Patricia Salas Pineda is group vice president at Toyota Motor North America, Inc. (TMA) with primary responsibility for Hispanic business strategy. Previously, she was responsible for national philanthropy at the Toyota USA Foundation. Pineda joined TMA in September 2004 as group vice president of corporate communications and general counsel.

Prior to joining Pineda spent twenty years at New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI), the corporate joint venture between Toyota Motor Corporation and General Motors Corporation where she served as vice president human resources, government and legal affairs, and corporate secretary.

Pineda’s many affiliations include director, Levi Strauss & Co., Inc.; advisory trustee, The Rand Corporation; Corporate Advisory board member, National Council of La Raza; and chair and director, the Latino Corporate Directors Association.

Pineda’s previous affiliations include: director, Eller Media and Anna’s Linens; board member, California Air Resources Board; trustee, The James Irvine Foundation.

Pineda received a Bachelor of Arts from Mills College and a juris doctor degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

Elizabeth Oliver-Farrow is President and CEO of The Oliver Group, Inc., a DC-based public relations and consulting firm. She brings 40 years of experience to clients working on strategic solutions. She formerly operated an award-winning communications firm with federal clients, such as the US Department of Transportation, US Department of Agriculture, National Institutes of Health and US Environmental Protection Agency, among others, developing and directing bilingual outreach campaigns.

Elizabeth is Vice Chair of the board of the Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA), a membership association focused on enhancing America’s economic competitiveness by increasing the number and influence of Latinos on corporate boards.  She is co-chair of the 2017 LCDA Board Leaders convening sponsored by Time Warner, featuring Jeff Bewkes, in New York on November 1-3, 2017. She co-chaired the successful Inaugural LCDA convening sponsored by Hewlett-Packard Enterprises in Silicon Valley in 2016.

In 2004, Elizabeth was the first Latina elected to the Board of $7.2 billion BlueCross health insurer, CareFirst, Inc. (CFI). She served as Chair of the Service and Quality Oversight Committee, and was a member of the Executive, Governance and Nominating, Mission Oversight, and Strategic Planning Committees. She also served on the CFI affiliate board, Group Hospitalization and Medical Services, Inc. for nine years. She was appointed to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s National Advisory Council and to the National Women’s Business Council in 1993,1996,1998, and 2003.

Elizabeth is Chair of the HR and Compensation Committee of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, is regional co-chair of the New America Alliance (NAA) Latina Caucus and was recently elected to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation board.

She was Chair of the National Education Association Foundation and US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; is a member of the International Women’s Forum and Leadership Washington.

Al Zapanta is president and CEO of the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce. He is responsible for operations in 16 regional offices in the United States and Mexico.

In the private sector, Zapanta was an executive with ARCO for 18 years. He was responsible for negotiations with PEMEX on oil and gas matters.

In public service, Zapanta has held a number of presidential appointments and was a member of the Department of State’s Advisory Committee on International Trade, Technology, and Development, and private sector delegate to the U.S.-Mexico Partnership for Prosperity.

Zapanta was appointed by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia to the rank of Major General. General Zapanta’s military record includes the award of the Silver Star, five Bronze Stars for Valor, the Purple Heart, and 30 other awards during the Vietnam War.

He currently serves on the board of Tyson Foods, and the boards of various nonprofit organizations across the country.

Zapanta was born in Los Angeles. He is a graduate of the Harvard School of Business.

Judge Nelson A. Diaz is a partner at Dilworth Paxson LLP, a Philadelphia-based regional law firm. He has been a director of Exelon since 2004. He is active in Philadelphia government and community affairs, and neighborhood development. He has made contributions to Exelon’s outreach to diverse groups within Philadelphia and neighboring communities.

He currently serves as a director of PECO and formerly served on Legg Mason Funds and as chairman of the board of trustees of Paradigm Multi Strategy Fund I, LLC. Judge Diaz is also a trustee of Temple University. In addition, he serves on the boards of the National Association for Hispanic Elderly and the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Judge Diaz is also a member of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships and a member of the board of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Housing Authority.

Jose Luis Prado is currently president of Prado Strategic Consulting LLC. He is the former president of Quaker Foods North America, a division of PepsiCo, Inc. that he ran from 2011 to 2014. The first Mexican to lead a PepsiCo business unit and a 30-year veteran of the company, Prado began his career in PepsiCo Mexico Foods, and served in a variety of leadership positions in Europe and Latin America.

Prado serves on the boards of Northern Trust, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business Advisory Board, the Latino Corporate Directors Association, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the National Museum of Mexican Art.

He has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (cum laude) from the National Polytechnical Institute, a Master of Science. in Systems from Iberoamericana University, and an Master of Business Administration from the Monterrey Institute of Technology.

He has been married to his wife Rosy for 32 years and they have two sons, Jose Luis Jr., and Victor.

Victor Arias is a senior client partner at Korn/Ferry International and was recently named global leader of diversity and inclusion for the firm. Arias boasts more than 18 years of executive recruitment experience with several of the world’s most preeminent search firms and his specialties include board of directors, higher education, consumer and real estate.

Prior to executive search, Arias spent 15 years in the corporate and commercial real estate business, as vice president at LaSalle Partners and later as executive vice president for the Las Colinas development.

Since 2001, Arias has served on the board of directors of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen. He is a trustee emeritus for the Stanford University board of trustees, serves on the UTEP Leadership Council and is a past White House Fellows Commissioner. Arias is also a past national president and co-founder of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs.

Arias earned his Master on Business Administration from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at El Paso, where he was named Distinguished Alum in 2009.

Gilbert F. Casellas is chairman of Omnitru Technologies, LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based defense, intelligence, and homeland security investment firm and solutions provider. Before OMNITRU, he led Dell’s global corporate responsibility function and during the Clinton administration, he was chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, general counsel of the Air Force and co-chairman of the Census Monitoring Board. He has practiced with major law firms in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. and for two years was president of an asset management firm.

He has been a member of the board of Prudential Financial, Inc. since 1998 and a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania since 1996 and also serves on the advisory board of Toyota North America, and chairs the National Hispanic Advisory Council of Comcast Corporation. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Law Institute.

He received his Bachelor of Arts from Yale and his juris doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Kimberly Casiano was the first Hispanic woman to serve on one of the top five Fortune 100 corporate boards and is a member of the board of directors of Ford Motor Company, Mead Johnson Nutrition Company, Mutual of America, and Scotiabank of Puerto Rico. She is President of Kimberly Casiano & Associates, an advisor to companies targeting the Hispanic market.

Ms. Casiano serves on the Board of Directors of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF), the leading national organization awarding college scholarships to Hispanic youth. She is also co-founder of Nuestra Casa de los Niños, a Puerto Rico-based organization that provides private-school education for economically disadvantaged children. She also serves on the Board of Advisors of the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, is a member of the HACR Corporate Directors Council, and is the former Chapter Chair of the Young Presidents’ Organization, Puerto Rico.

Ms. Casiano obtained her bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Princeton University and her MBA from Harvard Business School.

Tom Castro is the founder and CEO of El Dorado Capital, a Houston-based boutique investment firm that partners with a select number of growth companies. El Dorado is also a vehicle for Castro to mentor younger entrepreneurs. He is also a partner in IMB, a lower-middle market investment fund.

Castro serves on the board of Time Warner Cable, a Fortune 125 company. He is a member of the audit and nominations and governance committees. He also serves on the boards of Teach for America in New York; the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.; IESE, the Barcelona, Spain-based business school; the Surdna Foundation in New York; Media Matters for America in Washington, D.C.; the Latino Donor Collaborative of Phoenix; and the Environmental Defense Fund in New York.

He was educated at Harvard College; the University of Madrid in Spain; CIDOC in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and Loyola Jesuit High School in Los Angeles.

Dolores Kunda is the executive director of the Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA), whose mission is to “support and develop Latino Corporate Directors and accelerate the growth potential of U.S. companies by supporting their efforts to increase the number and influence of qualified Latinos on their corporate boards.”

Kunda is a passionate believer that diversity in the boardroom leads to creative thinking; translating to better solutions to today’s dynamic business problems. These innovative solutions are ultimately reflected in greater shareholder returns.

Kunda came to the LCDA from thirty years in advertising. Kunda was an executive vice president at Leo Burnett USA, the president of Leo Burnett Puerto Rico, and the president and CEO of Lápiz, the Hispanic ad agency she founded.

On the board of the Finish Line, Inc., Kunda was previously with Lenox Group, Inc. Kunda is a member of the city of Chicago’s Marketing Council and is a member of The Chicago Network, an organization of the city’s outstanding female leaders.

A graduate of Smith College, Kunda holds a Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School.

Alejandro Silva is the chairman of Evans Food Group, Ltd., a Chicago company founded in 1947. Under Silva’s leadership, Evans Food Group has become the largest private label pork rind manufacturer in the world, with plants in Ohio, California, Texas, and Mexico.

Silva serves on the board of directors of Chicago’s PrivateBancorp, Inc. and Walgreen Co. He is active in numerous civic and charitable organizations. He is chairman of the Finance, Audit and Budgeting Committee for the Chicago Transit Authority. He is on the board of the Museum of Science Industry in Chicago, The Field Museum, the Chicago Symphony, and the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Silva earned a Bachelor of Science in Biochemical Engineering from the Technology Institute and Superior Studies of Monterrey in Mexico and a Master of Science in Food Technology from the National College of Food Technology in England. He attended the Harvard Business School, Owner/President Management Course.