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Interview with Esther Aguilera |
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| Published on August 18, 2006 |
Hispanics are the largest minority in the nation. What do you think this means to corporate America? How should corporate America respond to this changing demographic?
With the booming Latino population, basic economics and demographics means that some in corporate America realize that it is a business imperative to develop a proactive program to connect with this critical market. However, this group of enlightened corporate leaders only represents a small segment.
Not only is the Latino community growing, we are a tremendously talented, hardworking, and committed workforce. There is no longer an excuse that you cannot find capable Latino talent to fill top positions in any field.
What role do you think HACR should have in representing the Hispanic community with corporate America?
HACR represents the largest and most influential national Latino organizations. HACR is in a unique position to leverage this clout to work constructively with corporate America. HACR is both a watchdog when it comes to the interests of the Latino community and corporate responsibility and a clearinghouse of information, best practices, and other measurement tools.
Do you think that corporate America is aware what advocacy organizations such as HACR or others do to promote inclusion and corporate responsibility?
To this day, again, there is only a small segment of corporate American that are aware of the benefits of a partnership with HACR. HACR is in a critical position to advocate, provide constructive feedback, and hold corporate America accountable to give back. In the next 20 years, I have two recommendations for HACR. I'd like to see HACR be more creative and aggressive in leveraging the communities clout advance Hispanic hiring at senior levels and Board representation. That means working with partners to track vacancies before they are announced and leverage our collective clout and contacts to achieve success.There is also a need to better track and document Hispanic inclusion by industry so that the community is educated and can better judge which corporations take the community seriously.
What’s the business case for corporate responsibility or inclusion?
The business case is simple. Latinos are a growing client base with a purchasing power that will amount to $1 trillion in the next ten years, the future workforce, and business innovators.The Hispanic community is looking for long-term meaningful relationships based on mutual respect.That means a commitment to Latino employment especially in the higher ranks, Latino representation on corporate Boards, strong procurement that offers an even playing field, and an investment in the success of the community.
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