Hispanic Professionals Discuss Career Issues at Conference

Hispanic Professionals Discuss Career Issues at Conference

Panelists at the Houston Hispanic Professionals’ Leadership Day included: David
Medina, minority community affairs director at Rice and president of the Houston
Association of Hispanic Media Professionals; Richard Torres, president and CEO
of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Arturo DeLeon, president of the
Mexican Bar Association of Houston; and Yvonne Hernandez, president of the Society
of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Texas Bay Area Chapter.

RICE NEWS OFFICE
July 30, 1998

About 200 Hispanic professionals in the fields of journalism, accounting, law,
engineering and other professions recently gathered at Rice to discuss career
advancement and workplace issues such as racism and sexism.

The half-day conference, Houston Hispanic Professionals’ Leadership Day, was
held July 16 in the Rice Memorial Center Grand Hall. The event was sponsored
by the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management and the National Society
of Hispanic MBAs.

Gil Whitaker, dean of the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management, welcomed
the professionals to the conference by stressing the Hispanic community’s importance
to Rice and the Jones School’s commitment to recruiting more Hispanics, promoting
diversity and encouraging leadership.

Kay Henry, director of the MBA for Executives program at the Jones School,
and Henry Hernandez ’78, co-founder and the first national president of the
National Society of Hispanic MBAs, gave opening remarks.

Hernandez, who is the managing director of strategic advisory services with
Soza International, Ltd., stressed the importance of Hispanics taking leadership
roles. He encouraged conference participants to "nurture each other and
leave the ladder behind" so those that follow can also rise to lead.

In the keynote address, Stephen Klineberg, Rice professor of sociology, told
conference participants that the key to success for future generations is education.
The American dream of rising from peddler to craftsman to professional is a
more difficult path to follow now than in the 1950s and 1960s. Without college
education and continuing education, the children of today cannot expect the
same economic results as their parents. The way out of poverty is based upon
strong social support from family and community.

"What you earn is based on what you learn," Klineberg said as a succinct
description of the new economy. "Houston needs to provide social capital
to the Hispanic community."

Following the keynote address, professionals participated in panel discussions,
including one titled "Hispanic and Gender Issues in the Workplace."

Minerva Perez, KTRK-TV, Channel 13 anchor, moderated the workplace discussion
between Arlette Molina ’82, who has her own law practice, and Sandy Rivera ’77,
president of Sandy Rivera Communications.

The panel discussed sexism in the workplace, the problems and hazards of breaking
the glass ceiling, holding women to double standards, the lack of Hispanic women
in top tier leadership positions, and other issues.

The professional groups represented a wide variety of occupations, from attorneys
to journalists. The groups included the National Society of Hispanic MBAs, the
American Association of Hispanic CPAs, the Association of Mexican-American Engineers
and Scientists, the Hispanic Bar Association, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce,
the Mexican-American Bar Association, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers,
and the Houston Association of Hispanic Media Professionals.

For related information visit the following Web sites:

Rice University’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~jgs/home.html

National Society of Hispanic MBAs: http://www.nshmba.org

American Association of Hispanic CPAs: http://www.aahcpa.org

Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers: http://www.shpe.org

Houston Association of Hispanic Media Professionals: http://www.chron.com/content/houston/clubs/HAHMP/index.html