This past Saturday, May 14 the 2nd Annual Silicon Valley Latino Leadership Summit took place at the Faculty Club of Stanford University to discuss various challenges and opportunities for Latinos in the 21st Century. This year’s summit attendance included professionals and students and speakers representing private industries, state and local government, entertainment, and academia. Frank Carbajal, Founder of the Summit and author of Building the Latino Future, gave the opening remarks, kicking off a day filled with great speakers and presentations that made history once more in Silicon Valley. The day also featured keynote addresses on Latino leadership from Julian Castro, mayor of San Antonio, Texas and Dr. Armando Arias, founder of Street Smart Think Tank.
One of the many highlights of the Summit for me was the morning panel, Paving the Scholarship Road for our Future Leaders, discussing the importance of accessibility to quality education for future Latino leaders. Two of the panelists were Hispanic marketing guru Isabel Valdes, author of Hispanic Customers for Life, and Frank Alvarez, President and CEO of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund who invoked the audience to action by stating that, “America needs us”. He reminded us that Latinos are extremely valuable to corporate America and that we should look for opportunities to learn from other Latinos who have paved the way.
After satisfying our hunger for empowerment and lunch, we had the chance to hear Rebecca Cokley, Director of The White House Office of Presidential Priority Appointments, who gave us some views about the current diversity initiatives going on in Washington D.C. Two outstanding workshops followed, 1. Latino Lead Innovation with Graciela Tiscareño-Sato, author of Latinnovating and 2. Latino Entertainment Leaders, with the Actor/Producer Rick Najera, who got a standing ovation after his speech.
The afternoon panel covered Latino success stories in today’s economy and lessons from top executives and entrepreneurs such as Michael Lopez, President of Hispanic-Net and Victor Arias Jr., Senior Partner of Korn/Ferry International and founding member of the National Society of Hispanic MBA’s (NSHMBA) who I had the chance to interview.
Some of the sponsors of the summit were El Observador and Kaiser Permanente, represented by Edgar Quiroz who shared with us the mind-blowing data that 50% of Latinos who are walking around with diabetes don’t even know they have it.
The closing remarks of the event were delivered by the Mayor of Palo Alto, Mr. Sid Espinosa, a strong Latino political figure. It was a great day in the Bay Area, a day about Latinos, motivation, inspiration and presence. Days like these are proof of our beloved saying, “Si se puede!”
