Drawing on our cultural heritage as our strength: Highlights from the 2024 Silicon Valley Latino Leadership Summit 

Each year, the Silicon Valley Latino Leadership Summit continues to exceed expectations! For 13 consecutive years, Frank Carbajal and Molly Carbajal have curated this exceptional event. The theme for this year’s summit was “Accelerating Latinos in Education, Entrepreneurship, and Executive Leadership,” and the conference was inspiring, informative, and delivered actionable strategies for us to drive progress in our community.  

Latino Education Leaders Empowering Students and Families for Equity

The day of speakers opened with Amanda Fernandez, CEO and Founder of Latinos for Education, whose mission is to develop, place and connect essential Latino leaders in the education sector. She spoke of the importance of Latinos inside and outside of the education sector to increase our influence and impact to serve Latino students and families.

Amanda shared that by 2026, it is projected that nearly 1 in 5 members of the US labor force will be Latino, leading to a 43% growth in the Latino Labor Market, compared to a 9% projected growth in the overall Labor Market from 2020-2050. During these years, she pointed out that the US labor market is evolving, with projected growth from 2020 to 2030 in roles like Instructional Coordinators by 11%, Data Science by 31%, AI and Machine Learning Specialists by 22%, and Renewable Energy Technicians by 61%. The current Latino representation by industry is 43% in farming, fishing, and forestry, 38% in buildings & grounds cleaning & maintenance, and 36% in construction and extraction.

Education plays a crucial role in shaping the next generation of Latino leaders, and Amanda noted the blurring of the education k-12, higher education and industry to create solutions for more young Latinos on a forward path. She stressed the importance of representation in education, and urged everyone to consider their commitment as mentors and partnerships from corporations to guarantee diverse representation in educational leadership.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta: Championing Latino Success

We also had the opportunity to listen to Rob Bonta, the Attorney General of the State of California, who shared about his upbringing, with his parents immigrating from the Philippines in pursuit of a better life. His parents were involved with the UFW, with his father collaborating with Cesar Chavez and his mother working alongside Dolores Huerta in preschools. Following in his parents’ footsteps Rob is known as the “Activist Elected Official.” He shared the statistic that there are 85,000 Latino-owned businesses in California and the state ranking as the 5th largest economy, noting that when Latinos are successful then California is successful.

Latinos Navigating Artificial Intelligence (AI)

One notable plenary session focused on “Latinos Navigating Artificial Intelligence (AI),” featuring experts from Conectado, LinkedIn, Palo Alto Networks, and Windrose Vision. The session highlighted the rapid growth of AI, with Chat GBT now boasting 100 million users in a short period. AI is reshaping the way we work and learn, and Latinos have the opportunity to lead in designing frameworks to maximize its impact. It’s essential that we enhance our skills and careers to drive innovation.

Madelaine Wallace, Founder and CEO of Windrose Vision, noted, “We have agency; we are the ones who have creativity. AI is going to be our partner, our trainer, and at the end of the day, we are responsible for how we use it.”

The end of the session concluded with the following “Call to action” slide.

2024 Silicon Valley Latino Leadership Summit Awardees

I was deeply moved by the presentations of the honorees, whose achievements and contributions have paved the way for so many Latino leaders. 

• Lifetime Leadership Award: Kimberly Casiano, Board Member of Ford Motor Company

• Trailblazer Leadership Award Julián Castro, CEO of the Latino Community Foundation

• Pioneer Leadership Award: Jorge Titinger, CEO of Titinger Consulting

• Visionary Leadership Award: Patty Juarez, EVP and Head of Hispanic & Latino Affairs at Wells Fargo Bank

Visionary Leadership Awardee, Patty Juarez, quote captures the spirit of the SVLLS and elevating the Latino agenda:

 My vision for the future is that we continue to accelerate representation in every space to take our well-deserved place at the table. To no longer be ‘Calladita te ves mas bonita.’ We must take action. We must focus. We must collaborate. We must continue to focus on improving leadership, lifting others while we climb, we have to focus on representation and that starts with leadership and that ends with leadership. So, my call to action for all of you today is to activate. Go support, volunteer for organizations trying to help even out the playing field, go help your respective company’s diversity initiatives, become a mentor, or better yet a sponsor to a high-potential Latino or Latina. It will take all of us to move the needle, but we can do it!

Every year, I look forward to attending the Silicon Valley Latino Leadership Summit to engage with fellow changemakers and explore opportunities to elevate our Latino community. Year over year, I always leave with valuable insights that I carry with me and new connections. 

Be sure to watch out for upcoming articles on Modern Latina featuring more insights from this year’s summit. Save the date for next year’s summit on October 11, 2025 – an event not to be missed!