Yvonne crossing the finish line at the Boston Marathon, 2018.
“As a global company, we are accustomed to virtual connections, but
have never experienced a 90 percent remote workforce,” she shares. “As
such, it became my priority to find ways to keep employees informed and
engaged while enabling their ability to remain productive, and more
importantly, safe. Beyond the current crisis, leading with empathy
and purpose has always been one of my priorities, and this time is no
different. As an inclusive leader I always make a point to collaborate with
other leaders across multiple functions, including human resources,
real estate, marketing, operations and global security. This level of
collaboration enables me to ensure that the appropriate and necessary
information is cascaded throughout the organization.”
Another key area of focus for Garcia is to ensure that State Street is
representing, embracing, and celebrating employees of all backgrounds.
Michelle Obama and Yvonne at the Women’s conference in PA.
“I consider myself a constant champion of diversity in the corporate
environment and strive to ensure that messages from our CEO are
culturally relevant to employees in our organization,” she shares. “I also
speak regularly at many community and industry forums calling for and
celebrating diversity in the workplace.”
Garcia maintains close ties with other leaders in the Latino
community, both locally in Massachusetts and beyond. After close to 20
years volunteering for the Association of Latino Professionals for America,
(ALPFA), the largest Latino professional organization in the country, which
led to serving as the National Chairwoman, Garcia remains on ALPFA’s
national advisory board, and now also chairs The Greater Boston
Chamber of Commerce Women’s Network, which has provided Garcia an
additional platform to lead with purpose and intentionality, including
opening doors for other professionals throughout the Latino community. To
that effect, she also implemented diversity metrics within the Women’s
Advisory Board for the first time in the Chamber’s history.
However, what she is most proud of is having served as the
co-founding Chair of Milagros para Niños, an initiative at Children’s
Hospital in Boston dedicated to serving the Latino community and helping
children of modest means gain access to life-saving medical care. Since
its inception, over $14 million has been raised, allowing Garcia to help
countless children in the U.S. and abroad.
“It is one of my proudest accomplishments,” she states. “Knowing
that our efforts can have such a direct impact on the health and wellness
of the children in our community is priceless. When thinking about what
really matters, the miracles performed by Milagros para Niños, and first
responders everywhere, in my opinion clearly exemplifies true leadership
in action.”
12 www. lat inastyle.com LATINAStyle Vol . 26, No. 3, 2020
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