Our History

Where We Started

A pioneering group of Latino corporate directors along with leaders from the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR) gave rise to the Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA). Early staffing and office support by HACR incubated LCDA as a separate 501(c)6 nonprofit, non-partisan organization.

Moving Forward

In 2013, the LCDA Board of Directors formally incorporated the association and its foundation, the Latino Corporate Directors Education Foundation (LCDEF) and established a governance structure for both organizations. In 2015, the LCDA hired its first part-time Executive Director, Dolores Kunda, to build a marketing foundation and grow the membership.

LCDA Evolves

In 2016, the board hired Esther Aguilera as LCDAs first full-time President & CEO to develop a comprehensive strategic framework to advance the mission, grow the donor base, and launch LCDA's first annual meeting.

That same year, the LCDA Annual Board Leaders Convening was launched, to provide board-trending content by leading authorities, thought leadership to advance board diversity, and quality networking. The inaugural October 2016 Convening was hosted in Silicon Valley by Meg Whitman, CEO of HP Enterprise and Chair of the Board of HP Inc.

Growing Partnerships

Over the next three years, LCDA proudly recognized its Founding Sponsors—the forward-looking companies that helped our organization get its start. Those companies included: KPMG, Toyota, Target, Kaiser Permanente, Tyson Foods, Bank of America, and Exelon. Additional multi-year support has been received from Corporate Creations, Korn Ferry, and Northern Trust.

LCDEF Begins
In 2017, in partnership with our foundation, LCDA initiated a new membership category to welcome C-level Latino executives to identify and grow the pool of board-qualified candidates. The LCDEF BoardReady Institue (BRI) was also launched to prepare and position these board aspiring directors for boardroom success.