Q. How do you celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, and what does it mean to you?
Lester: Funny enough, I don’t believe I’ve thought about or celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month. Having been raised in Miami, FL, every day is a Hispanic day. A constant reminder and wrestling match between Venezuelans, Colombians, Mexicans, Hondurans, Argentines, Cubans, and so many other Hispanics. You could live your whole life never learning the English language.
Mimi: I don’t find myself personally celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month since as Lester and Leandro said, every day is Hispanic Heritage Day, but I’m reminded of it through work, usually! In that context, it means a great deal that my coworkers and people around me are thinking about Hispanic Heritage and what it brings to our culture. Most importantly, it’s a reminder to celebrate diversity, in general, since that’s so important to building successful communities and businesses.
Leandro: Similar to Lester, I never officially celebrated “Hispanic Heritage Month”, every day is Hispanic Heritage day when you have a Hispanic heritage :) That said, I believe is it important to celebrate each group’s uniqueness and to celebrate where we are coming from to know where we are going.
Q. How important is giving back to the community and the importance of inclusion from your perspective?
Lester: Extremely vital, It’s really at the core of my being to give back and to be inclusive. My reasons are simple and have much less to do with any heritage, really. Having to be inclusive of my deaf parents in everyday conversations has really impacted my view of the world to be kinder, contribute to those in need, and be inclusive of all regardless of age, sex, heritage, or any other subgroup that is used nowadays.
Mimi: Hugely! I learned early on in my career that the best ideas/products/businesses come from diverse groups of people with all kinds of viewpoints. Since then, I’ve been really passionate about seeing more diversity and inclusion in tech and startups, and I try to give back to those communities through mentorship/sponsorship as much as possible.
Leandro: In my experience, the more I have given, the more I have received.
Q. How can companies support Hispanic Heritage Month and their Hispanic employees?
Lester: My advice to any executive of any company on how they could support us Hispanics would really boil down to empowering their employees at the individual level and not at the subgroup level. If you can truly empower the individual, the power of diversity really takes hold within the organization/teams. Hispanics are only a fraction of that puzzle.
Mimi: I think it’s important to keep talking about heritage and history months of all kinds to bring awareness and empathy to other people’s experiences. Continuing open conversations about diversity and inclusion and being open to different approaches to addressing those issues is also key.
Leandro: I believe that affinity groups with proper executive sponsorship that empowers and connects members of the affinity group to other parts of the organization and provides coaching and mentorship can help develop the members of the group(s).
From our Prove family, happy Hispanic Heritage Month! Let’s continue to fight for representation and continue our work to empower Hispanic-Latino success in the workplace.
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