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Remarks made by Ingrid M. Duran, President and CEO Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI)Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR) Good morning. I am Ingrid M. Duran, president and CEO of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. As an HACR coalition member, it is fitting for CHCI to stand arm in arm before the nation with HACR. In addition to strongly supporting the 2003-2004 Corporate Governance Study, CHCI shares great synergy with HACR. For 26 years, CHCI has fueled virtually every sector of the American
workforce with quality Latino leaders. Our nationally recognized
congressional internship and public policy fellowship have created a
powerful CHCI Alumni Association, which stands today at more than 800
strong.
And just as 1.97 percent of Fortune 1000 board seats are held by Hispanics, it is important to underline the equally alarming disparity concerning Hispanic women who serve on corporate boards and in corporate executive positions. Today, Hispanic women hold only three tenths of all Fortune 1000 board seats. That is just 34 out of 10,314 seats. The governance study also highlights that only seven Hispanic women serve as executive officers at Fortune 1000 companies. Rather than focus on the negativity of this divide, it is important for corporate America to view these statistics as an opportunity to diversify its institution and to incorporate the views of the nation’s largest minority into its overarching business strategy. We also ask corporate America to adopt a sense of urgency as it engages the Hispanic community, for the nation has entered into a new era of corporate governance. The profile of the ideal board of director has changed, calling for corporations to immediately search for untapped pools of qualified candidates. It is critical that the issue of gender is not overlooked in corporate America’s reexamination of its governance and that Hispanic women are viewed and recognized as viable candidates for Fortune 1000 board seats. And as we hope for an accelerated commitment by corporate America to add more Hispanics to its corporate boardroom, we ask that this commitment is viewed as more than a social responsibility. There should be a clear understanding of the value of diversity, not in the abstract, but as it relates to a company’s business objectives. That diversity become integrated into the Fortune 1000’s DNA, and not part of a public relations campaign. Specifically, this study should be a clear message that Hispanics should be found in corporate boardrooms and not just on marketing materials and websites promoting diversity. Certainly, the issue of Hispanics in corporate America has been a priority of important legislative bodies such as the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Capitol Hill, whose members also sit on CHCI’s board of directors. At the Institute’s 2003 Issues Conference in Washington, DC, CHC Corporate America Task Force Chair, Congressman Joe Baca held the first Conference Summit to address the lack of Hispanic representation in Corporate America. The formal recommendations made by leading authorities on corporate diversity will be included in the byproduct of the annual CHCI Issues Conference, the 2004 Issues Conference Policy Recommendations, which is disseminated to every member of congress. This enables both Hispanic and non-Hispanic members of congress to take a more informed and hands-on role in promoting Hispanic representation at the board level. Today, HACR and its corporate governance study affirms to the nation that Hispanic representation in Corporate America is as important as any issue in the Latino community. The decisions made at the board level affect a wide range of diversity programs addressing Hispanic procurement, business partnering, executive management, general employment, relationship building, economic outreach, government/community relations and philanthropic efforts. All these mentioned, can have an extraordinary impact on the fabric of the U.S. Hispanic population and the economic prosperity and mobility of our community. CHCI commends HACR Chairman Antonio Flores, president and CEO Alfonso E. Martinez, and Senior Director of Research Fletcher P. Grundmann for the extraordinary work put into this widely-regarded study. CHCI looks forward to continuing its unyielding support to HACR’s mission Thank you.
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