National Hispanic Corporate Achievers

Ana Duarte McCarthy is the Director of Diversity for the Global Consumer Group of Citigroup, which includes the Travelers Insurance, Citibanking, Consumer Assets, Primerica, e-Consumer, and Cards divisions. She was appointed to this position in June 2000, and reports to SVP and Chief Administrative Officer of Global Consumer Group. Ana is responsible for the development of global diversity strategy for the business organizations supperts.

Ana joined Citibank in 1995, as Vice President and Senior Diversity Specialist within Citibank's Corporate Human Resources office. Before joing Citibank, Ana was Assistant Vice President of Compliance and Diversity Programs for Kidder, Peabody, an investment bank. Prior to Kidder, Ana was Assistant Dean and Director of the Higher Education Opportunity Programs at the New School for Social Research.

Ana has been a speaker and presenter at various conferences, most recently for the Center for the New American Workforce Diversity Roundtable in January 2001. She was also named to Hispanic Business magazine's 2001 Corporate Elite list.

Tessie Lamadrid Black
Colgate-Palmolive

Tessie was hired as a Professional Sales Representative for Colgate in Chicago territory in 1988. After consistently exceeding sales quotas in her territory, she was promoted to Sales Trainer. As a Sales Trainer, she was responsible for crating many of the training programs that are still in existence today. Because she wanted to expand her career opportunities, she transferred to the Canton office in 1994 as an Assistant Product Manager. She leveraged her experience as a Dental Hygienist and Sales Representative to effectively manage our office fluoride business. She was promoted to Product Manager, Toothbrushes and played a lead role in new product launches and optimizing the Professional Toothbrush business. In 1997, she was promoted to Manager, Manager, Dental Hygiene Relations. She was responsible for managing Colgate's relationship with various dental associations in the U.S. and Canada. This is a critical role because it helps to drive both retail and professional sales of Colgate's oral care products. She has recently accepted a new position in Marketing as Senior Product Manager, Oral First Aid and will work on an exciting new products, Orabase Soothe-N-Seal. 

Rene-Sarmiento
Colgate-Palmolive

Rene Sarmiento completed a BS in Mechanical Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology and Joined C-P as a College Recruit in 1992. Rene began his career with CP in MET, supporting the Latin American Division for the roll-out of TPM, a key initiative which contributed to improve productivity, safety performance, and competitiveness. Rene was promoted to Process Engineer - MET Oral Care in 1994, where he was involved in the transition of the Indian Dental Cream business from aluminum to laminate tubes., installing high speed lines in India, to support expansion of their Dental Cream Business. In addition, Rene was involved with the investigation and development of Deep Striping Technolgy for global application.

Rene transferred from MET in 1996, to the US Company as Project Engineer. During his tenure with the US Company, Rene was involved in major manufacturing capacity expansions, including the start-up of the Mennen Quantum Line in Morristown, NJ and the Global Toothbrush Manufacturing Facility in Juncos, Puerto Rico. Rene was promoted to Plant Engineering Manager for C-P Juncos in July 1998 and was involved in the launch of several new toothbrushes including Wave, (Grip'ems, Total PRO, and Navigator).

Gregory J. Gonzalez
Con Edison

Joined Con Edison in 1967 as a technician in Distribution Engineering. The following year he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. where he specialized in aircraft electrical and electronic systems. During his enlistment, he rose to the rank of Sergeant and served a tour in Vietnam. When he was released from active duty, he rejoined Con Edison and was assigned to the Brooklyn Engineering Department.

In 1978, he was promoted to management as a Field Engineering Supervisor, where he was responsible for responsible for performing various electrical tests and inspections on the Distribution System. His subsequent assignment included positions in the Division Control Center, Distribution Reliability and Quality and Electric Construction. He is now assigned to Brooklyn/Queens Technical Services Section where he is responsible for the maintenance and operation of Automatic Overhead Primary Regulating and Switching devices, Power Quality and preventive maintenance on the Distribution system using non-contact technology.

During his employment, he has earned his Associates, Bachelors and Masters degree. He is a certified AEE Power Quality Professional and Level Three Certified Thermographor. In addition, he has completed the Graduate Certificate Programs in Environmental Management and the PTI Distribution System Engineering.

Julio Barrionuevo
Fedex Services Corporation

Julio C. Barrionuevo is the Vice President of Fedex's Latin America and Caribbean Division. In this capacity, Julio is responsible for the business and strategic planning, controlled functions, forecasting, capital budgeting, development and analysis of pricing strategies and tactics, financial analysis of proposed programs, financial and management reporting, operations analysis and financial systems development. 

Julio's experience in the transportation industry spans over 20 years in aviation, highway transportation, global express distribution and logistics, Julio has held key finance Operations and Engineering positions with FedEx, Ryder Systems and Eastern Airlines covering corporate/business planning, corporate finance, acquisitions prospecting and analysis, capital budgeting, management reporting & operations analysis product pricing & analysis, yield management, inventory and fleet optimization, aircraft reliability engineering, production requirements planning, operations coordination and computer modeling and systems development. One of Julio's major responsibilities involves helping Sr Management develop strategies and tactics to ensure the long-term financial success for the Latin American Division.

Julie Lasa
Fedex Services Corporation

Julie Lasa is the managing Director of Operations for Central America and Andean Pact District of FedEx Express.

Julie Lasa began her career with FedEx as a part time service agent in 1985, within 3 months she was promoted to Business Service Centers Manager, and then promoted again in 1993 to Senior Manager of Operations in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. In 1999 she was promoted to Managing Director of Operations for South America.

In her career with FedEx, Julie has received several Corporate Awards, including the Five Star Award in 1995, the Presidents Club Award in 1986 and the Diamond Award also in 1986.

Nelson Gonzalez
GE Capital 

Nelson is an officer of GE Capital Corporation as well as Managing Director and Chief Credit Officer for GE Capital Services Structured Finance Group, Inc.("SFG"). In this capacity, Nelson has responsibility for establishing policies and procedures to be followed in the underwriting of transaction with SFG while overseeing the credit/underwriting function staffed with 85 professionals.

Nelson joined the GE organization in 1976 as a participant in GE's Financial Management Program. Over the past 25 years at GE Capital, Nelson has held a variety of management positions in the finance, credit and marketing functions. He is a graduate of Fordham University. Nelson is married with three children (a freshman in high school, a freshman at Middleberry College in VT, and a sophomore at Williams College in MA). He was born in Havana, Cuba.

Michelle Cervantez
Jaguar Cars - North America

Michelle Cervantez is Vice President of Marketing for Jaguar Cars North America. She is responsible for the marketing activities in North America, and is a member of the senior management team. Cervantez's appointment was efective August 1, 2000.

Cervantez joined Jaguar from Ford Motor company where she most recently held the position of Trustmark Marketing manager and was responsible for managing Ford Motor Company's (Trustmark) corporate advertising and events, advertising agency management as well as Ford Motor Media. Previous to this position, Cervantez was the Corporate Advertising Manager for Ford Motor Company.

Cervantez joined Ford Motor Company in 1988 as a Customer Relations Representative in the Ford Customer Service Division's Washington, D.C. region. She was Zone Manager in Boston and Dallas until December, 1992, when she became Group Leader-Supervisor, Ford Customer Assistance Center. She then joined Export Operations in 1994 as Asia Pacific Product Planner and moved to the Lincoln Mercury division as a Mercury Marketing Communication Specialist in 1995. In 1997, Cervantez became the Lincoln LS Brand Development Manager. 

Nelida Rios
JP Morgan Chase

Nelida Rios began her career with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. 21 years ago as a typist in the Commercial Paper Group. Over the years, she has worked in various departments and in different roles including Administrator of the firm's Matching Gift Program, Administrative Assistant to the Mid-office Applications Delivery Manager, and Lead Assistant to the head of the Global Credit Division. Nelly is presently the Lead Assistant to the head of Human Resources at JPMorgan Chase Christiana Center in Delaware.

Nelly received an Associates Degree in Secretarial Science with a concentration in Executive Bilingual from LaGuardia/Cuny College. She is a member of the International Association of Administrative Professionals and is a co-leader of the Adelante employee network  in Delaware. 

Adelante-DE encompasses more than 30 JPMorgan Chase professionals whose main purpose is to provide employees of Hispanic descent opportunities to network, promote, and develop professional opportunities and manage work/life balance, while supporting JPMorgan Chase's diversity efforts and objectives.

Marcos Rivero
JP Morgan Chase

Marcos Rivero joined J.P.Morgan Chase & Co. in September 1981. During his career, he has workied in a variety of departments and products, including Mortgage Backed Securities, SWAPS, Global Custody, and American Depository Receipts (ADR). Marcos is currently an Associate in the ADR Division, where he has worked for the past eight years. His responsibilities in the division include client relationships with various Latin American, Spanish, and Portuguese ADR clients. 

Marcos is a co-leader of the Adleante employee network in Delaware. Adelante-DE encompasses more than 30 JPMorgan Chase professionals whose main purpose is to provide employees of Hispanic decent opportunities to network, promote, and develop professional opportunities and manage work/life balance, while supporting JPMorgan Chase's diversity efforts and objectives. One of Marcos' goals for this year is to provide the group with the opportunity to meet Hispanic achievers in the Wilmington, Delaware area from both the corporate and government sectors.

Larry Torres
KeySpan

Larry Torres is Manager of KeySpan Energy Delivery's Construction Area in New York City. KeySpan Energy Delivery is a subsidiary of KeySpan Energy, a holding company that was created in 1998 when Brooklyn Union merged with the Long Island Lighting Company. Larry is responsible for all capital construction and maintenance activities resulting from public improvement projects and new customer load additions in the Borough of Queens. Since joining Brooklyn Union in 1990 as a Management Trainee, Larry has served in positions of ever-increasing responsibilities with the Gas Engineering and Distribution Operations areas. Larry graduated cum laude from Polytechnic University in Brooklyn in 1990 and obtained his MBA in Finance from New York University's Stern School of Business in 1995. Larry is also a New York State Licensed Professional Engineer. He lives with his wife Flor in Queens, New York. 

Hector Hinojosa
MetLife

Hector grew up in South Texas in an economically disadvantaged community. Hector attended college by using grants, loans and working full time. 

Hector has a long history of helping others, as he has worked for the Economic Development Center and the Texas Department of Human Services in South Texas.

Hector began his financial services career as A Financial Services Representative in 1993 and promoted to Regional Sales Manager with MetLife Resources in 1996. Some of his accomplishments include Rookie of the Year and six-time conference qualifier.

Hector has been a positive role model for his representatives and his community. He has always devoted some of his time to working closely with the Hispanic community in the public schools in Dallas. He has been both a speaker and supporter of many of the programs to help teachers and minority at-risk kids in the school district.

Dr. Marta M. Andino
Pfizer, Inc.

Dr. Marta M. Andino joined Pfizer Global Research and Development (PGRD) 14 1/2 years ago. She began her Pfizer career as an Analytical Scientist in what is now known as the Pharmaceutical Sciences Department. After years of experience as a professor at the University of Florida, an Analytical Chemist and promotions within PGRD, this Puerto Rico native and mother of two is now the Director of Exploratory Analytical Research and Development (AR&D). In this role Marta's group provides expertise in analytical chemistry and separations science with deliverables designed both to ensure scientific excellence and to ensure detailed review by regulatory agencies. This is accomplished by bridging the research-regulatory development gap through excellence in analytical science.

Conversely, Dr Andino is also responsible for managing external laboratories that conduct analytical research for the Groton Laboratories. In this role Marta is required to leverage economies of scale with PGRD as well as externally, it is in this capacity the Dr. Andino exemplifies our value knowing that being a successful company means working together internally and partnering successfully externally.

Louis A. Prado
Pfizer, Inc.

Born in the Bronx NY of Puerto Rican parents, Louis worked hard to accomplish his professional goals. From his years of selling newspapers in the Bronx to today's responsibilities as the General Manager of one of Pfizer's largest pharmaceutical facilities, Louis has demonstrated his work ethic and genuine commitment to Pfizer values.

Louis began his career as a Process Engineer in Barcelona, Puerto Rico right out of school in 1976. He has held the positions of Process Engineer, Process Manager, Sr. Process Manager, Organic Synthesis Department Manager, Director of Pharmaceutical Operations, Plant Manager and in 1999 became the first Puerto Rican General Manager of the Pfizer Barceloneta Manufacturing Facility.

Louis is regarded by all personnel as "one of their own", as they saw him advance through the ranks to hold the top leadership position. He maintains his strong communication ties with both operators and management. His open-door policy has become and example of the Pfizer values where all employees are treated equally and, more so, feel comfortable walking into his office to talk to him. He lives the values by example and conviction. All his activities and professional interactions are held within the context of the Pfizer Values and he has been instrumental for the plant's personnel to learn to accept and live those values.

Victor Franco
Philip Morris

While Victor was born in Mexico, he grew up in Compton, California. Since the age of seven, he attended local public schools, graduating from Compton College. He attended UCLA and received his Degree from California State University, Los Angeles. Mr. Franco also holds and adult education certificate from USC.

Victor Franco's professional experience includes being Public Information Officer for the East Los Angeles regional Center, an agency serving the developmentally disabled. He then accepted a position with the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee as Manager of Protocol and was responsible for coordinating the overall itineraries for visiting dignitaries, delegations, and  members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and National Committee (NOC).

Mr. Franco currently holds the position of Community Affairs Manager for the Miller Brewing Company in Irwindale (Los Angeles County), California. His responsibilities include brewery spokesperson and community/corporate affairs issues and programs for the brewery in southern California. In addition, Mr. Franco administers the corporate sponsorship program for non-profit community service agencies and oversees and directs the contributions program for Miller Brewing Company for the Irwindale facility. 

Rafael M. Garcia
Philip Morris

Rafael M. Garcia was appointed Senior Manager, Eternal Affairs, for Philip Morris Management Corp. in January 2001. he is responsible for directing, the company's national outreach to the Hispanic American and American Indian communities, Humanitarian Aid Worldwide, and a number of proprietary programs in the overall External Affairs portfolio.

Mr. Garcia has more than 20 years experience in the consumer packaged goods industry. He began his tenure at Philip Morris as manager of External Affairs in December 1999. Prior to that, Rafael was supervisor of Corporate Relations for Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1996 to 1999. The preceding 7 years, Mr. Garcia held several positions of increasing responsibility with RJ Reynolds in the Pacific Northwest. From 1978 to 1998, he served in various capacities in the grocery supermarket industry in Northern California.

Alejandro Aguilar
TIAA-CREF

Alejandro H. Aguilar is a Director of Portfolio Management in the fixed income division at Teachers Insurance Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF), TIAA-CREF is a leading, national, provider of financial services and is the premier pension system for people employed in education and research in the U.S. Its nationwide, portable pension system is the largest in the world, based on assets under management of $262 billion (as of 2/28/01). The system serves over two million participants and 10,000 institutions.

Alejandro is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley where he earned a Bachelors of Arts in Economics in 1990. Alejandro also attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor where he obtained a Masters in Business Administration with emphasis in Finance in 1994. He received the Chartered Financial Analyst Designation in 1997. 

Alejandro join TIAA-CREF's fixed-income securities division in 1994. Since then, Alejandro has been responsible for investing and managing variety of fixed-income securities within the structured finance sector. Currently, he manages the mortgage-, asset-backed and commercial mortgage-backed portion of five total-rate-of-return funds, which total approximately $6 billion in market value. Alejandro's expertise in these sectors significantly contributed to the funds' out-performance last year.

Throughout his career at TIAA-CREF, Alejandro has excelled and exceeded numerous corporate goals. He continually strives to explore new and creative methods to help TIAA-CREF's annuitants realize above-average returns.

Maria D. Cruz
Verizon Corporation

Maria D. Cruz is currently, Director of Supplier Diversity for Verizon Communications. In that capacity, she plays a significant role in ensuring inclusion of women and minority owned businesses in Verizon's supply chain.

Maria has been an employee of Verizon for 22 years. She has worked in various organizations and has always been a role model for other Hispanics as well as a champion for diversity.

In her last assignment as a diversity consultant, she developed and helped implement a corporate-wide mentoring program designed as a vehicle for workforce development, especially for women and minorities.

For the past nine years, Maria has been visible leader in the Hispanic Support Organization (HSO) of Verizon, an employee resource group. She was a founding member and past Vice President of the organization and helped set the Vision and goals in a newly merged national HSO. She has always been involved in community work, especially in the Hispanic community.

Amelia M. Rowe
Verizon Corporation

Amelia Rowe accepted the position - manager operations performance in April 2000. She is responsible for developing mechanization tools to improve and minimize manual work; identifying and minimizing financial risk to Verizon on Wholesale Metrics and changing performance metrics behavior on unfavorable results for operations performance. She serves as a resource in various business and community organizations promoting Verizon and providing mentoring to high school students in the Dallas area.

Rowe began her GTE career in 1978, and she has served in positions of increasing responsibility in marketing, business planning, operations and finance. Rowe joined GTE Southwest in 1978 as a confidential administrative clerk and held several accounting positions until 1995 when she accepted the position of financial analyst. In 1996 she became an administrator in marketing. The following year, she was promoted to staff administrator in demand analysis and forecasting.

She was promoted to staff manager-retail markets in 1998. In April 200, she was promoted - manager - operations performance - Wholesale Markets. Rowe has served as a mentor for the YWCA. She is member of the Dallas Concilo and serves as a Vice Chair for Hispanics for Excellence.

Rowe earned a bachelor's degree in business management from Le Tourneau University and is currently pursuing a master's degree from the University of Dallas.