National Hispanic Corporate Council Convenes CEO Forum on Diversity

The National Hispanic Corporate Council (NHCC) has announced its upcoming conference and CEO Forum on Diversity, April 7-9, 2009, at the Sprint Nextel Corporate Headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas. The member meeting, April 8-9, 2009, will convene in Kansas City, Missouri, at the corporate headquarters of Hallmark Cards, Inc.

During the CEO forum, "Capturing the Competitive Advantage: The New General Market - The Changing Face of America," the CEOs will share perspectives on the strategic importance of the multicultural market in enhancing brand equity in emerging markets and in developing diverse talent to improve competitiveness in their respective companies. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse will host John Bluford, president and CEO of Truman Medical Center, Don Hall, Jr., president and CEO of Hallmark and William Zollars, president and CEO of YRC Worldwide.

The NHCC member meeting will focus on recruiting, developing and retaining Hispanic talent followed by presentations by executives of nonprofit organizations on the impact of the 2008 election on the Hispanic community and the economic impact on Latino community nonprofit organizations. Dave Hall, president of the Personal Expression Group at Hallmark Cards, Inc., will welcome industry experts followed by the keynote to be delivered by Robert Rodriguez, assistant dean of Kaplan University and author of Latino Talent: Effective Strategies to Recruit, Retain and Develop Hispanic Professionals. Additional corporate diversity recruiting strategies will be presented by a panel comprising Reginald Miller, senior manager of Talent Services, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., and Salvador Mendoza, vice president of Diversity and Inclusion at Hyatt Hotels Corporation. In addition, Christina Estrada, vice president of Human Resources at ARAMARK, Randy Goldberg, vice president of Staffing at Hyatt Hotels Corporation and Eve Lewis, marketing manager, Talent and Organization Capability at Microsoft, will share best-in-class programs in on-boarding and marketing for prospective employees.

Employee retention will be the focus of two panels. Dr. Donna Maria Blancero, senior vice president of Research and Intellectual Development at the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA), Luke McGlynn, HR director of Recruiting and Talent at Hallmark and Wilka Toppins, OVP of Diversity Strategies at Macy's, will share new insights and loyalty strategies to improve diverse employee retention. The second panel of corporate practitioners will showcase how they are leveraging Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to increase retention and provide professional development opportunities for their diverse employees. Participants include Dalia Diaz, service manager, Internal and External Staffing at State Farm Insurance, Gus Viano, director of Inclusion and Diversity at McDonald's Corporation and Kirstin Hadel, manager of Inclusion and Diversity at Sprint Nextel Corporation.

Day two of the conference will cover the impact of the 2008 presidential election on the Latino community with a presentation by Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. He will discuss issues ranging from immigration to health care as they relate to the Hispanic community. A panel comprised of nonprofit executives representing diverse national organizations will elaborate on their value proposition to corporate America. Silvia Perez-Rathell, vice president of Corporate Relations at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Ron Estrada, deputy vice president of the Strategic Communications Group at the National Council of La Raza, Lynn Law, vice president of Corporate Development at the National Urban League and Dr. Donna Maria Blancero, NSHMBA's senior vice president of Research and Intellectual Development, will talk about mutually beneficial strategic alliances and measuring the return on investment of community-based conferences. Jon Munoz, manager of Inclusion and Diversity at Sprint Nextel Corporation, will serve as moderator.

Information on the impact of today's economy on nonprofit organizations will be presented by Tim Delaney, president and CEO of the National Council of Non-profits, an association serving a network of more than 20,000 state and regional nonprofit organizations. Tommy Espinosa, president and CEO of Raza Development Fund, Inc., will further elaborate on the economic impact on Hispanic nonprofits that provide services and opportunities to low-income Latino families. Hallmark and Sprint have invited select nonprofits from the Kansas City area to attend the sessions on day two.

The National Hispanic Corporate Council (www.nhcchq.org) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing its member companies resources on effectively maximizing the diversity of the Hispanic market opportunity through marketing, community relations, human resources and procurement within the foundation of corporate social responsibility.