New to the LCDA Team

We are excited to be starting the new year by expanding the LCDA team and our organizational capacity.

Welcome, Oswaldo "Ozzie" Gromada Meza, Director, Membership & Talent Placement.

Ozzie Gromada Meza brings 10 years of direct corporate experience and 5 years of entrepreneurial experience. He developed his expertise in boutique and Fortune 50 organizations. Prior to joining Latino Corporate Directors Association, Ozzie was an intelligence lead at JamesDruryPartners, a leading board advisory services firm, where he focused on aligning C-level executives’ backgrounds with Board of Director opportunities. Earlier in his career, he supported the executive recruiting team and spearheaded the build-out of the first talent intelligence team at Allstate Insurance. From this work, he was awarded the Special Libraries Association Business and Finance Impact Award in 2013.

Known for innovation, Ozzie was invited by ERE.net and LinkedIn as a presenter and has been a speaker on trends in talent intelligence, regionally and nationally. He has been a member of Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals and past participant of the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement Leadership Academy.

Ozzie holds a BS in Information Systems and an MS in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Ozzie and his husband are the proud parents of twins and enjoy traveling.

Welcome, Kathy Jurado Munoz, Vice President, Advocacy and Demand.

Kathy is an accomplished government affairs and public relations professional. Highlights of her career include her tenure as Vice President of Communications for Home Shopping Network, Inc., Director of Government Relations at the University of South Florida and Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. She has extensive experience in Federal, state and local government relations. Her Washington experience includes serving as staff to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Post Office and Civil Service.

Later, she joined the Alcalde & Fay, Government and Public Affairs Firm, where she became a partner. Clients served include Jim Walter Corporation, Eckerd Drug Stores, Cruise Lines International Association and Hillsborough County, Florida.

Kathy was born and raised in Tampa, Florida and received a Bachelor of Arts in Government and International Relations from the University of Notre Dame.

>> Learn more about the LCDA team

In the New Year, LCDA is Looking to Change the Game

In states across the nation, there is a growing trend of Legislative efforts to press corporations for increased representation of women on corporate boards.

This past December in New York, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation requiring the New York State Department of State, partnered with the Department of Taxation and Finance, to conduct a study of the proportion of female members on the boards of domestic and foreign corporations licensed to do business in New York. The “Women on Corporate Boards Study” law requires corporations to report the number of directors on their boards and how many of those directors are women. Corporations must provide this information on their biennial filings with the secretary of state as required under Section 408 of the Business Corporation Law. The law will take effect on June 27, 2020.

To ensure that Latinas are also part of the call for increased diversity, LCDA's Treasurer, Nelson Diaz, sent a letter to Governor Cuomo urging him to include the ethnicity and race of board directors as part of the study. LCDA supports the disclosure and reporting of gender, ethnicity, and race of corporate boards of directors as a necessary step toward the goal of diversifying boardrooms, and plans to work with the Cuomo Administration with the goal of including ethnicity and race in the study due out in February 2022.

In the State of New York, Latinos make up more than 19% of the population, but hold only 2.4% of the board seats in Fortune 1000 companies headquartered in the state:

93 Fortune 1000 companies are headquartered in New York and only 22 of them have Latinos on their boards
These companies have a total of 1028 board seats but Latinos hold only 25 of them—Latinas hold only 8 of these 25 board seats

Board Appointments & News

Universal Display Corporation Announces the Appointment of Cynthia J. Comparin to its Board of Directors.

Congratulations to LCDA member, Jose Armario, on the first-year anniversary of his appointment as Chief Executive Officer of Bojangles’ Inc.

Congratulations to LCDA member, Graciela Monteagudo, on being recognized as one of Women Inc. Magazine's Most Influential Corporate Board Directors.

LCDA in Action

The Latino Corporate Directors Association was in attendance at the KPMG conference this month.

Pictured below: LCDA President & CEO Esther Aguilera, keynote speaker, General Jim Mattis, and LCDA Board Member Patricia Pineda. LCDA Board Secretary Adis Vila is pictured with General Mattis in the bottom photo.

A recent Forbes article made note of LCDA's partnership with TPG on board diversity efforts.

Hispanic Executive Magazine Highlights LCDA Members

Arnoldo Avalos: "Avalos also says that his work with the Latino Corporate Directors Association is imperative for laying the groundwork for tomorrow’s diverse leaders. 'The role of the organization is to strive for more representation on corporate boards,' Avalos says. 'You need representation that brings relevant experience and a voice that’s not usually represented, yet those same people are your consumers.'”

Linda Griego: "She gives high priority to identifying future business and civic leaders and mentoring them, particularly women and minorities who are underrepresented in leadership positions. She says, 'Mentor as many people as you can, and never close the door behind you.' Griego keeps a long list of potential directors for corporate and nonprofit boards and works closely with the Latino Corporate Directors Association."

Aída Álvarez: "'Being on a board of directors, whether it’s for profit or nonprofit, is a privilege,' says Aída Álvarez. 'Whatever board I’m on, I want to help the organization succeed.'"

Agenda Week: N.Y. State Orders Disclosure on Board Gender Mix

Partner Updates

LCDA partner, Hispanic Executive magazine, offers 20% off of their magazine subscription as a benefit to LCDA members. Please use the following discount code to subscribe: LCDA2019

Learn More

Up Next...

The schedule of events below are Exclusive Invitations for LCDA Members, Executive Members, and guests!

March 2020

2020 HACR Latina Empower(her) Summit
March 2-4, 2020
Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village Los Angeles
March 18th: Noon to 7pm - Equilar - NASDAQ Board Leadership Forum
March 23–25: HITEC Spring Leadership Summit in Irving, TX

April 2020

April 23-24: 2020 Women Business Collaborative (WBC) SUMMIT
April 30th: Thirty Percent Coalition Summit in NYC (members only)

About LCDA

The Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA) is the only association made up of US Latinos that serve on publicly-traded and large private company boards, as well as C-level and board-qualified executives. LCDA’s membership includes the most accomplished Latinos at the highest levels of corporate leadership who share our mission to increase the number and influence of Latinos on corporate boards.

LCDA serves as an advocate and resource to corporate boards, search firms, private equity, and institutional investors interested in gaining access to exceptional Latino board talent. Our program areas focus on growing the supply of high-caliber boardroom candidates and providing quality corporate governance programming for experienced and aspiring directors.

LCDA, 1220 L Street NW, Suite 701 / Washington, D.C. 20005

202-838-1048 | www.latinocorporatedirectors.org

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