Determined to “show the political class” their talent and the need to diversify industries, seven Latina businesswomen formed a consultancy that provides strategy and communication for election campaigns and advocacy for agencies and corporations.
“Women are the ones who make decisions at home, they are leaders, there they decide what products are bought at home and even who to vote for,” explained Vanessa Cárdenas, one of the founders of Latina Consultants Group (LCG).
“We hope to bring more visibility to this space, and diversity in consultancies to show the political class that there is a group of talents here in graphic design, strategy, communication.”
“The woman is the one who encourages her family: ‘we are going to this rally, we are going to participate,'” the Bolivian continued.
She stressed that Latinas create businesses at a rate six times higher than the national average, according to the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
However, Cárdenas said that despite this, the lack of representation of Latinas and their perspectives in all professional fields, and particularly in leadership positions, is “unacceptable”.
The other collaborators at LCG include Vanessa Millán, founder and strategist of Con Cultura; Alicia Sisneros of Sisneros Strategies; graphic designer Melinda Rodríguez, Rosa, and Elizabeth Ruvalcaba, from ALAS Media, and digital strategist Jessica Rubio.
Sisneros said it is the “first collaboration ” made up exclusively of Latinas that will fill “a very deep need for multilingual and culturally competent consultants to help shape campaigns.”
Millán, for his part, assured that they came together to realize “the challenges that Latino consultants face in an industry dominated by whites and men.”
“We can offer a complete service for a campaign and not only in politics but also in education, promotion of a cause,” explained Cárdenas.
“I have spent most of my career working in organizations that advocate for a cause such as immigration, climate change, the economy,” said the Hispanic, who was linked to the presidential campaign of Democrat Joe Biden.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Latinas took home 15.7% of college degrees between 2018 and 2019, and specifically 14.3% of business administration degrees.
Although Latinas make up 18% of the US female population, vote at higher rates than their male peers, and have been gaining ground in academic achievement for decades, they hold only 4.3% of executive positions highest in the private sector and less than 3% in Congress.