National Hispanic Corporate Council Examines Diversity Best Practices, Executive Development and Supplier Diversity at Its Member Meeting

ARLINGTON, Va., April 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Hispanic Corporate Council will hold its spring member meeting in Bloomington, Illinois, April 22-24, 2008, hosted by State Farm Insurance Companies at their corporate headquarters. The Fortune 1000 member executives will confer on topics covering diversity best practices, leadership, community relations metrics and executive development. Supplier diversity will be the topic for NHCC's second Think Tank.

Supplier Diversity Think Tank

NHCC continues its Think Tank series with a pre-conference seminar to be held at Illinois State University, Tuesday, April 22, 2008. This high level discussion, lead by noted experts, is aimed at program managers. Among the panelists, William Strauss, Senior Economist and Economic Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; Hector V. Barreto, Jr., former Administrator, Small Business Administration and Chairman, Latino Coalition; Kurt Albertson, Director Advisory Services Procurement Practice, The Hackett Group; Willie Brown, Executive Vice President, State Farm Insurance; Patricia Richards, Corporate Supplier Diversity, Shell Oil Company; and Greg Scott, Corporate Supplier Diversity, Sprint Nextel Corporation. The group will discuss "Economic Globalization and the Affect on Supplier Diversity in the United States."

"Building Brand Equity through Supplier Diversity and Measuring Supplier Diversity ROI" will be the focus of the second panel comprised of Cristina Benitz, President, Lazos Latinos; Allen Gutierrez, Former COO, USHCC and Board of Director, Latino Coalition; Gladys Lopez Medina, Corporate Supplier Diversity, American Express; and Diego Osuna, Corporate Supplier Diversity, General Mills. Al Barraza and Ray Celaya, Barraza Consulting Group, will facilitate.

Diversity

Dave Gonzales, Senior Vice President, State Farm Insurance Company, opens the conference and Christine Johnson, Ph.D., former President; Community College of Denver, will deliver the keynote speech, addressing the need to develop leaders with cultural sensitivity. Luke Visconti, Partner/Co-founder, DiversityInc. discusses how companies are structuring diversity initiatives to meet the needs of the corporation.

Executive Development and Leadership

Carl Kravetz, Chairman/Chief Strategic Officer, cruz/kravetz:IDEAS will cover the importance of developing one's own "Authentic" leadership style including the four pillars revealed by AHAA's four decades of economic research on Latino identity. A best practice panel on leadership development through ERG's includes Bob Reed, Vice President Diversity & Inclusion, AT&T; Jeffrey Smith, Associate Director Global Diversity, Procter & Gamble; and Luke Visconti.

Juana Bordas, President, Mestiza Leadership International, will share the main characteristics of various Hispanic leadership styles. Bordas will focus on training and developing a work environment encouraging diversity and effective leadership. Fernando A. Mendez, Senior Consultant, Vice President, Personnel Decisions International rounds out the leadership session. Mendez will share findings from data collected on the personal traits and success factors of executive leaders.

Community Relations and School Program

Community Relations measurements and metrics will be shared by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. executives, Jose "Pepe" Estrada, Director Ally Development, Corporate Affairs; Mark Espinoza, Senior Director Hispanic & Asian Markets; and Roger Guzman, Senior Manager, Hispanic Markets. A community school program sponsored by State Farm, will be presented at Illinois Wesleyan University for 120 Bloomington area high school students and teachers. Dr. Samuel Betances of Souder, Betances and Associates, a diversity and executive development expert will address the group.

The National Hispanic Corporate Council www.nhcc-hq.org, is a non-profit 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. If you are interested in attending contact Helen Trinidad at htrinidad@nhcc-hq.org.

CONTACT: Helen Trinidad (703) 850-4338