Organization Advocates for More Latinos on Corporate Boards

It is an absolute business imperative to have Latinos and Latinas in leadership positions in the business world, particularly on the boards of the country’s top companies, where the numbers remain dismally low. That was the focus of a recent gathering here of many of the nation’s business leaders to commemorate three decades of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR), an organization that advocates for a greater number of Hispanics in corporate America.

Just over 7 percent of Latinos hold board seats among Fortune 500 companies, and just 4 percent of all executive positions.

“We have to continue to advocate to corporate America on why they need to be consciously searching for Latinos when they have vacancies,” said Cid Wilson, HACR president and CEO. “They need to change their thinking about who do you know versus who can do the job . . . There’s no excuse not to find qualified Latinos because we have plenty who are ready to serve,” Wilson told NBC News Latino, adding that there are an increasing number of companies that understand.

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