The next step up
Their power rising, Latinos look to make presence felt in the boardroom

Into the mainstream: Electronic Knowledge Interchange Inc. CEO Diego Ferrer wants to see more Hispanic executives playing prominent roles in Chicago's corporate community. Photo: John R. Boehm

May 27, 2002
By John T. Slania

There's a map of the world on a wall of Diego Ferrer's office, and multi-colored stickpins mark the native countries of his 70 employees.

A yellow pin designates Mr. Ferrer's home in Venezuela. Red, yellow and green pins are planted in Argentina, Columbia, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay.

Mr. Ferrer, 42, co-founder and CEO of Electronic Knowledge Interchange Inc., a Chicago-based software and tech consulting company, is proud that 19 fellow Hispanics work alongside other info technology professionals from across the globe.

These employees, college-educated professionals making $50,000 to $100,000 a year, help clients with their computer systems. It is a rarity to see a Hispanic in a prominent IT position, and even rarer to see so many at one company, Mr. Ferrer says.

"We're very proud of that, considering that the stereotype of a Hispanic is someone who works in your yard or cleans your floor," he says.

The stereotype persists, in large part, because there are so few Hispanics in professional positions in Chicago and nationwide. Even fewer are in business leadership positions such as president or CEO, members of corporate boards or part of a business social club.

And this is a point of frustration to the few local Latinos in prominent positions.

"We're essentially nowhere," laments Manuel Sanchez, 53, managing partner in the Chicago law firm Sanchez & Daniels and president of the Cook County Republican Party.

Comparisons are often made with the African-American community, which has made a concerted effort to gain positions of power in the business world.

"While African-American brothers have made great strides in opening corporate boardrooms, Hispanics are behind the curve," Mr. Sanchez says.

Room at the top

A recent study by Chicago United Inc., an organization of top business leaders promoting racial diversity in area corporations, confirms that perception. The survey of 35 of the Chicago area's largest employers quantifies the lack of Hispanics in leadership roles.

Hispanics make up just 2.8% of the respondents' board members, compared with 7.4% African-Americans. The companies — which include Abbott Laboratories, Allstate Corp., McDonald's Corp., Motorola Inc. and United Airlines parent UAL Corp. — have no Hispanic CEOs, with African-Americans holding 3% of the CEO titles. Hispanics represent 2.1% of corporate officers among respondents, while African-Americans account for 4%.

BY THE NUMBERS 26.0% Percentage of Chicago's total population that was Hispanic in 2000

The figures are more striking considering the Chicago-area Hispanic population grew 25% in the past decade, while the African-American and white population remained static, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

"The big-picture message is that 90%-plus of these positions are still held by Caucasians. The other message is that among minorities, African-Americans have done better than Hispanics," says Carolyn Nordstrom, president of Chicago United.

Factors contributing to the lack of Hispanics in leadership positions include language barriers and an absence of social values that promote education and personal savings, says Juan Andrade Jr., president and executive director of the Chicago-based U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute.

"The majority of Latinos are blue-collar or no-collar. We are a working-class community. While we work hard and earn money, we don't bank it — we spend it. We're not building a base of wealth and a middle class," Mr. Andrade says. "Meanwhile, many parents do not place a strong emphasis on education, and there is a 50% dropout rate among high school students. The lack of education is holding us back."

Strength in numbers

Even though the Hispanic population is the fastest growing ethnic group in the nation, according to the Census Bureau, and is gaining more political clout, Latinos won't gain access to the corner offices, boardrooms and business clubs until they climb the social ladder, Mr. Andrade says.

"When corporate America looks for leaders, it's looking for people with affluence and influence. It's going to take time to have both," he says.

Even as Hispanics struggle to improve themselves, they suffer from fragmentation.

The Latino culture represents many different groups — people from Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, South America — so there is a lack of a unified campaign to push for change, says Luis E. Cuevas, president of the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce in Chicago.

"There's no single voice in the Hispanic community, someone who is the equivalent of a Jesse Jackson to African-Americans," says Mr. Cuevas, 52, a vice-president of Bank One Corp. in Chicago.

Helping hands

Carmen Maldonado, 49, president of Chicago-based food manufacturer and distributor La Criolla Foods Inc., uses a culinary analogy: "We are basically alike, but we have our little differences. The Puerto Ricans like red kidney beans, Mexicans like pinto beans and Cubans like black beans."

Despite the challenges, Hispanics in prominent leadership roles are using their influence to affect change.

Arthur Velasquez, president and CEO of Azteca Foods Inc. in Chicago, believes strongly in networking. Having long been a high-profile Mexican-American business owner, Mr. Velasquez, 63, is the member of two corporate boards in Chicago: LaSalle Bank N.A. and Peoples Energy Corp.

But his ascent began with memberships on the boards of charities and foundations, where he rubbed elbows with successful executives. He encourages today's rising Hispanic executives to do the same.

"You crack it by getting involved in non-profit organizations, university boards. You get experience and exposure, and if you do a good job, people ask you to join their organization," Mr. Velasquez says.

Mr. Sanchez has worked to nominate fellow Hispanics to become members of some of Chicago's most prestigious business clubs, such as the Economic Club of Chicago and the Commercial Club of Chicago.

"When I became a member of the Commercial Club in 1995, I was the second Hispanic in 130 years. Now, I can say with great pride that I have nominated three more that have become members. I'd like to see more, but we're making progress," he says.

Some prefer a more grass-roots approach.

Osvaldo Rodriguez, president of Rodriguez & Associates Inc., a Chicago-based civil engineering company, serves as a mentor to seven parochial school students in the Pilsen neighborhood.

Working with a fund set up by Robert E. Gallagher, chairman of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in Itasca, Mr. Rodriguez meets with students and encourages them to stay in school. Their reward for finishing school is tuition reimbursement for each year completed: $1,000 for each elementary school grade and $2,000 for each year of high school.

"It's a great way to drive home the point that you need an education, you need to stay in school if you want to succeed," Mr. Rodriguez says.

Similarly, Mr. Ferrer invites high school interns from the Hispanic community to work at Electronic Knowledge Interchange, where they gain exposure to the information technology industry.

"There's a digital divide in the Hispanic community. A lot of these kids don't even have access to the Internet," Mr. Ferrer explains. "This is one way to help close the divide."

Most Hispanic leaders believe it will be another generation before Latinos make significant inroads into the corporate world.

But as the Hispanic population grows and more young people complete their college education, these leaders believe it's only a matter of time before they become the new captains of American industry.

"Beyond a moral obligation to promote diversity and inclusion, promoting Hispanics makes good business sense," says Gery Chico, 45, chairman of the Chicago law firm Altheimer & Gray and former president of the Chicago School Board.

"You have a growing population with increasing power and economic influence," he says. "The idea is to maximize this spending power. One way to do that is to get this group to the next level as fast as possible."

©2002 by Crain Communications Inc.