2020 Speakers
September 24, 2020
Building Influential Leaders & Advocates, PART II
Panelists, Speakers & Presenters
Click on the photos for more information about our speakers.
2020 Latina Champion Award Winners
Latinas & Power Symposium recognizes Latinas who demonstrate leadership in their respective areas, as well as contribute to the Latino community in a variety of ways. This year, and for the first time, we are recognizing three women. One is local to Connecticut, the second is from our regional area in New England, and the third is at the national level.
Click on the photos for more information about our award winners.
Past Events
June 12, 2020
Building Influential Leaders & Advocates, PART I
Panelists, Speakers & Presenters
Click on the photos for more information about our speakers.
Thank you to our 2019 Speakers
2019 Keynote Speakers
Leading with Intention and Values
Dr. Betty Uribe
P&L for Greater Southern California Division ($6 billion business line),
California Bank & Trust
Dr. Betty Uribe, an internationally-renowned bilingual/bicultural speaker specializing in leadership development, will keynote the 16th Annual Latinas & Power Symposium on Thursday, May 16, 2019 at the Hartford Marriott Downtown in Hartford, CT. At California Bank & Trust, a division of Zions Bancorp, Uribe runs the Greater Southern California Division, which is a $6 billion business line covering retail and business banking. CB&T has loans of $8.8 billion, deposits of $10.5 billion, and total assets of approximately $60 billion. During Uribe’s tenure as Executive Vice President at CB&T, the financial institution has been named “Best Bank in Orange County,” for three consecutive years by the voting readers of The Orange County Register.
As a significant thought leader in the financial and banking industry, she is a recognized authority on the psychology of leadership, turnarounds, organizational structure, and peak performance. For decades Dr. Uribe has been transforming business, culture, and people through values-based leadership. Her work is regularly featured on all forms of international, national and local media.
As an author, Dr. Uribe wrote Values: The Secrets to Top Level Performance in Business and Life, which was selected by Inc. Magazine as one of the Top 60 Books on Leadership and also received an endorsement from the Vatican.
She has been honored consistently for her strategic intellect and humanitarian endeavors. Among the many honors bestowed upon Dr. Uribe are: First Woman in History to join the Rose Bowl Foundation Board; Fortune Magazine’s Top 50 Most Powerful Latinas in Business (2017 & 2018); selected by Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the Los Angeles 500: Most Influential People in Los Angeles; Top 25 National Corporate Elite; a special commendation by the President of Colombia, South America, and Pepperdine University’s 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award.
Dr. Uribe currently serves on three private company boards: Pepperdine University, University of Southern California, and Next Step Asia, Hong Kong. She also serves on several non-profit boards in the United States. A mother of three, she resides in Southern California.
Latinas & Leadership
Lisa Bacus
Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, Cigna
Bacus joined the company in May of 2013 after a successful 22-year career with the Ford Motor Company, followed by five years at American Family Insurance, where she served as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketer, overseeing all marketing, public relations, communications and actuarial functions.
Bacus has won numerous marketing awards, including four Effie awards, and has been recognized with numerous business, leadership and civic awards. She serves on several boards in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors, and is actively involved in the community. She channels her passion for education by providing scholarships for high school students to attend college.
Bacus earned undergraduate degrees from Northern Arizona University and an MBA from Duke University.
2019 Latina View Panel
The Latina view panel focus on Women and Leadership.
Panelists will react to Cigna’s report on Women & Leadership, presented by Lisa Bacus. The panel will respond to the need for Latina leaders, the skills needed in the 21st century, and how to seek out the resources and tools we need to be successful as we take on leadership roles.
Marilyn Alverio
Founder/Producer, Latinas Power
She is the creator and producer of the Latinas and Power Symposium® (LPS), which is achieving national recognition. The annual one-day inspirational and professional development platform is designed for the Latina on the go.
Arminda “Mindy” Figueroa
Founder and CEO, Latin2Latin Marketing + Communications (L2L)
Figueroa is a sought-after presenter at industry seminars and conferences. Most recently, she served as a panelist for Radio Ink and Hispanic Unity of Florida’s E Summit on women entrepreneurs. Following the devastation of Hurricane Maria, Figueroa served as an advisor to Gov. Rick Scott for the South Florida relief efforts for Puerto Rico and is the proud founder of the philanthropic grassroots organization, Adopt a Puerto Rican Family. Figueroa served on the board of the Hispanic Federation for 16 years and helped raise more than $25M as part of the gala committee.
Today, she is a board member of the Tower Club of Fort Lauderdale, member of Advisory Council of Hispanic Federation, founding member of the Women’s Council of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce and serves on the Marketing Council of Hispanic Unity. She has been recognized by El Diario/La Prensa as one of the “50 Most Influential Latinas,” by South Florida Business Journal as one of the top “Influential Business Women of 2017,” and she also received the Golden Mouse Award for Multicultural Marketing Leader of the Year by the Florida Chapter of Women in Ecommerce. Most recently, she was awarded the Diversity in Business by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce.
Yvette Peña
VP, Multicultural Leadership Hispanic/Latino Audience Strategy, AARP
2019 Breakout Session Speakers and Presenters
Richard Alleyne
Deputy General Counsel, Property & Casualty Law, The Hartford
Rich is a graduate of Dartmouth College and holds a J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law. He also holds a Business Mastery Certificate through The Hartford’s program with the University of Connecticut Business School. Rich was born in the north end of Hartford and he attended Kingswood-Oxford School in West Hartford, Conn. where he currently lives with his wife and two daughters, Ananya and Elyana. His avocations are philanthropy, politics, chess, soccer, skiing, and squash.
Rich serves on the boards of Hartford Stage, The Amistad Center for Art & Culture, Student Achievement Through Opportunity (SATO) and the Jumoke Academy Charter School. He also chairs the Kingswood-Oxford Parent Annual Fund Committee. In 2011, he was named a “High Achiever” by the Connecticut Law Tribune.
Tatiana Banhon
Director in the Property Product Team for Middle Market, The Hartford
Tatiana joined The Hartford’s Hispanic Leadership Network (HLN) Employee Resource Group in 2015, and became one of HLN’s Tri-Chairs effective January 2018. Tatiana was excited to join the HLN leadership team and have the opportunity to give back to our community. Equally important, Tatiana is looking forward to helping support and developing our talent pool in the same way she has received support over the years. Tatiana shares that “I feel much of my success is due to those who at some point helped me grow by believing in me, pushing me to believe in myself, or were great sponsors.”
Tatiana was born in Brazil and is a proud mom of two children, ages 9 and 11. She and her family enjoy traveling, the beach, and spending quality time with family and friends. Tatiana is also a believer in giving back to the community supporting the Girl Scouts of CT, The Bushnell, Food Share, and other Hartford sponsored events and organizations, such as Day of Service and recurring blood drives.
Fanita Borges
VP, Community Bank Operations – Business Lending, Webster Bank
Fanita Borges joined Webster Bank with 20+ career in commercial lending. She is a Vice President in Webster Bank’s Community Bank Operations group managing a Small Business Lending team processing loans up to $250,000 and providing decisions in 24 hours or less. Before she joined Webster, Fanita owned her own mortgage company with a strong focus on the Latino community. She helped many families achieve their goals of owning their own homes. Fanita is a member of the national organization, ALPFA (Association of Latino Professionals For America), and served as a board member of the Connecticut chapter for 7 years. She is very committed to her family and proud of her Puerto Rican heritage. She lives in Unionville CT with her husband and yorkie, and has 2 adult children.
Carola Otero Bracco
Executive Director, Neighbors Link, Westchester, NY
During Carola’s tenure, Neighbors Link has become a leader in designing, implementing and directing community-based, bilingual educational and cultural awareness training programs.
Before becoming Executive Director of Neighbors Link in April of 2004, Carola spent 12 years of her career gaining experience in financial management with General Electric Corporation, Ford Motor Company and Time Warner. She holds an MBA from Duke University and currently serves on the boards of the National Council for Workforce Education, Nonprofit Westchester, and the New York Immigration Coalition. She previously served on the board of Northern Westchester Hospital.
Providing leadership and vision for Neighbors Link is something Carola sees as her life’s work and she often says it is a privilege to be in her position as executive director.
Matt Cammarota
Sr VP and Director of Community Bank Operations, Webster Bank
Todd Campbell
Head of Enterprise Information Risk Program Office, MassMutual
While not protecting the company’s digital assets, Todd spends his time speaking to the non-profit and school communities about how they can help protect themselves from cyber criminals.
He is a certified systems security professional (CISSP) and is currently a member of the LOMA Chief Information Security Officer Committee. Todd earned a Bachelor of Arts from Westfield State University and lives in Westfield with his wife and two teenage kids who keep him humble every day.
Keia Cole
Head of Digital Experience, MassMutual
Before joining MassMutual, Keia served as Associate General Counsel and later Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education during President Barack Obama’s administration. As chief of staff, she was a member of the Senior Executive Service and responsible for providing strategic direction and managing the Department’s financial, information technology, human capital, and risk management operations.
Prior to joining the Department of Education, Keia was a litigation attorney at the New York law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, where she represented corporations and senior executives in complex commercial litigation before regulators and government agencies. She began her career as a financial analyst in Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking Division working with media and communications companies. Keia received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, and earned her JD/MBA from Stanford University.
Dr. Nilanjana (Buju) Dasgupta
UMASS professor of Psychological & Brain Science and Director of UMASS Faculty Equity & Inclusion and Diversity Sciences
Dasgupta is passionate about translating science to inform real world problems—employment discrimination, disparities in STEM, and the underrepresentation of women and minorities in leadership. She discussed the relevance of her research to policy and action with federal and state government staff, tech entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, university and K-12 stakeholders. She gave an invited presentation at a White House roundtable organized by President Obama’s Chief Technology Officer on barriers facing underrepresented youth in technology and research-driven remedies.
Dasgupta’s research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health. She received the Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Research and Creative Activity, and the Distinguished Academic Outreach Award in Research from UMass Amherst. Level Playing Field Institute, a foundation in Silicon Valley, awarded her the Hidden Bias Research Prize. Dasgupta received her B.A. from Smith College and Ph.D. in psychology from Yale University.
Marisol Herrera
Director of Certification and MBE Services, GNEMSDC
Ja’Nene Kane
Head of Robotics, MMUS
Before joining MassMutual, Ja’Nene was President and Chief Operating Officer of benefitsCONNECT, a benefits software service provider, and held several executive positions at the firm in sales, operations and marketing.
In 2010, Kane received a Bronze Stevie Award for Female Executive of the Year and helped lead benefitsCONNECT to become one of Inc. magazines 5000 fastest growing companies in America. Ja’Nene earned a Bachelor of Science from California State University, Long Beach.
Tara Long
Head of Technology, Institutional Solutions, MassMutual
Additionally as a champion for Diversity and Inclusion, Tara leads and chairs the MassMutual Technology Diversity and Inclusion Committee with the mission of enabling a dynamic, innovative diverse and inclusive Technology organization by attracting, educating, recruiting, developing, retaining and promoting diverse talent.
She is a certified information systems auditor (CISA), certified information systems security professional (CISSP) and is also certified in risk and information systems controls (CRISC). She obtained her BA from Mount Holyoke College and earned her MBA with a concentration in management information systems from Western New England University.
Azucena Maldonado
Founder, Latina Golfers Association (LGA) Los Angeles
Angelica Ogando
Peak Performance Coach for Leadership
Ms. Ogando is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Enriched Mind LLC, a company that has delivered leadership training for companies in finance, technology, and the fashion industry. Angelica has effectively established coaching programs to help companies align employee development growth and goals with the company’s vision; thus, resulting in sales revenues to increase from six-figures to over a $1million dollars. She also provides coaching for people with Disabilities and in the re-entry program through People Helping People In Need Inc.
Jen Oquendo
Energy and Large Property Business Leader, The Hartford
Casey Pantazopoulos
Team Leader, Workers Compensation-ClaimsPlus Organization, The Hartford
Casey joined The Hartford’s Hispanic Leadership Network (HLN) Employee Resource Group in 2012, and became one of HLN’s Tri-Chairs effective January 2018. Casey has been heavily involved and is passionate about HLN’s members and growth. Casey genuinely enjoys motivating people and watching their success, “My proudest accomplishments are seeing people I’ve managed or mentored achieve their goals; nothing inspires me like supporting the success of those around me.”
Casey was born in New York and resides in Chicago. She is a proud mom of a 6 year old son, Niko. She and Niko enjoy being outdoors, travel, and Niko’s favorite…Disney World!
Estela Morales Segarra
Chair-President, CT Latinas Golfers
Bárbara Serrano
Senior Financial Advisor & Author
She is a Senior Executive at one of the largest companies in South Florida and New York. She currently appears as a financial advisor on shows like Un Nuevo Dia (NBC-Telemundo), Despierta America (Univision Network), and CNN en Español. Serrano graduated with honors from the University of Puerto Rico, earning her Bachelor’s in Business Administration. She has been recognized as one of the “Top 10 Young Business Women,” for creating the first TV program of economics in Puerto Rico. Bárbara Serrano is popular not just in the U.S.A. but all of Latin America and the Caribbean. Not bad for a woman whose odyssey to success began after her reign as Miss World of Puerto Rico in 2001.
Yai Vargas
Founder & CEO The Latinista aka LinkedIn Ninja
She is passionate about sharing her industry knowledge, as a public speaker, on various topics such as executive presence, personal branding, LinkedIn and Latina leaders in the workplace. Yai’s extensive corporate and agency experience in diversity, public relations and multi-cultural communications have allowed her to add tremendous value to the automotive, sports, non-profit, health and currently financial services sectors.
Yai holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Advertising and Marketing Communications from the Fashion Institute of Technology and a Marketing Certification from New York University. Her philanthropic initiatives include sitting on the board of The Latino Commission on AIDS’ Business Leadership Council where she consults on fundraising, social media and marketing.
Yai has also successfully leveraged her education and professional experience to establish herself as a self-proclaimed LinkedIn and networking ninja teaching others how to develop strong relationship management skills. This includes establishing The Latinista where she gathers and empowers Latina professionals in New York City, Miami and Chicago to connect and effectively build connections.
2019 Youth Breakout Session
The theme of the 2019 Latinas and Power Symposium was Leading with Intention and Values. “Throughout the event, adult Latina leaders speaking and presenting to the attendees about leadership and empowerment. As Young Adults in High School we, Amaryllis Padilla and Maria Segovia, are very interested in leading the Youth Breakout Session for this year’s event. Our goal is to guide the student attendees to focus on what leadership is and what it means for them as young women leaders. We will teach them strategies and provide them with leadership tools on how to empower themselves to become future leaders as young adults. This empowering session will provide the girls with the skills they need to become leaders: vision, motivation, thoroughness, creativity, and most importantly, self-confidence. This session outline is influenced by the 12 week leadership curriculum, ‘La Mariposa, A Personal Empowerment Program for Adolescent Latinas’ that we both have successfully graduated from.”
Amaryllis Padilla
Student, Great Path Academy, Manchester CT
Amaryllis will team up with her friend Maria Belen Segovia and Lori Theriault, founder of WORK IT! at the 2019 Latinas and Power Symposium to introduce, La Mariposa, an empowering program for Latina students. After attending her first meeting during her freshman year, Amaryllis realized that this program was going to help her to transform into the beautiful butterfly she was born to be. This program encourages a positive lifestyle and personal excellence among young Latinas in a 12-week program. Amaryllis is looking forward to a career in Nursing in the future.
Maria Segovia
Student, Great Path Academy, Manchester CT
This year, Maria will be presenting at the Latinas and Power Symposium with the help of her Las Mariposas friend, Amaryllis Minelly Padilla and Lori Theriault, founder of WORK IT! to deliver a powerful portion of the Las Mariposas curriculum to aid young Latinas in understanding their personality strengths and establishing a clear idea of What Success Means to You!
Lori Theriault
CEO & Founder of WORK IT!
Before becoming an Entrepreneur, Lori put her Human Resources Management education along with her Operations Management experience to work in Manufacturing management for 30 years, introducing career growth and personal empowerment to hundreds of employees in Connecticut.
Today, the WORK IT! program is offered to students ages 10 and older all over the World and has unveiled many unique dream jobs with easy to follow personalized plans. She offers a unique, energetic, creative and positive approach with all of her students, young and old, to allow for an empowered work and personal life.