A Road of Opportunities
Judith Garcia Galiana, Vice President, Global Service Centers, 3M and National
Board Chair for Prospanica
By Gloria Romano-Barrera
A30-plus year veteran in diverse
businesses and international
markets, Judith Garcia Galiana’s
career began as a process engineer at 3M’s
Rivas manufacturing plant in Madrid, Spain.
She then moved to roles with increasing
responsibility in technical support, sales and
marketing. In 1997, she became the first
woman to serve in the Operating Committee
for 3M Iberia. Today, the energetic and
dedicated Latina serves as 3M’s Vice
President for Global Service Centers, and
National Board Chair for Prospanica,
the largest U.S. association for Hispanic
professionals.
“I never thought I was going to be a
vice president and traveling the world,”
she shares. “I knew that I wanted the
experience of living abroad and work with
people of diverse nationalities. I always
wanted to have an international scope in my
job. That has been a dream of mine.”
Born in Madrid to a professional
violinist and an engineer, she recalls how
her mother traveled a lot as she played for
the national orchestra. For Garcia Galiana,
traveling across the world and working
with other cultures became a reality.
As Vice President at 3M, she supports
the company and its 100+ subsidiaries
worldwide by providing all services,
from Finance to Sourcing, HR, IT, Taxes or
Customer Service.
While she managed to grow and excel
as an engineer, the defining moment that
changed her career trajectory happened
early on when she visited customers who
were utilizing the products she worked on.
It was then when she decided to move on
to the business side. Years later, she added
to her academic background an MBA,
which led to opportunities that propelled
her career in business.
Today, she holds an MBA from the IESE
– Universidad de Navarra and an M.S. in
Mechanical Engineering from the ETSIIM –
Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain.
In addition to her native Spanish
language, she is fluent in English and French.
Other leadership positions she has held
include Managing Director for 3M Turkey,
Six Sigma Director for Europe, Middle East,
and Africa; Global Vice President for the
Home Care (Scotch-Brite) Division, Vice
President for Change Management.
Garcia Galiana’s road to success in the
United States has been a challenging one as
she had to adapt to different views and
cultures, especially that of being Latina.
“It was when I came to the U.S. when I
realized and saw how many wonderful
professional Hispanics there were, but
I witnessed there was this kind
of barrier for them to go to the top,” she
states. “I’ve witnessed that many times. Then
I said, ‘well I am a Latina, so what can I do
about it’”.
Garcia Galiana hopes that by being an
example and a role model in a
male-dominated world, she is making a
difference. “I am a Latina and I am a
woman,” she states. “Make the best out of
it, and be part of the community, but never
hide your attributes. I can be a role model
just by being who I am. Since I started my
career and even while studying, I’ve been
a woman in a man’s world, and a young
person. I’ve witnessed some behaviors,
attitudes and some comments since the
very beginning. It was a conscious
decision that I was not going to pay
attention to it. You are who you are, don’t
worry about the comments.”
12 LATINAStyle www.latinastyle.com Vol. 25, No. 5, 2019
/www.latinastyle.com
