“76 percent of Latinos repress part of their persona … 63 percent do not feel heard in the workplace,” Ana Rodriguez, the managing director of the Latino Leadership Initiative at the SMU Cox School of Business, said during her presentation at Local Profile’s ¡Exitos! Leadership Summit presented by Guaranty Bank & Trust and hosted at Frisco Hall. The event was also sponsored by Toyota.
In February 2020, movers and shakers from across Collin County gathered to be educated and inspired by speakers focused on the Latinx experience in business. The summit featured wine from Meadowlark Winery and cocktails from Buzzballz.
After a short welcome from Elisa Luque, the senior vice president and head of trust and wealth management at Guaranty, the crowd heard wisdom from speakers including Jaime Montemayor, the founder and CEO of DosDos Technologies, Alejandra Gonzalez, the director of marketing calendar and pipeline for Chili’s US and Brinker International, and Javier Moreno, the senior manager of corporate strategy and growth, for Toyota Financial Services. “Adaptability and credibility are the two keys to success; the most successful people accept and adapt to constant change,” Javier said.
The highlight of the event was the keynote speaker, Merary Simeon, the vice president of diversity and engagement at PepsiCo, who addressed the crowd with passion, telling her own story of success before offering a final call to action for all attendees: to take action now because, “there is no better time for Latinos to take their place in leadership.”
