Business | USHCC Selects Six New Business Leaders
The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) is proud to announce the selection of six new board members who have been appointed from across the country, representing diverse business fields. The new board members are Christine Rice, Jackie Puente, Luis Alcantara, Nelson Reyneri, Raul Salinas, and Victor Arias. The selection was made at the recent 2019 USHCC Legislative Summit in Washington, D.C. In addition, the USHCC announced that Alice Rodriguez, Chair of the Governance Committee, has been selected as Chair-Elect and will start her term in 2020.
“We are beyond impressed with the caliber of these business leaders who have joined our national board,” said USHCC President and CEO Ramiro A. Cavazos. “With the addition of two Latino Fortune 500 Executives and four Latino Small Business owners, we will continue in our role as leaders in areas such as small business development, trade, access to capital, procurement success, and policy influence. We remain steadfast in our goal to foster Hispanic economic development and to create sustainable prosperity for the benefit of American society, and it is my firm belief that together, with the help of these six individuals, we will continue to set policy and provide leadership to advance America’s 4.37 million Hispanic-owned businesses.”
Mr. Cavazos added, “Myself and our board chair, Carmen Castillo, have been very impressed with Alice’s leadership and JPMorgan Chase’s commitment to serving the Hispanic business community and the organization. We admire their firm dedication to Latino-owned businesses, demonstrated through their procurement and access to capital programs. We look forward to the continuity and stability that Alice’s future role will provide to the USHCC for many years to come. I would like to offer special thanks to our current Chair of the board, Carmen Castillo, whose tireless work continues to guide the growth of the USHCC.”
Christine Rice serves as CEO of VisionPRO. VisionPRO delivers workforce solutions globally providing technology consultants to mid-size to Fortune 500 customers. With over 25 years of experience in the human resources, staffing, and technology industries, Rice is also known as a champion for diversity and supporting initiatives for women & minorities in technology. Rice has received numerous awards and recognition for her leadership, excellence in information technology solutions, and innovation.
Jackie Puente is the Executive Director for External Affairs at Comcast Corporation, responsible for national partnerships with diverse stakeholders on policy issues that span media, technology, and telecommunications. Throughout her career, Jackie has served as a translator between public, private, and nonprofit entities, and an advocate to empower communities to leverage media, technology, and digital literacy for economic growth. Prior to joining Comcast, Jackie advised Fortune 100 company clients on a range of technology, telecommunications, tax, and utilities related issues. Jackie has a strong reputation for building coalitions on high profile and complex issues combining her passion for media strategy communications, business development, and regulatory affairs at the state, national, and local levels. Jackie serves as an advisor and board member for many national advocacy and philanthropic organizations including the US Hispanic Leadership Institute, the George Washington University’s Cisneros Hispanic Leadership Institute, as well as the American Association of People with Disabilities Technology Forum.
Luis Alcantara is Group Vice President of Vehicle Production Engineering for Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) located at the Georgetown, Kentucky, Production Engineering Center. He is responsible for new vehicle introductions across Toyota’s North American vehicle assembly plants. Alcantara previously served as vice president, Production Engineering, in Georgetown, and general manager of the Body Weld and Stamping Departments at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana (TMMI). Alcantara joined Toyota in 1991, starting as an engineering specialist, Alcantara rose through the managerial ranks in body engineering, serving as assistant manager, manager, assistant general manager and general manager from 2001 to 2012, when he moved into manufacturing management.
Nelson Reyneri serves as Senior Vice President for Sales and External Affairs for Liberty Power, the largest independently owned and managed retail electricity supplier in the United States, and one of the largest Hispanic owned companies in the United States. In this role, he oversees the company’s strategy for developing structured solutions to support corporations’ energy and sustainability goals. This includes product development for supply and demand side energy strategies, internal and external business analytics, and energy-related thought leadership. Reyneri also has extensive senior leadership experience in the public sector, including serving in various senior management positions as an appointee in the Clinton Administration. In the 2004 election cycle, served as a Senior Advisor to the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and as DNC Director of Hispanic Outreach. Reyneri also serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Utility Diversity Council.
Raul F. Salinas is General Counsel to the USHCC and the Managing Shareholder in the Los Angeles office of AlvaradoSmith, which provides legal services to Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. Salinas assists public and private entities, and international companies that do business in the United States, to implement strategic business initiatives in a wide range of areas including business, employment, health care, government regulatory and international affairs. Salinas has extensive federal and state trial and appellate court experience. Salinas also serves in a general counsel capacity for numerous clients where his guidance extends to boardroom governance matters and regulatory compliance issues. Salinas sits on a number of nonprofit boards, including the Los Angeles Latino Chamber of Commerce, Habitat for Humanity of Greater LA, Adventist Health White Memorial Medical Center, California Women’s Foundation, and La Plaza de Cultura y Artes. At AH White Memorial, he also co-chairs the Center for Hispanic Health, a medical research initiative.
Victor Arias is a managing director in RSR Partners Dallas office and serves as a senior member of its Board Recruiting Practice. He joined from other major firms where he specialized in board recruitment, consumer products, real estate and also was global leader of diversity & inclusion practices. He has served clients in U.S. and Latin America including Mexico. Victor earned his MBA from Stanford University and BBA from University of Texas at El Paso where he was named Distinguished Alum in 2009. He is a trustee emeritus for the Stanford University board of trustees, the current chairman of the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative, and prior member of the Stanford GSB Advisory Council. He serves on the UTEP Development Board and is a past White House Fellows Commissioner. Victor served on the board of Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen (NASDAQ: PLKI) for 15 years until his retirement in 2016. He is also past national president and co-founder of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs, prior member of the Notre Dame Institute of Latino Studies board, and a founding board member of the recently formed Latino Corporate Directors Association, a membership group for Hispanic corporate directors.
Alice Rodriguez is the Head of Community and Business Development and Managing Director of JPMorgan Chase. She is responsible for total deposits and investments of $70 billion and 5,000 people. Alice has over 29 years of extensive banking experience with JPMorgan Chase and its predecessors, starting in her native Texas. Alice holds a BBA in Management from the University of Texas at Brownsville. As part of her commitment to leadership and her community, Alice has served on several boards, including the New America Alliance, Hispanic 100 of Dallas, Downtown Dallas, and the Center for Nonprofit Management.
