Joining Marriott in 1999, it was
immediately evident to Durham
that her background, experience
and skill set were important
factors for her selection as the
legal lead for operations support
to Latin America.
“I realized early on that Marriott
valued a culture of inclusion and
diversity and recognized these
as integral to how the company
does business and a key
component for success. This
culture also provided me with
opportunities to develop my skills as a business partner to
the operators and developers in the region, represent Latinas
within the company and to mentor, support, and promote the
many talented Latinas in the region,” she says. “This was
and is very meaningful to me and a source of great pride.”
Marriott’s senior ranking Latina, Durham supports the
company’s focus on its many diversity and inclusion programs.
“These programs help ensure that our diversity and inclusion
strategy is implemented in the local markets with initiatives
that include strategic partnerships, targeted recruitment
campaigns, leadership development programs, diversity
communications, conferences and outreach to associates,”
she says.
For Durham, companies such as Marriott have “a responsibility
to drive change by championing a culture of inclusion
and opportunity.”
Diversity Matters
“Recognize that diversity and
inclusion are important to driving
innovation and the bottom line,”
shares Diana Morales, Vice
President, Legal, Fire & Security
Products at United Technologies
Corporation. “It is always helpful
to have various perspectives
brought forward.”
Joining UTC as in-house counsel
over 20 years ago, Morales always
saw herself working for a large,
multinational corporation because
she wanted to travel, live overseas,
and work in a challenging environment with people from diverse
cultures all over the world.
For Morales diversity matters and today she takes pride to
work for a company��that is committed to fostering a diverse,
inclusive workforce.
“One area where I’ve seen solid progress is in advancing
women to leadership roles,” she shares. “Nearly a third of
UTC’s global executives are women today.”
Today, UTC is part of the Paradigm for Parity (P4P) coalition
with a goal of 50 percent women representation in their
senior leadership roles by 2030. Also, UTC encourages
Employee Resource Groups to help employees grow
personally and professionally.
Proud of her Puerto Rican heritage Morales encourages
Latinas to embrace their culture and lead by example, “we
have a lot to offer,” she says.
Diversity is Key to Success
“Diversity is core to who we are
at AT&T,” says Sonia Perez,
President of AT&T Louisiana.
“Our customers, suppliers and
investors are diverse. And we
serve them best when our
workforce is diverse.”
For Perez, Diversity is essential
to AT&T’s culture and success.
Diversity drives innovation and
it is the first step toward inclusion
— allowing a wide range of
viewpoints to be heard and
considered. Early in the history
of AT&T, diversity of experience and skill set led to the
development of many of the foundational elements of the
modern technologies.
“Today, our team is one not only with a diversity of skills,
but a team with a diversity of passions and pursuits,” she
says. “A team focused not only on finding ways to keep our
customers connected with one another, but a company
that is also focused on staying connected with the
many communities that our employees call home.”
As President of AT&T Louisiana, Perez is responsible
for developing the overall strategic direction of AT&T’s
corporate activities in the state.
Perez encourages corporate America to look at AT&T
as an example of inclusiveness. “AT&T has built its
reputation on innovation,” she states. “That innovation
has been fueled by a variety of viewpoints from people
who represent different generations, genders and cultures.
Every member of AT&T’s workforce brings his or her own
insight and ideas to create communications services that
connect people around the world and deliver a superior
customer experience.”
LS
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10 www.latinastyle.com LATINAStyle Vol. 24, No. 4, 2018
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