In 1986, Ramon De Leon started with Dominos Pizza in Chicago as a pizza delivery driver.
Twenty Three years later Ramon is the Operating partner of a six store Domino’s Pizza Franchise in Chicago. His career has also given him the opportunity to work in Mexico as a Business Development Consultant for Domino’s Pizza ’93-‘97. Extreme Passion and High Energy are words that best describe his love for the pizza business.
Ramon has been using Social Media for his business since before the word existed. AOL Instant messenger was his micro-blog long before Twitter was invented. When Facebook was closed to the general public, Ramon connected with customers in photos and groups.
His Social Media strategies were recently highlighted at Gravity Summit Harvard and streamed Live on CNN.COM. Domino’s Pizza Franchisees around the world seek his Social Media advice. Ramon’s creative uses of Social Media and enthusiasm have made him a sought after speaker.
Liliana Gil
A consummate young executive, thought leader and rising star, Liliana Gil has been recognized for her passion and leadership in support of diversity, women in business and her deep understanding of the dynamic and fast growing Multicultural and Hispanic markets in the U.S. Gil’s solid career with Johnson & Johnson as the Director of Worldwide Marketing Services has provided her with a platform to influence the marketplace in the creation of innovative strategic relationships with agencies, brands, the community and corporations alike.
As a managing partner of Acento Group, Lili has recently taken a senior role to lead the creation and of a Marketing conglomerate called the XL Alliance. Joining other well known Marketing experts like Armando Martin, Enrique Arbelaez, Manny Fields, Mark Robinson and Monica Torres, the Alliance is a unique agency created “by former clients for clients.” It provides specialty services in retail-shopper marketing, healthcare and digital and new media. With a business model founded on principles of synergy and best-of-breed talent, the XL Alliance includes members such as Acento Group- experts in digital and new media, XL Edge for retail and XL Healthcare. Clients include various Fortune 500 clients, retailers and organizations like the Latin Recording Academy, the Latin GRAMMY®s, MISSION Skincare, Serena Williams, among others– which are launching non-traditional platforms to better reach the fastest growing market segment in the U.S: the Multicultural consumer.
Prior to her entrepreneurial accomplishments, her impressive track record includes the creation of “Proyecto MAS,” (J&J’s corporate wide Multicultural Marketing initiative) and the development of the corporation’s first Multicultural Strategy for the Pharmaceutical Group “MMX- Multicultural Marketing Excellence”. Brands that Gil has directly influenced include: Topamax, Levaquin, Tylenol, Lactaid, Splenda, Aveeno, Johnson’s Baby, among others. Gil has also collaborated with colleagues and powerful brands such as FOX Home Entertainment, Univision, Telemundo, among others.
Despite her professional success, it is Gil’s contributions to the community and the industry that provide her the greatest satisfaction. Her legacy lies in founding and supporting groups such as MAHO Designs (Makers of Hope) a foundation which helps artisans in vulnerable areas of Colombia; and HOLA, the Hispanic Organization for Leadership & Achievement, a mentoring and social responsibility arm of J&J now with over 1,500 members.
Gil is a recognized speaker, inspirational mentor to many and industry contributor who has been featured in countless publications, magazines and industry events. She has also contributed to diversity studies with the Harvard Business Review as part of a private sector task force entitled, “The Hidden Brain Drain: Women and Minorities as Unrealized Assets.”
Prior to J&J, she held various positions at Huguley Healthcare Systems and Walt Disney World’s Celebration Health. Originally from Colombia, and bilingual, Lili holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Finance from Southwestern Adventist University. She has also completed foreign studies at Deakin University in Melbourne Australia, post-graduate studies at Rollins College (Crummer Graduate School of Business) and holds an MBA from the University of Colorado.
ALI T. CURI
HPNG
Ali Curi is founder and president of the Hispanic Professionals Networking Group (HPNG), a premier organization dedicated to the education and advancement of Latino business leaders and professionals in New York and Miami. Mr. Curi brings a diverse range of experience and management skills to his role at
HPNG. With an extensive background as a conference and event producer, Mr. Curi’s leadership produced the much-acclaimed HPNG Latino Leadership Conference this year at the Yale Club of New York. Prior to founding the organization, he shaped all event and fundraising efforts for the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. Previously, as a producer at the Strategic Research Institute (SRI), Mr. Curi was responsible for producing conferences that identified growing and maturing markets, both domestically and abroad.
His career also includes working with event and strategic marketing efforts for Philip Morris USA. Among those efforts were Marlboro Bar Nights, Marlboro Ranch, Marlboro Unlimited Magazine and the new product development and launch of Marlboro Milds. Upon first arriving in New York, H.I.T.N. television gave Mr. Curi the opportunity to produce and host a live, interactive Spanish-language television program, Mundo Digital. Mr. Curi attended San Antonio College and received his B.A. in Marketing from St. Edward’s University in Austin. A native of Texas, Mr. Curi currently resides in New York City.
Enrique Arbalaez
Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Acento Group
Starting with a solid career in major corporations such as NovoNordisk and as part of Johnson & Johnson’s Leadership Development Program, Enrique’s career has been built on a strong foundation of leadership, project management and strategic thinking.
His strong desire to be independent and become a creative entrepreneur brought him to become one of the founders and managing partners of Acento Group. The convergence of a structured project management and corporate mindset tied into the desire to create opportunities for emerging and diverse talent became the catalyst for this venture. Today, his company has become one of the few U.S based Marketing and digital entities enabled by a powerful network of over 100 creative professionals in Latin America.
Through this working model, clients gain immediate access to what he calls “the best of both worlds”: solid strategic-thinking + best-in-class-execution that is innovative and cost-effective. In addition his connection and partnership with various Hispanic and Multicultural Marketing experts and agencies has provided Acento Group an “edge” in the market by bringing cutting edge digital innovation and relevant cultural sensibility to clients seeking to connect with these consumer segments.
Prior to Acento Group, Enrique’s experience included the management of global IT Outsourcing teams in partnership with major onshore and offshore developers, such as IBM, Capgemini, HCL, Kanbay and TCS in Asia and Latin America.
He has contributed to the development of marketing and digital strategy for major companies and brands such as Kroger, Serena Williams, Mission Skincare, 13th Street Entertainment, Ethicon, among others.
Enrique has a B.S. in Marketing and Philosophy from Rutgers Business School and completed foreign studies in Florence, Italy.
Natalie Boden
Founder/President, BodenPR
Prior to launching BodenPR, Ms. Boden led several multidisciplinary and multicultural campaigns at global firm Burson-Marsteller. As Account Leader for clients such as Club Med, DHL and Citibank, Ms. Boden was responsible for regional bilingual communications strategies in the U.S. and abroad, including public affairs, community relations and U.S Hispanic media relations.
Ms. Boden holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature from Florida International University, studied Modern European Studies at the University of London and received a Degree in French Language from La Sorbonne, Paris. Born and raised in Honduras, Ms. Boden holds a dual Dutch-Honduran nationality. She is fluent in English, Spanish and French and lives with her husband and two children in Miami, FL.
Lancio “Lance” Antonio Rios
Being Latino on Facebook
Lance was born and raised in the west side of Cleveland, Ohio to a Puerto Rican father and first generation Puerto Rican mother. After graduating from Ohio’s Bowling Green State University with a bachelor’s degree in Education, Lance moved to the South Bronx in New York in 2006 at the age of 22 to pursue his passion for media and immerse himself in the diverse Latino communities of New York City. Having worked in sales and marketing for Warner Music Group, MTV Tr3s, current employer, V-Me and being a co-founder of Latino BIGS, a division of “Big Brothers, Big Sisters” that serves the unique needs of urban Latino youth in the Bronx, Lance has developed an intense desire to give a new voice to the growing, evolving and multi-faceted Latino identity. Recognizing an opportunity to unite the efforts of his peers and provide resources and education to an untapped audience, Lance leveraged the power of social networking to create the Facebook phenomenon Being Latino. Since launching in May 2009, Being Latino quickly amassed over 18,000 fans in its first two months alone with a growth trajectory that is catching the attention of several media outlets and personalities. Lance’s vision is to see Being Latino grow into a multimedia company that empowers and unites Latino communities everywhere to embrace their collective potential and achieve greatness.
New media director NCLR
Kety Esquivel has over ten years of experience in the non-profit, private and political sectors. She directed Latino outreach for the Clark Presidential Campaign. Her work has taken her to China; and Ethiopia with UNECA. She spent three years coaching executives on human capital and diversity in the US, Canada and Latin America. Esquivel graduated from Cornell University where she served on the Board of Trustees. She is a published author and the founder of www.CrossLeft.org. She is a co-founder of the Institute of Progressive Christianity and the Sanctuary, www.promigrant.org. Esquivel has served on several boards, including that of the Backbone Campaign and the New Leaders Council. She has been a speaker at Netroots Nation, SXSW, Personal Democracy Forum, Blogher and the Center for New Words. She is a convener of Web of Change 2009 and is a past editor of Blogher. Her commentary has been featured and quoted in stories for the Wall St. Journal Online, HITN, PBS, XM radio, CNN, Televisa and Univision. She is currently the New Media Manager for NCLR (National Council of La Raza).
Alex Yepes
Alex Yepes currently works as Managing Director of The Columbia-Harlem Small Business Development Center (CHSBDC). The CHSBDC provides free technical assistance to entrepreneurs in New York State.
He is also an advisor to many undergraduate organizations as well as an operations consultant for many non-profit groups. Some of the workshop specializations include SWOT analysis, sustainability practices, cost analysis, marketing, research and branding. Alex has used his experiences to develop workshops that educate and empower 21st century leaders. He has held workshops across the country at some of the largest universities. His focus has been to teach our next generation of leaders how they can positively impact the community they live in. He feels entrepreneurs are in a unique position to impact the new century by adapting and implementing sustainable protocols in their business operations thereby practicing cost saving measures and prudent growth strategies.
Born and raised in Queens, New York, Alex Yepes attended Long Island University, CW Post Campus for a BA in International Studies and an MA in Political Science, with a concentration in International Marketing. Alex is co-owner of Canela Spa & Salon and is the principal in his own multimedia company.
Carol Cain
NYCityMama
Caronk Cain is a freelance Travel Writer living in New York City. Her blog, The Adventures of an NYCity Mama, (www.nycitymama.com) is a catalog of family-friendly adventures she and her family take on in New York City and beyond. She also writes for such travels sites as Uptake.com for their Attractions and Lodging blogs, as well as for TravelingMom.com and is the Managing Editor for an upcoming online magazine site, NY Metropolista (nymetropolista.com). She has had much success building business relationships with marketers for companies such as Country Inn and Suites, Scholastic, and Volkswagon, among others.
Carol is a former publishing and public relations professional, with an MBA in International Relations. She lives with her husband and their three boys.
Claudia Goffan
CEO Target Latino
Recognized as an expert in Latino Marketing by CNN en Español, Claudia has been featured in Adweek, Hispanic Business, Univision, Telemundo and other national and international media.
A native from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Claudia has been very influential in the Hispanic markets in the U.S. and Latin America – both from a business and a community standpoint – always with outstanding results. Claudia has contributed to companies such as, The Occasions Group, The Taylor Corporation, El Banco de Nuestra Comunidad (A division of SunTrust Bank), XEROX, AT&T, BellSouth, Citibank, Papa John’s, Liberty Mutual, British Telecom, Gold’s Gym, Sherwin Williams, and Verizon, among others.
Claudia founded Target Latino in 2003, with a vision unparalleled at the time – to show American companies the importance of the U.S. Hispanic market – not by preaching but by acting.
A motivator, strategic and hands-on, innovative, creative and resourceful. It has been said that her humor and presence immediately captivate audiences. She has an MBA from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina and from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and more than 20 years specializing in Marketing and Strategic Planning both internationally and domestically. She is bilingual and bicultural in English and Spanish and fluent in Portuguese, French, and Italian.
