The Bravo Group’s Yvette Peña to be honored at HACE’s 25th Anniversary Award Ceremony.

Yvette Peña, Account Director, The Bravo Group, a leader among U.S. Hispanic integrated communications agency groups, will be honored at the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE) 25th Anniversary Award Ceremony, “Celebrating the Stars/Celebrando las Estrellas”.

The HACE gala dinner, which will be held October 17th at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, will highlight the achievements of 25 individuals whose careers and businesses have grown with HACE’s support and whose achievements have, in turn, helped HACE grow.

HACE is dedicated to incubating and nurturing Latinos at all stages of the career continuum from high school to college and on to the professional years, as they seek to develop increasing numbers of successful Latino professionals and leaders.

Ms. Peña’s story will be highlighted in the HACE program and in a special presentation to be produced by Univision Chicago. In a letter to Ms. Peña, Andrea Sáenz, Executive Director wrote, “Your story is one that we believe will highlight the importance of our efforts to build professional Latino careers and will inspire others to achieve career success. Please do us the honor of allowing us to tell your story as part of our special celebration.”

“I am truly thankful to have been honored with this award, and I salute HACE for its commitment to developing future Latino leaders,” said Yvette Peña. “Through HACE I’ve learned the importance of giving back and mentoring others who need to develop the skills that will enable them to grow professionally, and in their personal endeavors. Wanting to see more people that looked like me in corporate America gave me the passion to work on minority recruiting efforts,” Peña continued.

Through her HACE experience, Peña began championing diversity efforts at Sears, where she worked prior to Bravo, and among the Chicago Latino Community. Mentoring and helping others advance in their areas of interest, sparked her desire to volunteer in other areas. Ms. Peña began volunteering for the City of Chicago Commission on the Human Relations Latino Advisory Council, where she was elected as Chair and given the title Commissioner, for the Human Relations board. Working on resolving human relations issues for people of different races, religions, sexual orientations, etc. was fulfilling and had a direct impact on people’s lives and communities, she noted.

“This is a well-deserved honor,” said Linda De Jesús-Cutler, President & COO, The Bravo Group. “Yvette is a great inspiration and a strong agency asset who exemplifies leadership. She is truly deserving of this recognition,” De Jesús-Cutler added.

Peña rejoined The Bravo Group as Account Director in the Chicago office last year after spending eight years on the client side at Sears, Roebuck and Co. At Sears, Peña gained extensive expertise in brand management, new product development and brand strategy, and was accountable for defending market share for multi billion-dollar brands. In her role as Brand Manager, she was responsible for the management and execution of long-term value, equity and performance for Sears’ private label brands including Kenmore Appliances, Craftsman products and Covington clothing. Prior to becoming a Brand Manager, Peña held the position of Multicultural Marketing Manager and was responsible for developing strategic marketing plans and implementing integrated marketing plans to support corporate initiatives and brand campaigns for Hispanic, African American and Asian markets.

Peña spent seven years on the agency side at The Bravo Group before joining Sears. She started as an Assistant Account Executive and worked her way up to Account Supervisor.

Peña also noted, “HACE is a great organization that takes interest in developing people. It provides training and a great networking opportunity through its many affiliations and career fairs. I feel that every corporation and organization, should look into the great work that HACE does and consider using them as a resource for hiring qualified Latino candidates.”