HACR Symposium draws CEOs and Experts on Hispanic Issues.

Latino leaders, government officials, and Fortune 500 corporate executives from across the U.S. will gather at the 17th Annual HACR Symposium: The Power of Hispanic Inclusion, May 18-19, 2009, at the Hotel Palomar in Dallas, TX.

The conference will focus on corporate and community initiatives to garner participation of U.S. Hispanics at all levels of Corporate America and culminates with the HACR CEO Roundtable, hosted by Dallas-based AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson. Other featured CEOs are from Burger King, MillerCoors and Sodexo.

“We make every effort to ensure that the HACR Symposium attendees represent the brain trust of academia, community organizations, entrepreneurs, government, and Corporate America -those who understand the economic and social importance of Hispanics to our nation’s business sector,” said HACR Board Chairman Ignacio Salazar, President and CEO of SER-Jobs for Progress National, Inc. of Dallas, Texas.

The U.S. Hispanic population is estimated at 46 million, or 15 percent of the U.S. population, which represents 10 million households with an average annual income of approximately $40,000. The Hispanic Consumer Market’s annual purchasing power is approaching $1 trillion and Latinos are estimated to be one out of every eight employees in the U.S. workforce. Despite the Hispanic community’s economic clout and workforce participation, Latinos remain underrepresented in these areas by which corporate responsibility is measured by HACR: Employment, Procurement, Philanthropy, and Governance.

The HACR Symposium will cover key issues important to public and private sectors, the Latino community and other stakeholders concerned with inclusion of Hispanics in Corporate America.

The topics to be addressed by the listed panelists include:

The Power of Hispanic Inclusion: The Next Four Years

Enrique Gomez – CEO, The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE)
Lourdes Hassler – President & CEO, National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA)
Angel Rodriguez – Vice President of Human Resources, Frito-Lay
Ramona Romero – President, National Hispanic Bar Association (NHBA)
Robert Rodriguez, Ph.D. – Assistant Dean, Kaplan University, Moderator

Journey to the Boardroom: A Seat at the Table

Patricia Diaz Dennis – Board Member, MassMutual
Nina Vaca – Board Member, Comerica Bank
Pablo Schneider – Contributing Editor, Latino Leaders Magazine, Moderator

The Hispanic Consumer Market: “The Generational Crossover”

Isabel Valdes – Author, “Hispanic Customers for Life: A Fresh Look at Acculturation”

Mainstream Nonprofits: A Commitment to Hispanic Inclusion

Gladys Padr-Soler – Director, Membership Strategies, Girl Scouts of the USA
Jack E. Kosakowski – Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer -Junior Achievement Worldwide
Jacob Lozada – Board Member, AARP
Charles Pierson, President and CEO, Big Brothers Big Sisters North Texas
Alexander Sanchez, Senior Vice President Community Impact, United Way of America
Alfredo J. Estrada, Publisher, LATINO Magazine, Moderator

Building the Pipeline: Hispanics in Corporate America

Enrique Gomez – CEO, The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE)
Lourdes Hassler – President & CEO, National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA)
Angel Rodriguez – Vice President of Human Resources, Frito-Lay
Ramona Romero – President, National Hispanic Bar Association (NHBA)
Robert Rodriguez, Ph.D. – Assistant Dean, Kaplan University, Moderator

Cafecito Networking Session

Frank Carbajal – Author, “Building the Latino Future”
Glenn Llopis – Author, “Earning Serendipity”
Robert Rodriguez, Ph.D. – Author, “Latino Talent: Effective Strategies to Recruit”
Isabel Valdes – Author, “Hispanic Customers for Life: A Fresh Look at Acculturation”

HACR CEO Roundtable Panelists

Randall L. Stephenson – Chairman, CEO & President, AT&T (Host)
John Chidsey – Chairman & CEO, Burger King
Leo Kiely – President & CEO, MillerCoors
George Chavel-President & CEO, Sodexo

For more information at http://www.hacr.org/>