Calendar Of Events
McGraw Hill Holds Primer Session
09/13/2007
PRIMER Holds Session On How To Increase Hispanic Representation on Fortune 500 Boards, sponsored by PRIMER Membership Vice President Ivy Latimer and The McGraw-Hill Companies in New York.
How far have we come! I remember the days, 2 or 3 years ago, when many members would arrive almost an hour late, just before 7:00 p.m., for our bi-monthly meetings. Although our networking sessions have always been scheduled from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., the first hour was designed to allow as much flexibility as possible before the formal portion of our session would begin. At McGraw-Hill on Thursday, September 13, 2007 many members arrived before 6:00 p.m.; by 6:10 p.m. the majority of the expected participants where present, ready and fully engaged. They must’ve known what was planned for them this evening.
And what an evening it was. About 60 PRIMER members and guests were treated to a VIP reception in the McGraw-Hill building that was memorable for many reasons. From the moment members arrived in the McGraw-Hill lobby they were promptly and warmly greeted, escorted to the appropriate lobby area for security check in and fast tracked to the elevator directly to the 50 th floor. With a spectacular view of downtown Manhattan and its remarkable landscape participants sipped excellent wine, and enjoyed delicious hors d´oeuvres consisting of corn and mushroom salad with cilantro,eggplant en escabeche with Sherry vinegar and roasted poblanos and mixed lettuces with cumin vinaigrette.
For our dinner, we were served broiled shrimp with garlic, olive oil, and lime and roasted breast of chicken with saffron, sweet peppers, and tomato. The scrumptious jasmine rice and red beans with coriander and fresh bay leaves proved to be the perfect companion to the succulent dinner. In jest, one member asked “where is the aguacate ,” and incredibly and before he knew what was happening, a ripe avocado was promptly brought to his table. For a perfect ending to our meal, we were served mango-passion fruit mousse cake with crunchy coconut, seasonal fruits and berries.
Our gratitude goes to Sandra Eaddy at McGraw-Hill for her hard work and for painstakingly planning the event with Ivy Latimer. Thanks also to John Quiñonez, and the entire support staff, for the exemplary service, for welcoming us and being remarkable and extraordinary hosts.
Latinos and Fortune 500 Boards
It wasn’t all about food and wine, however. Charles Garcia kicked off the formal agenda at 7:00 p.m., welcomed all guests, and introduced Ivy Latimer, PRIMER VP of Membership. Ivy graciously welcomed us and then introduced John Quiñonez, Senior Director of Business Week, who offered us words of advice.
The theme for the evening was Latinos and Boards – and the role that PRIMER members can play in this arena. That is, there are many board positions in Corporate America and too few Hispanics who have them. Our own PRIMER member, Charles Garcia, who sits on the Board of Winn Dixie, expertly facilitated the networking session and provided real-life examples of what it takes to join a Fortune 500 Board.
We were honored to have Carlos Orta, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR) as our keynote speaker. Carlos discussed the 2007 HACR Corporate Governance Study. We were delighted that HACR Chairman, Manuel Mirabal, attended the PRIMER session as our guest. HACR is one of the most influential advocacy organizations in the U.S. , represents 14 national Hispanic organizations, and reflects the collective voice of more than 46 million Hispanics. HACR’s four specific focus areas are: employment, procurement, philanthropy, and governance.
A few facts that Carlos shared with us:
- Despite a 331% increase since 1993, Hispanics still comprised only 3.1% of all Fortune 500 Board seats and only 1% of corporate America executive officers.
- At these growth rates, it would take more than 100 years before Hispanics achieve parity.
- In 2006, 13 Hispanics held positions of chair, president and/or CEO of a Fortune 500 company compared to nine Hispanics in the Fortune 501-1,000.
- The number of Hispanics at those top executive positions in the Fortune 1,000 increased from 16 in 2003 to 22 in 2006.
- According to the April 30,
2007 Edition of Fortune Magazine:
- 12 Female CEOs on the Fortune 500
- 12 CEOs on the Fortune 501-1000
- 7 African American CEOs on the Fortune 500
- 3 African American CEOs on the Fortune 501-1000
- 7 Hispanic CEOs on the Fortune 500
- 6 CEOs on the Fortune 501-1000
Despite these low numbers, there’s hope. In fact, there’s more than hope. There’s plan. HACR has developed a robust plan to significantly increase the numbers. To create a strong pipeline of Latino leaders who would be ready to take on some of these Board positions, HACR partnered with the Harvard Business School (HBS) and developed the Executive Education Program on Corporate Development: Leadership in the Boardroom. Together, they launched a comprehensive executive education program on corporate governance. The four-day program aims to increase the effectiveness and presence of Hispanics in the corporate boardrooms. PRIMER members who have graduated from the program include: David Olivencia, Charles Garcia, Edwin Garcia, Raymond Arroyo, and Angel Luis Rodriguez.
Mary E. Medina, Executive Director for the Center
for Trustee Initiatives and Recruitment, from the Greater New York Hospital
Association (GNYHA), followed Carlos’
presentation and provided with us a roadmap to achieve our Board
goals through a unique opportunity to serve in hospital boards.
The GNYHA is a one-of-a-kind trade
association comprising nearly 300 hospitals and continuing care
facilities in
New York
,
New Jersey
, Connecticut
, and
As part of an ongoing effort to improve racial and ethnic diversity in health care management and governance, GNYHA established the Center for Trustee Initiatives and Recruitment, led by Mary. Its mission is to promote racial and ethnic diversity in trustee representation within member facilities to enhance the quality of services delivered to the ethnic and racial diverse populations served by GNYHA´s members.
PRIMER members interested in serving in a hospital board should contact Mary Medina at Medina@GNYHA.org .
Corporate Sponsorships
New York Life Insurance’s Helga Cepeda, who works with our good friend Juan Roberto Job, addressed PRIMER members and guests and gave us a corporate donation by New York Life to help support expenses associated with the website. Altria Corporate Services, Inc., through Armando Mejia, has also expressed interest in supporting PRIMER with a financial contribution. We thank these two important sponsors as these contributions will make PRIMER stronger.
Upcoming Elections
Effective 1/1/2008, the terms of the following roles will end.
(1) President; (2) Secretary; (3) VP of Membership
Members interested in taking on leadership roles may run for these positions. In addition, we´re creating of new Board position of VP of Communications. (We´re amending the by-laws to reflect these changes.) We are putting a process in place where interested members in good standing (i.e., have paid their annual dues) may self-nominate. The process will be neutral, fair and voting would be confidential.
Do not send your name, if you are interested in running, just yet. We will provide you with the name of a third-party election administrator shortly.
October 29 Strategy Meeting
Raymond Arroyo and Daniel
Guadalupe then discussed an upcoming strategy meeting and the
upcoming elections. The October 29 (9am - 1pm) strategy meeting is a separate
event and in addition to the Thursday, November 1 networking
session. It will be held at Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, P.A., 721 Route 202-206,
During the 4 hours attendees will delve into the significant strategic issues that we´re facing as a growing organization. This discussion should help us increase the effectiveness of the organization, develop a robust succession plan process, lay out the path for future growth and map a course to help us hand off operational issues to someone who could do it on the Board´s behalf (whether outsourcing it or hiring an executive director). We will also discuss bylaws, and any necessary changes, funding-related issues, and membership training and development needs.
The members shown below volunteered to attend the 10/29 meeting and work with the Board to address the issues shown above.
- Izzy Maldonado
- Ruben Muniz
- Armando Mejia
- Rose Johnston
- Rene Rodriguez
- Michael Ramos
- Steve Mendez
- Abe Curdumi
Milestones and Achievements
Finally, during the milestones and achievements segment of the agenda, members shared their successes over the last two months. Many of us were pleasantly surprised by the number and significant interactions that are taking place in between sessions that are leading to successful business partnerships.
Raymond Arroyo, President
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