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Diversity Summit Co-Chair
Cesar Maldonado, Ph.D., P.E. Chancellor Houston Community College
In 2008, Maldonado was named President of TSTC in Harlingen, Texas. In the same year, Dr. Maldonado earned a Ph.D. in Systems and Engineering Management from Texas Tech University. In 2011, Maldonado was named Vice Chancellor for Institutional Effectiveness and Commercialization for the TSTC System, while remaining President at TSTC Harlingen. Maldonado holds Bachelor and Masters of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University, and is an alumnus of the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. Maldonado led legislative efforts to create high school/college dual enrollment opportunities in Texas, and has served as a board member (twice as president) of the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District (TX). He served as the Interim Chairman of the Border Governors Conference on Science and Technology. He was also appointed by the governor to serve as a Regent of the Texas State Technical College System. He was recently elected to the Texas Tech University Industrial Engineering Academy. Maldonado and his wife of 38 years, Liz, enjoy their children, Kristin, Marcus, and Laura and Jason Rocha, and grandchildren, Julianne and William.
James
D. Haynes Vice President, U.S. Human Resources Spectra Energy
He has served in a number of leadership capacities throughout his career, including operations, marketing and human resources. Haynes joined Spectra Energy’s predecessor company, Panhandle Eastern, in 1982 as an administrative analyst. Following a series of promotions, he was named coordinator of human resources, area superintendent for Texas Eastern’s Portland, Texas pipeline operations, manager of employee and labor relations for Pan Services, and director of transmission services for Duke Energy. In 2005 Haynes was named vice president of Duke Energy Gas Transmission’s U.S. human resources. He was named to his current role in 2007. Haynes received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Emporia State University in Kansas and a master’s degree in human resources management from Houston Baptist University.
Morning Diversity Cafe
Elizabeth
Campbell Partner and Chief Diversity Officer Andrews Kurth LLP
Elizabeth received her J.D. from the University of Michigan, and her B.A. from the American University.
Diversity and Inclusion 101
Cephas Archie, Ed.D. Diversity & InclusionProgram Coordinator Houston Community College
Dr. Archie obtained his Ed.D. in Educational Leadership (Higher Education) from the University of Houston Clear-Lake, and his MS in Counseling and BA in English, both from Loyola University New Orleans. Dr. Archie possesses certifications in both Basic Mediation Training and Diversity Management.
Michele Kahn, Ph.D. Associate Professor University of Houston
Morning General Session - Mistress of Ceremony
Angela Chen Reporter KTRK-TV in Houston
She headed home to Los Angeles to help care for her father after he was diagnosed with brain cancer. Since then, she’s reported for TV stations in Bakersfield, San Diego and Reno. She was also a contributor to The New York Times. Angela has lived in London and Taipei. She is fluent in Mandarin and a certified scuba diver.
Morning Plenary Session
Courtney
Lynch Founder Lead Star
Morning Session A
David D. Medina Director of Multicultural Community Relations Rice University
Medina received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Houston Association of Hispanic Media Professionals, 2012. He received from Rice the 2012 Demaris Hudspeth Endowed Award for extraordinary service to student life and organizations. He was honored with a DiversityFIRST Award from the Texas Diversity Council. The award recognizes Medina as one who has "demonstrated outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace, marketplace and community" and "demonstrated exemplary leadership." He received the 2011 Bronze Quill award for social responsibility. He also received the 2010 Willie Velasquez Hispanic Excellence Award for education from the Tejano Center for Community Concerns and Houston TV station Telemundo. He received the 2010 Diversity Champion Award from the Association of Chinese-American Professionals. Medina was recently selected to serve on the Mayor’s Hispanic Advisory Board. He also served as a fellow of the 2010-11 class of the American Leadership Forum's Houston/Gulf Coast chapter. He served three years as president of the Houston Hispanic Forum. He was co-chair of the 2009 Diversity Summit in Sugar Land. He is a former president of the Houston Association of Hispanic Media Professionals and a former vice president of the Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education. He is a board member of Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say, and a former board member of Ser Niños Charter School. He is on the advisory board of the Chinquapin School and Inprint. He has also coached YMCA soccer and basketball and little league baseball. He is married and has two children, both graduates of Rice University.
Robert Rodrigues, Ph.D. President DRR Advisors LLC
Morning Session B
Sam Jacobson Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator Andrews Kurth LLP
Sam currently serves on the Board of Theater Under the Stars. He is a member of the Gulf Coast Advisory Board/Texas Diversity Council and a Diversity First Award Winner, 2013. He is a member of the Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals and a variety of diversity and inclusion summits and conferences.
Nina Godiwalla U.S. Director of Diversity Norton Rose Fulbright
Morning Session C
Jaymie Woods Founder and Managing Consultant L.L. Gold Consulting LLC
She holds an MBA-Human Resources Concentration and a BS in Legal Assisting. Jaymie serves as both the 2015 Diversity Summit Conference Coordinator and Program Committee Chair.
Carlos Larracilla Senior Manager Deloitte Consulting LLP
As a dynamic and bilingual (English and Spanish) professional, Carlos has consulted for several organizations from Global 500 and worldwide industry-leading corporations to small businesses and startups throughout the U.S. and Latin America. His experience spans Oil & Gas, Consumer Industrial Products, Healthcare, Professional Services, and Technology industries. With multiple successful entrepreneurial ventures, Carlos is also a frequent mentor to other entrepreneurs. Prior to joining Deloitte Consulting, Carlos led the Talent Management Division of a 17,000-employee international industrial corporation where he was responsible for attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse workforce in an inclusive organizational culture and environment. Carlos holds an MBA from Babson College and is a graduate of the Entrepreneurship Program at Tulane University. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the Monterrey Tech in Mexico.
Morning Session D
Jagdip Ahluwalia Executive Director IACCGH
He is a past chair of the Mayor’s International Trade and Development Council for South Asia (MITDC). He was honored with the Outstanding Leadership Award by the Greater Dallas Indo American Chamber for his role in forming the Alliance of Indo American Chambers in the US. The Greater Houston Procurement Breakfast and the India Culture Center have also felicitated him for his tireless advocacy for business in, for and with Houston. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the American Leadership Forum, Gulf Coast Chapter and is an active Rotarian. He specializes in: · Locating buyers for US Goods and services · Identifying areas of bilateral trade between India and the US · Identifying Indian goods and services encouraged for export to the Greater Houston region
Jewel Smith Manager of Supplier Diversity CenterPoint Energy Inc.
Richard A. Huebner President Houston Minority Supplier Development Council
In 1985, Huebner responded to a blind ad in the Wall Street Journal that provided a perfect match for his proven skills in association management and his passion for economic development. Today he leads 157 major corporations and nearly 1,000 Minority Business Enterprises in a common mission to increase and expand business opportunities and business growth for minorities. Under his direction, the Houston council has been recognized six times nationally as Council of the Year by the National Minority Supplier Development Council and by the Greater Houston Partnership as Houston’s Greatest Non-Profit Business Organization. Huebner serves on advisory boards of the Port of Houston Authority, Harris County Sherriff’s Office, Small Business Today Magazine and the NASA-Johnson Space Center Joint Leadership Team. He is a Ruling Elder at Grand Lakes Presbyterian Church where he leads the Mission. He currently serves as Immediate Past Chair of Leadership Houston, graduate of the Center for Houston’s Future and a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum. He has received numerous awards and recognitions, and was named to Best of the Decade in Supplier & Workforce Diversity by Minority Business News.
NK Gupta C.E.O. Cornerstone Value, LLC
With NK’s leadership and passion for the Buy American Act, Cornerstone Valve is on the brink of becoming one of the world’s foremost Severe Service Valve manufacturer’s.
Annie Lidge Supplier Diversity Program Manager Fluor
Educated in business management, Annie has over 39 years of experience in procurement and contracting for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) industry in both government and commercial applications. Since joining the company in 1974, Annie has held a variety of roles in project and corporate procurement. Prior to her current assignment, Annie was Senior Procurement Manager in charge of Corporate Procurement indirect spend which encompassed working all aspects of the supply chain processes. In the 4 years under Annie’s leadership, Fluor’s Supplier Diversity program has received numerous awards and recognitions, including but not limited to HMSDC and WBEA 2014 Corporation of Year awards for the greatest percentage of spend growth with MWBE’s. Annie serves on various HMSDC and WBEA Committees and is the current chair of the HMSDC Strategic Teaming Alliance Committee. In 2013, Annie was the winner of HMSDC Supplier Diversity Champion of the Year award.
Debra Clark Stewart Director of Supplier Diversity Shell
An engineer by education, Debra worked in technical and business leadership roles across a spectrum of Shell businesses prior to assuming her current role in 2010. Throughout her career she has also served as a leader in support of the external community and diversity in Shell. She chairs the Petrochemical & Energy Industry Group of the National Minority Supplier Diversity Council, serves on the board of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, and is active in many other regional and national organizations supporting economic development through supplier and workforce diversity. Under Debra’s leadership, Shell has been recognized by numerous organizations and publications for excellence and leadership in supplier diversity and STEM workforce development. Debra was inducted into the 2013 Hall of Fame of the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce.
Luncheon - Mistress of Ceremony
Minerva Perez Minerva Perez Media
Previous to Latina Voices, Ms. Pérez was known as a trendsetter and became the first Latina News Anchor at KTRK TV/ABC 13 in Houston, Texas, where she spent 15 and half years. She was already a highly respected and experienced Anchor/Reporter at the number one rated, Peabody award-winning TV station, KTLA TV in Los Angeles, where she also was the first Mexican American News Anchorwoman on the News At Ten Weekend Edition. During her 5 and half-year tenure at KTLA, she was recognized with many awards for her reporting and community involvement. There, she covered such notable stories as Pope John Paul II’s visit to Los Angeles’ Live 48 – hour coverage; the Whittier Earthquake; the notorious Rodney King beating, Hollywood celebrities; Presidents Reagan and Bush (41). Her reporting lead to two (2) Golden Mike Awards; a Cesar Award; a Los Angeles Press Club Award and three (3) California Emmy nominations; several AP awards; a 2014 National Telly Award; a T.A.T.O.A. First place award in 2014; and countless accolades from community organizations. Ms. Pérez began her broadcasting career at KURV RADIO in Edinburg, TX and KGBT RADIO in Harlingen, TX. She quickly moved on to her television broadcasting career at KGBT Television in Harlingen, TX before moving on to the major TV markets of San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Houston as an anchor/reporter. A Lone Star native, Ms. Pérez grew up in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas and is a graduate of the University of Texas at Pan American (UTPA formerly Pan American University) with a degree in Mass Communications/Spanish. She also continued her studies at Rice University in Houston. Ms. Pérez has always been involved in her community. She continues to serve on many boards as member and director. Minerva has also been featured in a Prentice Hall/Texas Edition Textbook, Juntos, Simon and Schuster Education Group in 1997, as one of three Texan Hispanic Role Models with former Archbishop of San Antonio Patrick Flóres and former HUD Secretary, San Antonio Mayor, Henry Cisneros. Ms. Pérez has also been featured in several national/international publications including: The Los Angeles Times, “Vanidades,” an internationally distributed Spanish language magazine; Nuestras Vidas, a monthly, Texas magazine, Texas Hispanic Magazine and Houston’s 002 Latino magazine, El Día Newspaper, The Houston Chronicle, Fort Bend County’s The Herald Coaster, the Fort Bend Star and Sun Newspapers. Ms. Pérez and Latina Voices: Smart Talk have been featured in the Aztec/Muse Magazine, Houston Woman Magazine, Focus on Women (Ft. Bend County) Magazine and the Houston Business Journal. Although gone from Los Angeles for years, Minerva remains a presence with the “Minerva Pérez Communications Scholarship” given annually by the Montebello Hispanic Coalition.
Keynote Speaker
Irma McClaurin, Ph.D. Chief Diversity Officer Teach For America
An award-winning author in anthropology and poetry, Irma earned a Ph.D. in anthropology and an M.F.A. in English from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and has a bachelor’s degree in American studies from Grinnell College. She serves on the boards of the Afro-Latin Project and the N.Y.U. Hip-Hop Education Center (honorary), and is a regular contributor to Insight News of Minneapolis as the culture and education editor.
Corporate Diversity Champion
Floyd J. LeBlanc Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications CenterPoint Energy
Floyd is responsible for all internal communications, financial and media communications, and community relations efforts, such as corporate philanthropy, educational outreach and the employee volunteer program. In this role, he also manages local relations efforts with the city of Houston and Harris County. He began his career with the company in 1982. In addition to his corporate role, Floyd has spent nearly half of his career in staff and leadership roles in electric operations. He is a graduate of Kansas State University with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Floyd and his wife Deborah are members of Windsor Village UMC, where he is a member of the prayer ministry. He is a native of Baton Rouge, La., and has a son, a daughter and five grandchildren.
Community Diversity Champion
Craig B. Clayton, Sr. CEO of iNSPIRAR Inc. Founder of Respect Matters - Houston
The “Respect Matters” campaign will help everyone in the Gulf Coast area to be treated as unique individuals with the dignity and respect they deserve. Participating organizations will be given access to training materials, workshop outlines, research, best practices and tools to facilitate conversations and skills among their employees, supporters, members and students. Craig’s commitment to the Gulf Coast community includes making a difference in the lives of all who call Houston home. For more information on this program log on to RespectMatters.org.
Afternoon Session A
Cephas Archie, Ed.D. Diversity & InclusionProgram Coordinator Houston Community College
Dr. Archie obtained his Ed.D. in Educational Leadership (Higher Education) from the University of Houston Clear-Lake, and his MS in Counseling and BA in English, both from Loyola University New Orleans. Dr. Archie possesses certifications in both Basic Mediation Training and Diversity Management.
Michele Kahn, Ph.D. Associate Professor University of Houston
Helen Hailemariam Director of Leadership Programming Teach for America
Afternoon Session B
Rohby Word Mitchell Director of Diversity and HR Compliance Spectra Energy
Amy Robinson Executive Coach
Jaymie Woods Founder and Managing Consultant L.L. Gold Consulting LLC
She holds an MBA-Human Resources Concentration and a BS in Legal Assisting. Jaymie serves as both the 2015 Diversity Summit Conference Coordinator and Program Committee Chair.
Sara Ting Diversity Consultant/Trainer/Public Speaker and Author
Author of, “Small Book with a Big Idea, 5 Minute Training to Empower You and Transform Our World.” To date 38 colleges and universities have ordered the book. Five thousand were sponsored at the Urban League’s National Conference in 2011. Michigan National Guard ordered two hundred copies for a diversity and inclusion conference. Sara has provided workshops for schools, colleges, universities, non-profit organizations, banks and police departments, National Guard. She developed innovative approaches and educational material for diversity training. One of her educational pieces has been introduced to educational institutions in all 50 states including schools such as Caltech, Johns Hopkins, Texas A&M and Lehigh University Her passion for equality led her to community activism and designing programs to promote diversity and inclusion. In the 80’s she initiated and organized a city wide multi-media public service campaign promoting harmony and unity in Boston, New York City and Providence Rhode Island. She’s presented workshops on diversity at national conferences and throughout Massachusetts since 1987. In 1993 she founded World Unity, Inc. a non-profit organization dedicated to the construction of a landmark promoting diversity, equality and unity. This will be built in the seaport district of Boston. Sara has also worked for 20 years as a poet-in-residence in the Boston Public Schools teaching young students the art of writing poetry. She was formerly a freelance TV reporter with WHDH TV and NBC affiliate. For 10 years she reported on Urban Update, a weekly public affairs program. She was the only reporter in the Greater Boston Area dedicated to covering issues that impacted the Asian communities. Sara has served on the Governor’s Commission on Women’s Issues, the YMCA International Board. Educational Background: Graduate of Boston University School of Fine & Applied Arts.
Afternoon Session C
Elaine DeCanio, Ph.D. Change Manager, Continuous Improvement Shell Global Solutions, U.S. Inc.
Concurrent with her technical and management roles, Elaine has served on various diversity committees within Shell, and has a strong commitment to helping create inclusive working environments. Elaine is on the steering team of SEAShell - Shell’s GLBT diversity group, and is a member of the Business Advisory Council for the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC), Workplace Project which focusing on LGBT workplace equality.
Lou Weaver Board of Governors Human Rights Campaign
Beck Bailey Deputy Director Employee Management Human Rights Campaign
Beck brings his business experience as a leader to this work and possesses a well-developed managerial skill-set grounded in operations and change management. An LGBT advocate and transgender man, Beck often shares his personal experience in order to increase awareness and understanding. He holds an MBA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and serves on the Board of Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD).
Afternoon Session D
Deborah Wilkins-Buford Global Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Shell
Deborah graduated from the Pennsylvania State University, has HR certification (SPHR) and completed the National Training Labs Diversity Practitioner Certificate Program. She resides in Sugar Land, Texas with her husband, Gordon, and their sweet Pomeranian mix, Toby.
Joe Bontke Outreach Manager, Houston District Office U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
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