National Hispanic Corporate Achievers

Shandy Arroyo works for National Grid, an international electric and gas company in the Leadership, Talent & Change Management department where she is responsible for providing development opportunities for National Grid’s leaders, globally.

Shandy is on the board of National Grid’s HPA (Hispanic Professional Association) and holds the role of co-chair of the organization. She is committed to providing opportunities for Latino/Hispanic employees to contribute to their own personal development and advancement at National Grid. She believes in National Grid’s commitment to being stewards in the communities we serve by creating opportunities for employees to be involved in community events and activities.

Ms. Arroyo joined National Grid in March, 2009. She has previous experience at Cablevision, Bed Bath & Beyond and Marsh USA, Inc, an insurance services firm. She has held positions in employee development for those companies as well as in various Human Resources positions. In addition, Ms. Arroyo was an adjunct professor at New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury, New York in their School of Education.

Ms. Arroyo graduated from Queens College – City University of New York with a BS in Psychology in 1999. She received her MS in Instructional Technology from New York Institute of Technology in 2005.

She is supported and loved by her husband of over 10 years, Jose, and her two sons, Jose (6 years old) and Alejandro (3 years old). They reside in Levittown, New York.

Mario joined the Hill’s team in 2006 as a Sr. Product Manager in the US Consumer Marketing Group. Under his leadership, Science Diet Light implemented a comprehensive IMC Plan encompassing T.V. advertising, PR, Event Marketing, Mystery Shopper, and a new repositioned PetFit.com which resulted in significant volume growth as well as and 2.4 pp increase in market share. In 2007, during his time as Sr. Product Manager for Indoor Cat, he led the brand to its highest market share in the category.

In 2008, Mario was responsible for managing the successful turn around of Nature's Best. A new Go-To-Market developed by Mario's team resulted in a 48% increase in monthly sales. Weekly consumption at PETsMART and PETC experienced a 78% and 44% lift respectively Vs previous average weekly consumptions. Nature's Best consumer awareness went to 72%, an increase of +11 ppts Vs. 2Q '08. In 2008, Mario was recognized with the 2007-2008 Outstanding Marketing Award for best use of consumer insights.

Mario has over 17 years of marketing experience in domestic and international brand management. Previous experience includes International Marketing Manager at Farmland Foods, Cat Food marketing at Nestle, Sr. Marketing Manager at Royal Dutch Shell and Sr. Brand Manager at Sara Lee Foods.

In late 2008, Mario was promoted to Associate Marketing Director, Hill’s Science Diet Vet Channel. In this critical role, Mario provided strategic leadership and managed Hill’s Science Diet Brand in the Vet Channel. Key responsibilities included developing and implementing strategies that will drive wellness category growth and grow market share as well as professional endorsement for the brand.

In early 2010, Mario was promoted to Director, Science Diet Canine. In this role, Mario is responsible for developing and leading the Science Diet Canine brands. Mario drives this success through excellent leadership of his team and an in-depth understanding of the category.

Mario is a great coach and developer of early-in-career marketing professionals. He understands the brand marketing career path and the requisite competencies marketing leaders need to excel in their roles. Mario willingly makes time to coach his team members and colleagues on a wide variety of topics.

Jose Campos joined Pfizer in 2000 as Environmental Compliance Manager at the Arecibo site in Puerto Rico. In 2001, he was appointed Director of Pharmaceutical Operations, then in 2004, he became RFT Director/Leader for the Arecibo operations. In 2006, he served as Six Sigma Leader/Master Black Belt for the Puerto Rico/Latin America region, and in 2007, his Six Sigma Leader/Master Black Belt role was expanded to include the Puerto Rico manufacturing sites operations as RFT Director/Team Leader.

In 2009, his was appointed Director/Team Leader, Established Products Operating Unit, Operational Excellence – RFT. In 2010, his roles was expanded to include the Network Performance responsibilities.

Jose joined the Americas Logistics and Supply Operations (ALSO) organization in December 2010, as Director, Supply Chain Excellence. In July 2011, his role expanded and he was appointed Sr. Director, Supply Chain Excellence, responsible for Operations Solution projects implementation, Market Transformation, Training & Communication, Operational Excellence, Transportation Management, Security, EHS, and SAP Deployment.

Prior to joining Pfizer, he held various positions, including Business Unit Manager, Operations Manager, Lean Manufacturing Site Leader, Production Section Manager and Production Superintendent with Johnson and Johnson Consumer, Ethicon Johnson & Johnson and Abbott Chemicals, Inc.

Jose holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico and an M.B.A. in Management from the University of Phoenix. He is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt and Master Black Belt.

Born and raised in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, Ilia is the oldest of three sisters. With the support of her parents, who always instilled the value of education, Ilia moved to Massachusetts to pursue her graduate degree in Accounting. From afar, she provided a role model to her younger siblings, whom also earned Accounting degrees.

Ms. Castellano joined MetLife in 2004 as Regional Controller for Latin America, being responsible for the oversight of the controllership functions in the region. She is currently a Vice President in the Financial Operations, Accounting, Controllers & Tax Team responsible for the oversight and consolidation of the financial reporting activities of MetLife’s non-US operations.

Prior to joining MetLife, she held financial and operational roles in the life and property-casualty insurance industries. Ms. Castellano began her financial career with Price Waterhouse in Hartford, CT. A certified public accountant, she received a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from the University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez and a Masters in Accounting from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst.

Ilia resides in Pennington, New Jersey with her husband. Her parents and sisters, now successful business owners, continue to reside in Puerto Rico.

Francisco Galindo has been a Manager in the Global Information Technology (GIT) Americas Shared Service Organization - Finance since 2006, and was promoted to Senior Manager in 2010. Currently Francisco is managing projects in a number of key areas for the America’s: Financial Planning Applications including Cost Planning, and the next generation of Commercial Planning Tools using the latest SAP technologies. He just recently led the first in the world implementation at Hills of the SAP Controlling/Profitability Reporting Accelerator which significantly improves reporting and transaction processing for key P&L/Brand profitability information.

Francisco was also the IT lead for a major global business renewal in the Operations Finance area. He is viewed as a key IT partner to the business. Several years ago he participated in a six month short term assignment with Global Business Services helping to define the standard Finance processes that are now in place in the European Business Services Center in Warsaw Poland. During this time Francisco also received his MBA in Global Management. He also participated in the CP Leadership Challenge, and is an active member of the Morristown chapter of Toastmasters. In addition, he is the Co Lead for Professional Development in the Morristown Hispanic Action Network.

Francisco consistently receives high recognition for his Managing with Respect principles. He goes out of his way to coach his direct reports and new employees. His global teamwork has been demonstrated over the years through his participation in many global initiatives outside of his area of responsibility. His strong desire for personal continuous improvement has been evident by his eagerness to take on new assignments and his completion of his MBA during very intense workloads.

I have been in the Pharmaceutical industry for 35 years. A career that spans three companies; Parke-Davis, Warnerl-Lambert and Pfizer. My career began in 1977 as a sales representatitive in Sarasota Florida. Over the next 14 years I held positions in the US of increasing responsibilities including Sales Manager, Sales Trainer and Sales Training Director. A move to the international division in 1991 resulted in positions in Marketing Planning and Product Management.

In 1999 I was relocated to Japan to launch Lipitor at which time I joinded Pfizer following the merger with WL. I remained in Japan until 2006 during which time my responsibilities increased from leading the Lipitor team to leading the entire marketing department across all therapeutic groups. From 2006-2009 I was asigned as the Regional CV Marketing Director for the Asian Region based in HK. A position responsable for 15 countries in Asia. Currently I am the Senior OBU Regional Marketing Director for the JACK countries. A position I have held since November 2009. I hold an Electrical Engineering Degree from The University of Puerto Rico and an MBA from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

I have been married for 37 years and have three children, two boys and a girl. Native of Cuba.

Dr. Yajaira Sierra-Sastre is a materials scientist, educator, and social entrepreneur with ten years of research experience in academic, federal, and private institutions. Yajaira received her BS degree in chemistry and teacher’s certification from the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez. After college she returned to her hometown Arroyo and taught chemistry at her former high school. At the end of the academic year, Yajaira was awarded a summer research fellowship for teachers at Stanford University. There she discovered her passion for nanotechnology and returned home to work at the NASA Research Center for Advanced Nanoscale Materials at the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras, where she investigated materials for space applications. After gaining valuable research experience, Yajaira decided to pursue graduate studies at Cornell University and obtained a PhD in nanomaterials chemistry in 2009. As part of her doctoral thesis, Dr. Sierra- Sastre worked as a researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Upon graduation, she joined a nanotechnology start-up company where she developed coating processes for multinational clients in the military, environment, medical diagnostics, and textile sectors.

Yajaira is currently an independent educator engaging students from disadvantaged school districts and communities in Puerto Rico in professional activities for the advancement of science. She also collaborates in a variety of projects with the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network and the Cornell Nanoscale Facility, including the smallest national anthem ever written ‘La Borinqueña más pequeña’. Dr. Sierra-Sastre is one of six people with astronaut qualities selected recently to participate in a NASA funded, four-month long Mars analog mission and food study. The Hawai’i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) will test new forms of food and food preparation strategies for deep space travel. Her work in nanotechnology, educational outreach, and her aspirations to become the first Puerto Rican female astronaut have been recently featured in televised, radio, and news media. Her interests also include suborbital materials research and technology commercialization in Latin America and Puerto Rico. In her spare time, Yajaira enjoys Latin dance, theatre, outdoor activities, and international cuisine.

Hernan Valdez was born in Peru, where he completed his medical training at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. He came to the US in 1991 to complete Internal Medicine residency training at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI. He subsequently completed his sub-specialization in Infectious Diseases at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. He remained as faulty there from 1996 until 2003. His main area of research was immunopathogenesis of HIV infection under the supervision of Dr. Michael M Lederman. During his tenure at Case he authored more than 60 peer-reviewed papers and received the John T Carey Young Investigator Award from the AIDS Clinical Trials Group. In 2003, he joined Boehringer-Ingelheim, where he developed an HIV antiretroviral medication. In 2007 he joined the Maraviroc team at Pfizer and from 2009 to 2011 he led the Pfizer end of the Pfizer/GSK joint venture for HIV drug development.

Since July 2011 he has been the Medical Development Group Team Lead for tofacitinib in the Psoriasis indication. Dr Valdez enjoys traveling, movies and reading Latin-American and Spanish authors.

Ramon Vega is a Senior Director for Emerging Markets (EM) and Established Products (EP) Business Technology. He has been with Pfizer for 13 years and 19 years total in the Pharma industry. Currently he is the Regional BT Lead for EM Latin America and EP North America, supporting all commercial operations for the Pharma businesses in the region. Previously in Emerging Markets BT, he was the Client Partner for Commercial Effectiveness, now known as Business Operations. This area developed strategies for enhancing our customer relations across the spectrum of customers in EM. Previously, as Senior Director for WPO Europe BT, Ramon led a team of senior colleagues in the delivery of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions for integrating the customer- centric Sales, Marketing, and Medical programs in Europe and Canada in support of the ACE initiatives. These programs improved customer services, achieved operational efficiencies, and maximized Pfizer’s engagement with key customers and external stakeholders. Ramon also led the One CRM initiative, a global program looking to enable the integration of CRM work throughout Pfizer in the R&D, Medical and Commercial organizations.

Previously, in support of the Pfizer US Pharmaceuticals Consumer Marketing, Ramon led a team that defined a multi-year technology strategy for the development and deployment of CRM capabilities in support of direct to consumer activities. These CRM capabilities were deployed to more than 15 major brands in the US, achieving a total of approximately 8 million consumers in the database to date. Ramon has also supported the Sales and Marketing processes for management of promotional speaker programs and their integration with Sales Force support, financial management and regulatory compliance. Ramon completed a BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico and graduate studies in Computer Science from Brown University.

Robert and his wife Lisette have been married for 20 years, and are the proud parents of three handsome boys, Sean 20, Robert, 12 and Ethan 5. Robert has worked at FedEx for 21 years, beginning his career as a cargo handler in NYC. He was promoted to a courier and always aspired to rise higher in the corporation. On September 1999, Robert was promoted to manager, and in that position has been recognized with many prestigious company awards for quality and leadership. In his more than 12 years in as a manager, Robert has proven to be an excellent leader, which is evident in his employees' performance and productivity. He continues to receive high marks on his employee survey scores, which demonstrate how much his employees value his management skills.

Outside of FedEx, Robert started coaching children's basketball and baseball 15 years ago, in the Lower East side of NYC. He also enjoyed helping coach Little League, where he devoted his time to less fortunate kids. Additionally, Robert and Lisette support the "WE CARE 4 ALL FOUNDATION" - A DANCE FOR A CURE benefit that raises money each year for AUTISM SPEAKS and BREAST CANCER AWARENESS.