PepsiCo, Inc.

For PepsiCo, Inc. the recruiting, training, and retaining of a diverse workforce is key to pleasing the evolving palates of its customer base in the United States. To achieve greater diversity the company utilizes recruitment ads directed specifically to Latinas and attends events hosted by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA). PepsiCo, Inc. takes the retention of these Latinas seriously. Its corporate culture is that of inclusion—with the realization that employees need to feel valued and have equal opportunities to contribute to and succeed within the company. Latina employees can participate in various programs and support groups, including the Power Pairs Program designed to foster relationships between management and women of color. In 2000, the Latino/Hispanic Advisory Board was created to advise the company on a number of diversity issues including brand marketing and employee support.
As the vice president of PepsiCo Ethnic Sales Development, Marie Quintana drives the corporate strategy for the company’s multicultural markets. She develops strategies to increase customer loyalty, strengthen community partnerships with customers, and support grassroots initiatives. To ensure success, Quintana works closely with all multicultural and sales capabilities teams and operates a center of excellence that works to drive these practices. She is active in the company’s various diversity networks.

LATINA Style applauds PepsiCo, Inc.’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, as well as its continued recruitment, training, and retaining of Latinas in its workforce.

American Express Company
Diversity and inclusion are concepts ingrained into the corporate culture of American Express Company. It has seen the value of adapting to the various style preferences of its different employees—the concepts of time and relationships—and incorporated them into its business. Company leaders are required to participate in a diversity curriculum explaining the benefits of diversity and inclusion. Latinas may take advantage of the initiatives offered by the company’s Hispanic group, AHORA (The Association of Hispanics Organized to Raise Awareness), which sponsors a variety of diversity awareness events, professional development seminars, and community building activities. AHORA also partners with the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) to recruit Latinas for the company. The company offers a Professional Orientation & Development program that is designed to orientate employees at all levels of employment through trainings, career programs, networking and mentoring. American Express Company’s tuition reimbursement program offers a full paid Executive MBA Program in which eligible Latina employees can participate.
Rosa Sabater is the senior vice president of Customer Service Solutions for American Express Company. In this position, she leads a team working to enhance the customer service experience for American Express card members. Sabater also leads the New Accounts Servicing Center, which processes new cards.

AT&T
In the quick-paced and ever evolving world of telecommunications, AT&T remains firm in its commitment to maintaining a workforce as diverse as its customer base. The inclusion of its over 15,000 Latina employees is also a priority for the company. Its Leadership Development Program (LDP) targets recent college graduates and focuses on identifying Latinas with leadership potential and giving them the training, mentoring, and networking opportunities they need to become strong leaders within the company. AT&T’s Hispanic Employee Resource Group, HACEMOS, works to foster inclusion and develop Latinas professionally at all levels of the company. It provides Latinas with opportunities to connect with AT&T’s senior leadership and to contribute to the company’s business goals. The company’s cell phone unit, AT&T Mobility, actively recruits bilingual sales representatives for its store locations with predominantly Spanish-speaking clientele.

Patricia Diaz Dennis is AT&T’s senior vice president and assistant general counsel. In this capacity she is responsible for the company’s corporate litigation, procurement, corporate real estate, and environmental and corporate compliance. Previously, Dennis worked with other telecommunications companies and has held three Senate-approved federal positions, including commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, member of the National Labor Relations Board, and assistant secretary of state for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs.
 

Citigroup, Inc.
Citigroup, Inc. considers the recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce an important responsibility and key to its success as a financial services company. It began bilingual recruitment in 2006 and actively recruits Latina graduates and professionals through partnerships with the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) and the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE). Citigroup, Inc. also partners with INROADS and Sponsors for Educational Opportunity to provide summer internships for Latinas and other undergraduate students with diverse backgrounds. The Citi Women’s Initiative works to professionally develop and promote women throughout the company. In 2006, it brought together Citigroup, Inc.’s women’s councils from around the world for a 3-day session concerning the various organizations and to share best practices. Additionally, the over 10,000 Latina employees of Citigroup, Inc. can voice their opinion via the Voice of the Employee survey, an anonymous annual survey aimed at gaining candid feedback from employees.

A member of Citi’s Management Committee, Marisa Lago joined the company in 2001 to create and head the company’s Global Workforce Development. Currently, as the global head of compliance for Citi Markets & Banking, she oversees all compliance matters for Citi’s sales and trading, investment and corporate banking, and transaction service businesses, which operate in over 90 countries around the world.

Darden Restaurants
Darden Restaurants is a company that values the contributions that more than 11,000 Latina employees make at every level of employment, regardless of whether they are an executive running the operations of one of its casual dining chains or an hourly employee. The company provides mentoring and supports its Latina employees through programs such as the Women’s Foodservice Forum, the Darden Women’s Network, and Embracing Leadership Excellence. It also partners with national organizations such as the National Society of Minorities in Hospitality (NSMH) and the Multicultural Foodservice and Hospitality Alliance (MFHA) in the recruitment of Latinas to the company. Darden Restaurants is unique in that it has a Latina on its board of directors.

Valerie Insignares is the executive vice president of operations for the Olive Garden, a brand of Darden Restaurants. In this capacity she is in charge of operations for 584 restaurants and oversees 70,000 employees. Insignares is responsible for ensuring the alignment of the Olive Garden’s variety of culinary, beverage, service, training and quality assurance initiatives in the restaurants. She also leads six division senior vice presidents of operations to assist her in this endeavor.

IBM
IBM’s commitment to equal opportunity for all of its employees is long standing, as is the priority it places upon having a diverse workforce. The company wants its Latina employees to achieve their highest potential and to develop leaders at all levels. They have the opportunity to participate in UCLA’s Latino and Women’s Leadership Institute and LEADing@IBM, a training program for leaders and potential leaders in the company. IBM’s Latinas can also choose from a variety of mentoring programs, including the Hispanic Technical Leadership Forum, the Hispanic Executive Mentoring Program, and the Dial a Mentor Program of the Hispanic women’s group La Red Familiar. Latina employees are able to take advantage of company childcare centers and subsidies, a highly competitive maternity and adoption leave, and a variety of flexible work schedules.

As general manager, ITD Productivity Initiatives, Integrated Operations, Patt Cronin is responsible for driving the internal transformation of Internal Technology Delivery (ITD) and reinventing the way IBM performs. Cronin has held many technical and management positions throughout her 20 years with the company. Prior to this position, she was general manager of the IBM Global Account, where she managed a budget of $3.4 billion.