Diversifying Corporate America
By Gloria Romano-Barrera
Diversity and inclusion is at the forefront of issues
challenging corporate America. Efforts to gain
more diversity of thought, background and experience
in both management as well as the C-suite has allowed
for the development, participation, and visibility of
untapped talent.
Today, Latina corporate executives are not only impacting
the company’s bottom line, they are impacting the global
economy, the health and direction of the business, and
influencing the culture of corporate America.
Diversity and Inclusion is Critical for Success
For Jaqueline Maestri, Vice
President, Engineering &
Property Services at Johnson
& Johnson, the opportunity
to work with a vast number of
professionals from different
backgrounds, experiences
and a rich environment along
with the ability to make a
large-scale impact, is what
drew her to corporate
America. Showing passion
for Johnson & Johnson’s
Credo – with a responsibility
to the patients, employees
and communities in which we live and work and to
the world community as well –along with a strong
work ethic, Maestri climbed the executive ranks with
an unstoppable force.
Responsible for providing strategic direction across
Johnson and Johnson’s 1000+ properties worldwide, Maestri
is the first woman to lead Worldwide Engineering for J&J.
She and her team are driving facilities transformation across
the company, harmonizing services and amenities, enabling
business growth, and implementing forward-thinking
workplace innovation that optimizes the employee
experience, including activity-based neighborhoods,
healthy lifestyle amenities and collaborative technology.
In order for success and business growth at J&J, Maestri
believes diversity and inclusion is a business imperative.
“The reason it is important is not only because it is the right
thing to do and it is part of our values, but it is also really
important for the business,” she shares. “In the healthcare
world, our market is global, it’s diverse in gender, in culture
and many other socioeconomic backgrounds. If your
business doesn’t have this type of diversity, then you can’t
really do that business justice.”
Fostering a positive energy and having an open dialogue
with diverse teams has ultimately helped to innovate and
bring in unique perspectives at Johnson & Johnson. “If
everybody knows how to do one thing and think the same
way, there are so many things they are going to miss,” she
shares. “Being diverse is critical.” For corporate America
business leaders, if they could stop a moment and think
about the power that can be unleashed, that everyone can
feel that they can bring their passion, their commitment, their
style, their background, their experience forward to deliver
business results, it really creates a virtuous cycle of success.
If they employees feel valued and appreciated, they are
motivated to give more of themselves, and hence the business
gets even more productivity. It becomes a positive energy.”
Connecting with Others
Brenda Durham, Senior Vice President and Regional
General Counsel at Marriott International, Inc. understood
early in her career Marriott’s global reach and integrity as
a global industry leader. This along with Marriott’s successful
business model, focus on developing associate careers
and the pride Marriott associates expressed about the
company, attracted her to Marriott.
8 www.latinastyle.com LATINAStyle Vol. 24, No. 4, 2018
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