LATINA Style Business
Series in Dallas, TX
(L-R): Maria Santi, Director of Minority
Outreach, Grand Prairie Chamber of
Commerce; Derenda Fisher, SBA; Isela
Aguilar, VP, Banking Center Manager,
Comerica; Debbie Hurst, CEO, Women’s
Business Council - Southwest, and Velena
McRae, Communications & Liaison, IRS.
By Tania G. Davila
Photos by Guillermo Resendes
Latina professionals, entrepreneurs and
community leaders gathered to celebrate
the 21st Anniversary of the LATINA Style
Business Series in Dallas, Texas on April 5th at the
AT&T headquarters.
The award-winning program for Latina
entrepreneurs marked its 134th stop with over
36,000 Latina business owners graduating from this
initiative. Participants had the opportunity to network
and learn about business ownership from
successful Latina entrepreneurs.
The day kicked-off with welcoming remarks
from Maria T. Lensing, Vice President, Global
Business, AT&T; Lory Burgos, Senior Consultant,
Enterprise Diverse Marketing, Nationwide; and the
Honorable Regina Montoya, Attorney, Chair, Mayor’s
Task Force for Poverty, Dallas.
During the first panel titled “The Essentials
of a Successful Business,” experts addressed
ways to build capacity to position a small business
in order to secure capital for expansion. Moderated
by Maria Santi, Attorney at Law, Director of Minority
Outreach, Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce;
(L-R): Silvana Rosero, CEO, Laguna
Media Group; Tilde Guajardo, Founder &
CEO, Womanars®; Brianne C. Martin,
Vice Chair, SHPE; and John Starkweather,
AVP Marketing, AT&T.
(L-R): Norma Garcia, News Anchor, Telemundo Dallas; Veronica Thomison, Founder &
President, MPR Source, Inc.; Rosa Santana, Founder & CEO, Santana Group; Erica
Armendariz, Owner, Armendariz Insurance Agency; Dr. Di Ann Sanchez, President, DAS
HR Consulting LLC; and Gabriela N. Smith, Esq., Managing Attorney, the Smith Law
Group.
speakers included: Derenda Fisher, SBA; Isela
Aguilar, VP, Banking Center Manager, Comerica;
Velena McRae, Communications & Liaison, IRS, and
Debbie Hurst, President & CEO, Women’s Business
Council - Southwest (WBCS).
(L-R): Betty Manetta, President & CEO,
Argent Associates, Inc.; Nancy Alvarez,
Supervisor of the 8(a) Business
Development Division, SBA; Jessica
Narvaez, CDO, Pinnacle Group; Laura
Ramirez, Director, Diversity & Inclusion,
Ericsson, and Cristina Candia Lopez,
Senior Director, Inclusion, Diversity &
Culture, McKesson.
The second panel, “The Successful Marketing
Strategies: Promote Your Business and Yourself,”
was moderated by Silvana Rosero, President & CEO,
Laguna Media Group. Panelists included Tilde
Guajardo, Founder & CEO, Womanars®; Brianne C.
16 www. lat inastyle.com LATINAStyle Vol . 25, No. 3, 2019
/www.latinastyle.com
