2023 Symposium

June 1, 2023

Thank you to everyone who attended our 2023 Symposium. 

Latinas & Power Symposium 2023 - Sold Out

LOCATION
Marriott Downtown Hartford
200 Columbus Blvd
Hartford, CT 06103

REGISTRATION
General: $175
Livestream: $25

2023 Latinas & Power Symposium

An In-Person and Livestream Event | June 1, 2023

New England’s premier networking event for Latinas on a professional or entrepreneurial track. Created by Latinas for everyone!

Latinas & Power’s 20th annual gathering brings the organization full circle with a return appearance by our very first keynote speaker: business leader, and author DEBORAH ROSADO SHAW, former SVP, Chief of Global Diversity and Engagement for PepsiCo. Joining the participants in the afternoon keynote speaker will be Jane the Virgin actor and uplifting speaker ANDREA NAVEDO.

As in previous years, Latinas & Power Symposium will feature inspiring presenters, engaging panels, a vendor showcase, an awards presentation to honor the Entrepreneur of the Year, Latina Champions, and Company of the Year, plus several networking sessions. Whether you are just starting out on your career journey, you’re a seasoned professional, a small business owner, or looking for inspiration in your personal life.

In-person registration includes event admission, access to the vendor and exhibitor market, lunch, and a post-event networking reception starting at 5 pm. PLEASE NOTE: If you are registering for more than one person, you must register each individual separately. Thank you!

The virtual portion will be hosted via private YouTube Livestream from 10:15 am to 5 pm EST. Livestream registration is only $25. PLEASE NOTE: If you are registering for more than one person, you must register each individual separately. Thank you!

Watch the recorded livestream

Featuring 2023 Keynote Speakers

Actress, Author

Andrea Navedo

Business Leader & Author

Deborah Rosado Shaw

Actress, Author

Andrea Navedo

Jane the Virgin actor and uplifting speaker

Business Leader & Author

Deborah Rosado Shaw

Business leader and author DEBORAH ROSADO SHAW, former SVP, Chief of Global Diversity and Engagement for PepsiCo

Host: Marilyn Alverio

Founder & CEO, Latinas & Power Corp.

Marilyn Alverio

Founder & CEO, Latinas & Power Corp.

Marilyn Alverio

Having grown up in an urban neighborhood, Marilyn learned early on about the importance of giving back to the community. Her parents migrated to the U.S. from Puerto Rico in the early 1950s and instilled the importance of “la Familia,” our culture, language, and “La Communidad.” She earned a B.A from the University of Conn. in Storrs, CT and an M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix. Marilyn has worked in the corporate arena for more than twenty years where she has held numerous management positions within the airline, pharmaceutical, education, financial, and health insurance industries.

She is the creator and producer of the Latinas and Power Symposium® (LPS), which is achieving national recognition. The annual one-day inspirational and professional development platform is designed for the Latina on the go.

Panelists

SVP, General Counsel, Liberty Bank

Dinora Lopez

Chief Learning Officer, How Women Lead

Patricia Murillo

President and Chief Executive Officer of Community Renewal Team, Inc.

Lena Rodriguez

Global Chief Human Resources Officer, Double Verify

Rose Velez-Smith

Vice President, Audience Strategy, Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, AARP

Yvette Peña

President, Universal Health Foundation

Caprice Taylor Mendez

Human Rights Advocate, Attorney, and the Deputy Director at Equality Illinois

Mony Ruiz-Velasco

Executive Director, United Way of Meriden/Wallingford, CT

Maria Harlow

SVP, General Counsel, Liberty Bank

Dinora Lopez

Dinora is a proven legal expert and leader in finance, real estate, corporate governance and complex transactions. Dinora joined Liberty Bank from the private practice of law, having worked with and counseled senior leaders at many banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions, including Liberty Bank.

Most recently, she was a Senior Associate with Gfeller Laurie, LLP and began her law career with Ford & Paulekas, LLP, beginning as a paralegal and eventually ascending to Partner. She is widely regarded as one of a new generation of “Young Gun” lawyers in Connecticut and she has demonstrated the highest of legal skills, ethics and integrity in all that she has accomplished so far.

Dinora is a product of Hartford public schools. Thereafter, she attended Branford Hall Career Institute and Capital Community College and then ultimately graduating Magna Cum Laude from the University of Hartford with a Bachelor of Science degree in paralegal studies. She went on to earn her Juris Doctorate from The University of Connecticut School of Law where she excelled and has been in private practice since completing law school.

Dinora is very active in community affairs and is a leader on many boards and organizations. She is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association, the Connecticut Hispanic Bar Association, President of the Commercial Real Estate Women’s Network (CREW) Connecticut Chapter, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Capital Community College Foundation and member of the
Board of Directors of Connecticut Attorneys Title Insurance Company (CATIC), among many

Chief Learning Officer, How Women Lead

Patricia Murillo

Patricia is a social impact leader, strategist, and powerful learning facilitator. With twenty-five years of progressive leadership in the nonprofit sector, she has effectively led organizations and initiatives to greater impact. As a first-generation Latina who came up from working the fields in Watsonville, she has been on a mission to provide support and opportunities for marginalized communities to give back to the many hands that uplifted her throughout her education and career. Patricia has consulted, coached, and facilitated hundreds of leaders globally towards building pragmatic and inspired long-range plans, strengthening board capacity, and supporting leadership development in multiple formats. As the Chief Learning Officer for How Women Lead, Patricia provides diverse and rich learning content to a national network of 15,000 executive leaders. In previous roles, as an Executive Director and Chief Program Officer, she expanded programs and developed teams with a participatory and co-created approach. She is passionate about creating organizations and learning communities that inspire and connect people to a larger purpose.

President and Chief Executive Officer of Community Renewal Team, Inc.

Lena Rodriguez

Lena Rodriguez has devoted her professional life to assisting people who are trying to forge better lives for themselves. With a genuine passion for service and CRT’s mission of “Preparing Our Community to Meet Life’s Challenges,” Lena leads CRT to address unmet needs in the community.

Lena is consistently focused on maximizing services that will benefit the people of Central Connecticut. In her role at CRT, she has taken the lead on several large, innovative projects dedicated to helping people in need. In 2019, Ms. Rodriguez realized the fruition of a life-long dream of hers with the official opening of CRT’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg Women’s Empowerment Center in Hartford. Today, with a broad range of both hands-on services and personal mentoring for its members, the Women’s Empowerment Center is helping women to thrive and reach their true potential.

Lena received her MS from Rensselaer Institute – Hartford and an undergraduate degree in International Business from Bernard Baruch College. Most recently Lena received an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Eastern Connecticut State University. Outside of CRT, she serves on several Boards for area nonprofit organizations, and she is an avid golfer helping to establish the CT Latinas Golf Team.

Global Chief Human Resources Officer, Double Verify

Rose Velez-Smith

Rose is responsible for all aspects of DV’s human resources strategy and people functions globally, including talent management, leadership development, compensation & benefits, diversity, and inclusion & belonging. Prior to joining DV, Rose managed global HR efforts for Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI), spending more than two decades with the organization. Most recently, she served as Vice President of Total Rewards and HR Shared Services, and led the organization’s COVID Management team throughout the pandemic. During her tenure at Pitney Bowes, Rose was responsible for developing and directing Human Resources Talent strategies globally. In addition, she has developed strategic workforce solutions in the areas of employee relations, engagement and development, recruiting, talent acquisition, mergers and acquisitions, and legal and regulatory compliance. Rose holds a B.L.A and earned her M.A. in Human Resources Development and Counseling from the University of Bridgeport, CT. She also completed several Executive Leadership Programs at the RBL Group, Cornell University ILR School and the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.

Vice President, Audience Strategy, Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, AARP

Yvette Peña

Yvette Peña is a lifelong advocate for ethnic communities and takes pride in giving back and providing opportunities to develop communities in meaningful ways. It’s in her DNA. As an accomplished, award-winning marketer and community advocate with over 20 years of experience specializing in multicultural and general audience initiatives, she has put her heart where her work is. Currently, as Vice President of Audience Strategy at AARP, she leads the Hispanic/Latino audience strategy nationwide and most recently the Disabilities segment. She has championed innovation by leveraging digital, social and mobile platforms to drive engagements with the 50+ Latinos and their families. In this role, she serves as the national voice for AARP’s thought leadership in the Latino community through targeted campaigns and partnerships with multicultural organizations to drive AARP’s social impact agenda. She develops and manages relevant offerings and programs for AARP’s members and prospects, always with the goal of increasing brand affinity and engagement to better serve diverse communities.

Prior to her work with AARP, Yvette established a strong track record for successfully building brands with Latino markets, such as Sports Authority and Walgreens; as the first Director of Multicultural Marketing; also, as a Brand Manager at Sears and an Account Director at Young and Rubicam/The Bravo Group.

Public service has been a priority throughout her impactful career, always making public service, mentoring and championing diversity efforts in the community a priority. Earlier roles in her career include Chair of the City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations Latino Advisory Council, elected to participate in the Sears Chairman’s Diversity Council; she was also appointed as Vice-Chair to the Board of Directors for the Friends of the National Museum of the American Latino and is an Advisory Council Member for the American Latino Veterans Association (ALVA). She is an active Volunteer for Wish of a Lifetime.

She’s been honored many times, with different distinctions, the latest, the 2021 AL DÍA Archetype: recipient of the 2021 Ambassador Manuel Torres Award in the corporate category. Other awards include: 2021 EFFIE AARP COVID-19 Response Campaign, 2020 Silver Stevie Award – Women in Business for Female Innovator of the Year in Non-Profit category; Powerful Latinas Award; Mujeres Destacadas 2019 Award from El Diario NY Newspaper, 2019 Broadcasting/Cable & Multichannel News – Corporate Leadership Hispanic TV Video Award, 2019 EFFIE AARP Hispanic Brand Campaign; among other industry recognitions.

A native New Yorker, she is a proud Afro-Latina of Dominican roots and cherishes her time with her family and lifelong friends. Her life experiences have enabled her to do the ‘heartwork’ that impacts lives in a positive way. She currently resides between Washington, D.C. and Chicago with her husband, Lazaro.

President, Universal Health Foundation

Caprice Taylor Mendez

Human Rights Advocate, Attorney, and the Deputy Director at Equality Illinois

Mony Ruiz-Velasco

Executive Director, United Way of Meriden/Wallingford, CT

Maria Harlow

2023 Agenda

2023 Symposium Agenda
—MORNING—
7:30Registration Opens
Exhibitors | Networking | Coffee & Tea

Marriott Ballroom Foyer 3rd floor
8:30Ballroom Doors Open | Continental Breakfast
9:00Welcome by Yvette Peña, AARP VP, Latino Audience Strategy
9:15Morning Panel: The Power of Advocacy
Yvette Peña, Moderator

Maria Harlow • Executive Director, United Way of Meriden/Wallingford, CT
Mony Ruiz-Velasco • Human Rights Advocate, Attorney, & Deputy Director, Equality Illinois
Caprice Taylor Mendez • President, Universal Health Care Foundation, CT
10:10Livestream Begins
10:15Welcome by Latinas & Power CEO & Founder, Marilyn Alverio
10:45Morning Keynote | Deborah Rosado Shaw
Access To Expanding Your Power Impact and Fulfillment
11:30Exhibitors | Networking
—AFTERNOON—
12:30Lunch
1:00Welcome Back
Company/Organization of the Year
Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
1:45Afternoon Panel: Why So Few Latinas Make it to the Top
Lena Rodriguez • President and CEO, CRT | Rose Velez-Smith • Global Chief HRO, DoubleVerify
Patricia Murillo • Chief Learning Officer, How Women Lead
Dinora Lopez • SVP & General Counsel, Liberty Bank
3:00Exhibitors | Networking
3:30Afternoon Keynote Speaker | Andrea Navedo
Our Otherness is Our Strength
4:15Latina Champion Awards
4:30Andrea Navedo Book signing
5:00-7:30Closing reception | Happy Hour | Networking
Free Community Event
Live Salsa Music with the Orquesta Sensacional

Morning Panel Discussion:

The Power of Advocacy

MODERATOR: Yvette Peña
Vice President, Audience Strategy Office of Diversity Equity & Inclusion

Maria Harlow
Executive Director, United Way of Meriden/Wallingford, CT

Mony Ruiz-Velasco
Human Rights Advocate, an Attorney, and the Deputy Director at Equality Illinois

Caprice Taylor Mendez
President, Universal Health Foundation

Afternoon Panel Discussion:

Why so few Latinas Make it to the TOP. Latinas Leaders Speak Out.

Lena Rodriguez
President and Chief Executive Officer of Community Renewal Team, Inc.

Rose Velez-Smith
Global Chief Human Resources Officer, Double Verify

Patricia Murillo
Social Impact Leader & Strategist, How Women Lead

Dinora Lopez
Associate General Counsel, Liberty Bank

Marilyn Alverio
Founder & CEO, Latinas & Power Corp.