2019 Top 10 Latina Corporate
Executives of the Year
In its 11th consecutive year, the LATINA Style Corporate Executive of the Year program honors influential
Latinas, selected by their peers, as leaders and examples for the Hispanic community and for the professional
women in the U.S. Each year LATINA Style Inc. recognizes the achievement and dedication Latinas are
performing at the top of their respective companies and in various industries. The Top 10 Corporate LATINA
Executives of the Year listed here (in no specific order) have demonstrated excellence in leadership, commitment to
the community, impact to the company bottom line and creation of an environment where associates are
encouraged to succeed and reach their full potential.
Evita Garces
Managing Director
Technical Operations,
Maintenance Ops Control
American Airlines
On November 13, Evita “Evie”
Garces, Managing Director
of Maintenance Operations
Control at American Airlines was named
the company’s new FAA-certificated
Director of Maintenance (DOM). As the
first woman and the first Latina team
member to occupy this position, American is making history as it upholds its
commitment to diversity.
As the new DOM, Garces is responsible for ensuring that all work
on the airline’s aircraft is performed in accordance with Federal Aviation
Regulations (FARs); staying up to date on, and maintaining access to, all
FARs; and serving as the primary maintenance liaison between the FAA
and American. She and her team also oversee the day-to-day technical
operations of American, which includes oversight of aircraft maintenance,
vendor operations in more than 150 cities, ownership of the aircraft
maintenance deferral process, and the management of out-of-service
aircraft.
Garces has a rich history in technical operations that dates back to high
school, where she graduated from Aviation High School in New York City with
Airframe and Power Plant licenses. She continued to expand her aviation
knowledge at the College of Aeronautics in Flushing, NY and obtained her
MBA from Northwestern University in Chicago. Honing her skills in various
positions, she found her way to American Airlines in 2001. She started her
career on the aircraft maintenance track, earning her Airframe and Power
plant (A&P) license to eventually become an Aviation Maintenance Technician.
She has continued to work her way up within the company, serving in
various positions, including Manager of Aircraft Maintenance and Managing
Director of Line Maintenance.
Before her current position, she served as the Managing Director of
Maintenance Planning — Base and Strategic. It was in this position that she
led the efforts around Base Maintenance operations, including the launch of
several successful initiatives such as domestic satellite Wi-Fi modifications
and aircraft cabin retrofits.
Lupita Sanchez
Cornejo
Regional Director of
External Affairs
AT&T
As Regional Director of External
Affairs for AT&T, Lupita
Sanchez Cornejo oversees
legislative and community affairs for
the Greater Los Angeles region. She
is also the executive lead for Believe
Los Angeles, part of AT&T Believes,
the company’s national initiative for lifting communities. In L.A., AT&T pairs
resources with local organizations to address both youth unemployment and
the need to diversify the entertainment industry. The L.A. Believe program
supports workforce development and career readiness programs, with a
special emphasis on digital media and entertainment employment
opportunities for underserved students, especially diverse millennials.
She is also responsible for executing local strategies that help achieve
corporate legislative objectives, and managing community partnerships with
non-profit organizations, philanthropic and corporate social responsibility and
local communities. She leads a team who works with policymakers across
the Los Angeles region on AT&T’s new technology deployment and
infrastructure investment.
By Gloria Romano-Barrera
12 www. lat inastyle.com LATINAStyle Vol . 25, No. 6, 2019
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