Julissa Arce arrived in the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant. She started out cleaning offices and, just 14 years later, graduated with a degree in finance from UT Austin, landed a job at Goldman Sachs, and rose to become vice president at Merrill Lynch.
Today, she is the co-founder of Ascend Educational Fund and author of several books. With her clear and authentic voice, she has shown many of us that speaking loudly is not enough; we must use our voices to inspire a better purpose, whatever field we work in.
The Challenge of Advancing Hispanic Talent in Corporate America
As Hispanics, we have an enormous task ahead of us. In the United States, where more than 19% of the population is Hispanic, only 4% of C-suite positions are held by Latinos. Worse still, only 1% of these leaders are Latina women. It’s not a lack of talent. It’s a lack of opportunity, but also—and I say this clearly—it’s time to recognize that it’s also a lack of self-will in how we prepare ourselves and face the great challenge of being leaders.
Over the past couple of years, I have studied how retail chains and other service industries are improving the work experience of their employees.
One of the constants I have observed is this: Hispanic talent is present, but often it is not visibly prepared to leap to leadership, not because of a lack of ability, but due to a lack of tools, visibility, and intentional development.
Mentorship and Tools to Unlock Hispanic Talent
How can we help? Mentoring Hispanic youth, as many of you do, is essential and relevant. Still, based on our capabilities at HumanX Insights, we determined that we needed to develop a tool to help Hispanic professionals evaluate their level of preparedness to advance in the U.S. corporate world.
HumanXTM Loud to Lead, the first assessment designed for our Hispanic community, is inspired by a deep conviction: that the Hispanic voice—strong, authentic, resilient—can and should be a tool for transformative leadership.
Being “loud” is not about being noisy; it is about being clear, courageous, and true to who we are. And “lead” is not just about directing, it is about leading with purpose, empathy, and vision.
Loud to Lead: A Pathway for Hispanic Talent
This set of thoughtful questions assesses five essential dimensions we have identified as key to advancing professionally, many linked to so-called soft skills:
- Clarity in communicating our ideas.
- Empathy with our teams.
- Confidence in ourselves.
- Connection to our values.
- The ability to influence while remaining authentic.
The first results from Loud to Lead™ are already yielding valuable data. For example:
- 1 in 3 Hispanics who responded acknowledge that they are not direct when answering specific questions from their managers.
- More than 50% say they are unsure whether they should incorporate their identity and cultural roots into their leadership style.
These numbers may seem worrying, but they actually open up a great opportunity: training with intention. Leadership cannot be improvised. It is cultivated.
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Training Hispanic Talent Is a Smart Business Strategy
If, after reading this article, you are already thinking about your teams, I congratulate you and encourage you to continue investing more in your Hispanic employees by offering training, mentoring, visibility, and safe spaces for development. But I also invite you to reflect on yourself as a professional.
Suppose we want to change the representation figures. In that case, we have to start by taking our preparation seriously, without excuses, without fear, and without waiting for “someone else” to do it for us.
Today, more than ever, training Hispanic talent cannot be seen as a luxury or a diversity initiative to meet quotas. It is a smart business strategy, a moral imperative, and an act of foresight.
At HumanX Insights, we will continue to collect data, share insights, and help companies create environments where Hispanic employees not only work, but grow, lead, and transform.
But what if you join this movement? I invite you to be part of the change. Take the assessment. It won’t take more than 5 minutes. Share it. Use it as a starting point. Let’s not just send the kids back to school this season; let’s also start a new phase of learning and leadership for ourselves as adults.