We start this week on a bright note: The Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA) has published its second annual list of the 50 Most Powerful Latina women in corporate life. It’s a who’s who of business heavyweights, with senior executives from Accenture, Bank of America, Citi, Google, HBO, McDonald’s, PwC, Salesforce and Walmart all represented.
Some play a meaningful role in inclusion efforts and beyond. For example, Salesforce’s Chief People Officer Cindy Robbins has been a leader in the firm’s equal pay efforts, and has been instrumental in helping shape a corporate culture that lands the company on the top of coveted lists, like UnHerd’s 100 Best Companies to Work For.
But what’s particularly encouraging about the list is the number of women who are also working outside the diversity realm in operational capacities, like Geisha Williams, the CEO of PG&E and Grace Puma, the executive vice president of global operations at PepsiCo, who manages some $25 billion in procurement spending. Even a back-of-the-envelope look at the trillions of dollars this group of Latina women collectively steward is a remarkable benchmark. Part of the reason is surely the concerted efforts of managers and companies who offered these exceptional women developmental opportunities at key points in their careers. When it comes to making sure your talent pipeline is truly diverse, show people the P&L early and often.
But this list does not reflect the norm for many working Latinas. Latina Equal Pay Day, the day each year when the average income paid to Latina workers catches up to what an average white man earned, fell on November 2 last year. Of all the Equal Pay Days, it was dead last.
Latina women earn roughly 54 cents for every dollar a white man makes, according to data from the non-partisan National Partnership, a persistent gap which puts undue burdens on Latinx families, who often rely on the income of women to make ends meet. Some forty percent of Latina mothers provide over 40% of household income to their families. And as women are becoming a bigger part of the agricultural labor force – now almost 30% and mostly Latina – they’ve also been increasingly subject to assault and harassment. And according to a recent study by the Economic Policy Institute, Latino workers of all genders are most likely to experience wage theft.
So, by all means, bookmark this list and share with your conference organizers, recruiters, book agents and diversity experts. Here’s one data point on why lists like these matter: Three of the women, including Puma, joined a corporate board last year after appearing on the inaugural list, a sign that this kind of exposure helps get talented people into positions of greater influence.
Larga vida a la lista.