Latino Executives in Corporate America

In the 1980s, it was a huge source of pride for Hispanics that the CEO of Coca-Cola was one of their own. When the Cuban-born Roberto Goizueta was promoted to the helm of the world's best-known brand, it was an anomaly that made headlines as much for his ethnicity as for his business acumen.
Most Latino executives up to that point had been ``token Hispanics'' who managed after-thought multicultural divisions with tiny budgets. Although the landscape of U.S. Hispanic CEOs today is still significantly under-representative when compared to Hispanics' percentage of the total population, things are shifting in the right direction.
Hispanics can, and should, take comfort that the momentum is on our side, as companies are investing more heavily in the Latin marketplace, and Latinos are being promoted to the upper echelon of virtually every facet of American life.
The most recent Commerce Secretary under President Bush, Carlos Gutierrez, came to his government post as the former global CEO of Kellogg. Antonio Perez, a Spaniard, is currently chairman and CEO of Eastman Kodak. Less than two years ago, George Chavel was named president and CEO of Sodexo (U.S. operations), a $7.3-billion company with 120,000 employees and 10 million customers. What do all of these appointments have in common? In a way, they are ``post-ethnic.'' These individuals rose to the top due to their unique skill sets, rather than their country of origin.
The political realm is experiencing a similar paradigm shift. A recent example is Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court nominee whose parents hail from Puerto Rico. Hispanics from either political party should appreciate that both the praise and criticism bestowed upon Sotomayor thus far has been relatively fair in nature, delving deeply into her controversial rulings and extensive academic track record. Even her rulings that deal with affirmative action and gender have been largely handled in the mainstream media with respect and deference to her independent intellect, rather than merely a racial stereotype born from her heritage.
The White House is following suit. As pointed out in a June 15 Houston Chronicle article by Richard Dunham, President Obama has appointed many more Hispanics to his administration than any previous president in American history, serving as a testament to the increasing clout of the nation's largest minority group. Latinos make up 11 percent of Obama's first 300 nominees for senior administration positions that require Senate confirmation.
The realm of marketing and outreach to the Hispanic community has also experienced a boom of late.
The previous modus operandi for companies entailed not only token Hispanic executives, but also a token Hispanic marketing strategy, which conducted the bare minimum outreach to appease interest groups. What major companies have now begun to realize is that they can actually make money by aggressively targeting Hispanics.
As U.S. general market ad spending has ground to a halt in the past year, the $4 billion Hispanic ad market continues to show respectable gains. In 2008, spending on Spanish-language TV grew by 4.4 percent, and Spanish-language magazines surged by 14.2 percent, while the U.S. media market as a whole grew by just 0.6 percent, according to TNS Media Intelligence. The top 10 Hispanic advertisers spent $1.94 billion in 2008, including the likes of classic American companies such as Procter & Gamble, McDonald's, AT&T and Johnson & Johnson.
With these trends towards breaking down barriers and charting new courses, it is ideal timing for all companies and people to reconsider their preconceived notions of the Latin marketplace.
There are no longer ``Hispanic products'' any more than there are ``Hispanic executives'' or ``Hispanic politicians.'' There are ways of communicating with the Hispanic market (in-language and with cultural relevance), just like there are good or bad executives who happen to be Hispanic.
We appear to be in the early stages of a trend leading toward a more-equitable business and political climate. Eventually, the number of Hispanics in corporate America, Latino elected officials, and marketing dollars invested toward this community should be in lockstep with the Latino percentage of total population. At that point, we can finally be rid of all the tokens.
Mike Valdés-Fauli is managing director of The Jeffrey Group.