In 2003, HACR developed a partnership with the Harvard Business School (HBS), creating a comprehensive executive education program geared to Hispanics with the goal of increasing the effectiveness and presence of Hispanics in corporate boardrooms. The HACR/HBS Executive Education Program on Corporate Governance: Leadership in the Boardroom is part of HACR’s overall initiative on corporate governance, which includes research on Hispanics serving on major public companies’ boards, relationships with executive search firms, and a database of Hispanic board candidates.

“Education is the most important issue affecting the Hispanic Community,” says Carlos Orta, president and CEO of HACR. “This program has trained dozens of Latinas and Latinos from all over the country on how to be effective board members. Latinas from business, academic, public and private sectors have participated in this program and have expanded their circles of influence. Latinas have incredible influence over household spending decisions, both when it comes to consumer goods and big-ticket items. If Corporate America is to fully understand the buying power and preferences of the Hispanic community, having a Latina on their board provides that company with a strategic and competitive advantage.”

Overall, 38 percent of the participants have been Latinas and over 150 Hispanics have graduated from the program. As participants, they have explored critical issues ranging from board composition, director selection, and compensation, to the board’s role in strategic planning, overseeing financial reporting and disclosure, and top-management succession. Participants leave the program with skills and strategies for adding significant value to their boards and specific ideas for improving them.

Here are the personal voices of seven Latinas who have participated in this program.

Anna Escobedo Cabral, Treasurer of the United States, was a member of the first class (2003) and founder of the HACR/HBS Executive Education Program on Corporate Governance: Leadership in the Boardroom. “Our goal in creating this relationship with the Harvard Business School was to prepare individuals who are at different stages of their career, for board service,” she says. “There are a number of Latinos, for example, that serve currently on board of directors for non-profit organizations, privately held companies, and Fortune 500+. We need to continue to encourage and prepare more Latinos and Latinas to serve in boardrooms or the largest companies of America.”

According to Escobedo Cabral, it is important to prepare Latinas to serve in leadership positions, whether in the boardroom, in senior management positions, the non-profit sector or government. “It is absolutely critical that we are prepared to serve at the highest levels, including corporate boardroom,” she says. “Clearly, Latinas are going to bring with them a particular set of skills and expertise that is going to be valuable to a company, but I think we also bring two very unique perspectives, that of being a woman and that of being Hispanic.”

Because Latinas are taking leadership positions across the country, there is a need to make sure that they are prepared to be effective at all levels. “The great news is that increasingly more women serve in the boardroom, more women are opening and leading their own companies,” she says.

Even though she does not yet serve on any corporate board, she states that the Harvard program provides invaluable insight that proves helpful in any workplace. “It is valuable to me in my current job,” she says. “So for anyone who is considering participating in this program and who is at a point in their career where they believe it will be helpful, I encourage them highly to attend and participate because it is the best investment they can make in themselves.”

Alma Morales Riojas, HACR’s chair for the national board of directors, president and CEO of MANA, A National Latina Organization, is the liaison to the alumni association. She is responsible for conveying issues from the alumni to the board, and helping raise awareness on the program to Latinos and Latinas in the corporate world. She is also an alumna of the class of 2003. “The program facilitates the recruitment of Hispanics for corporate board of directors by providing a pool of already experienced and talented Latinos and Latinas, who will also have a Harvard Business School credit to show that they completed a governance program and strengthening their ability to qualify and subsequently, becoming greater corporate board candidates/members.”

According to Morales Riojas, there are many benefits to be gained from participating in the program; even, if the person does not get to be on a board of directors immediately. The new contacts and friends made are an invaluable network both personally and professionally. “There are a lot of talented Latinas and Latinos who are exceptionally qualified. Participating in the program helps them to be more rounded in their current job because it gives them a bigger picture of the corporate world,” she says. “I think we’ve done well to raise the awareness of Latina potential. We now have more women in corporations, more women on the hill, and an increased number of Latinas elected to office. This program can help accelerate the progress of Latinos and Latinas on corporate and other boards of directors.”