girl Scouts of the USA, where she helped bring the 104-year-old institution into the future with an historic girl-centric organizational redesign. Additionally, she instilled a focus on teaching girls about technology and social entrepreneurship, including adding new badges in fields like financial literacy and STEM education.
Visionary Leadership Award: Lili Gil Valleta, Co-founder & CEO, Culturintel & Cien+
Lili is an award-winning entrepreneur, recognized cultural intelligence™ expert, A.I. tech innovator, and World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. She came to the U.S. at the age of 17 without speaking English after leaving her entire family behind in her native country of Colombia. After a successful corporate career, including a 10-year tenure at Johnson & Johnson where she pioneered various diversity strategies, Lili co-founded CIEN+ and CulturIntel.
Her firm is globally recognized as a leader in big data analytics, business, and marketing strategies to help global corporations successfully turn cultural trends and inclusion into profits.
She is a regular TV commentator seen on Fox News, Fox Business and CNN en Español, and has been featured by Forbes, CNN Money, The Huffington Post, The NY Daily News, and MM&M. She is also the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2018 U.S. Hispanic Businessperson of the Year by the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, 2018 New York Women of Excellence, PR Week’s Top 50 Most Influential in Healthcare, among others.
For her commitment to advancing minority and women business issues, she has advised initiatives at the United Nations and the White House and she currently serves as a board member of the Harvard Women’s Leadership Board, National Board of Directors of the YMCA USA, mentor to the Stanford Latino Entrepreneur Leaders Program, and was appointed by New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo to join the New York State Council on Women and Girls and by Mayor Bill de Blasio to join the NYC Tech Leadership Council.
Elevating
The spirit of the SVLLS is celebrating the success of Latinos from the classroom to the boardroom and as such the program concluded with recognizing the Young Latinx Scholars from the Salinas Valley Dream Academy and Ivy League Project.
Linda Castillo is the Founder and Executive Editor of www.ModernLatina.com. She writes on topics that empower and inspire Latinas including art, motherhood, green living, culture, travel, and issues transforming the Latino community. Linda has earned a B.S. in Business and a M.S. in Mass Communications from San Jose State University.