MBN USA

August 16, 2024

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Puente looking for new ways to reach next generation of HBEs

Long before the COVID-19 pandemic focused attention on the need for internet access, incoming United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) Chair Jackie Puente was focused on digital equity and using technology to empower underserved communities.

“I was working on how to bring different communities, low-income communities and diverse communities online and get them upskilled to be a part of our digital economy,” she said.

That talent and passion for using technology to build coalitions while creating equity and opportunities for grassroots advocacy are skills Puente hopes to bring to her new role as the incoming chair of the USHCC board of directors.

She began her career focused on economic policy before moving into fundraising and public affairs. Her professional experience includes developing strategic alliances with the public affairs firm DCI Group LLC, serving as director of development and corporate relations at the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute and leading corporate communications and external affairs at Dell Inc. In 2012, Puente joined Comcast NBCUniversal, where she is now the vice president of external affairs responsible for cultivating partnerships with diverse stakeholders on policy issues in the media and technology industries.

A commitment to diversity

As a Spanish American, diversity has always been part of Puente’s experience.

“The Northeast is super diverse, especially in terms of population density,” she said. “You have lots of different communities living really close to each other. Growing up in a diverse community, I never saw myself as anything different.”

As she began her career, however, she became more aware of issues related to equity and inclusion.

“Living in Washington D.C., I started to realize that fewer and fewer people in various circles share some of my world view,” she said. “As a woman in corporate America, there’s no better way to get involved in equity and inclusion than to want to see yourself and people like you succeeding.”

Shortly after joining Comcast NBCUniversal, Puente participated in the National Association for Minorities in Communications Executive Leadership Development Program at the University of Darden School of Business.

“One of the most important takeaways from that experience was understanding identity in the workplace,” she said. “It’s about learning the importance of sharing who you are and using that to build relationships with people who do not look like you, may not have your background, and may not understand your perspective in different situations that come up in the course of business as usual.”

Puente believes that corporations and organizations such as the USHCC can showcase the benefits of diversity within the business world and that growing minority markets make it increasingly important that businesses do not turn their back on programs to develop leaders and new markets.

“I’m more of a somebody who wants to rage within the machine,” she said. “It hasn’t always been easy and it’s not always perfect, but it’s been important to see how corporate America has shifted over the last five years. For companies that have done the hard work, expanding opportunity and creating systems for inclusion is a superpower. Frankly, it is important to be able to understand the customers of our future. There’s no product or service that is not marketed to the Hispanic community as both an upmarket community as well as a value community.”

Reconnect and reinvigorate

One of Puente’s top goals for the USHCC is a modernization project that will find new ways to use technology to meet the needs of the next generation of chamber members. As a technology executive and the first millennial to lead the chamber, Puente is keenly aware of the ways technology is increasingly integrated into all aspects of people’s lives.

“The pace of change for our entire society is getting faster and faster,” she said. “We need to improve not just access to technology but how we are using technology in our day-to-day lives. For people of my generation, how we have started businesses, how we interact with the workplace, even how we run our families and households is a lot more technology-centric than previously. This is a huge opportunity for the Hispanic Chamber to reconnect and reinvigorate our relationship with the next generation of entrepreneurs.”

She also hopes to focus on growing both membership and engagement in the USHCC.

“My goal is that we welcome new faces, new businesses and, quite literally, the next generation of business leaders and that we turn them into Chamber advocates and business champions,” she said. “We’re living in a time when people do not see themselves as belonging to one community exclusively. Nobody says, ‘Oh, I’m a Hispanic business so I’m going to join this Hispanic chamber of commerce.’ Our society is more dynamic, so we can use our platform to strengthen and build coalitions across community identities. We need to listen to our members and provide them with the programs and services that will help them get ahead and connect to the opportunities out there for them.”

Puente wants to see the Chamber enhance data collection, so it can have more information about members and their needs to plan programming and services that are most useful to participants. She also wants to continue to build strong coalitions with state and local member affiliate chambers and other groups advocating for Hispanic business interests.

 “We have tremendous people involved on the board level, at the staff level and across the affiliate network all around the country,” she said. “We want to give the platform and opportunity for real people in real communities to talk about the challenges they are facing, whether that’s access to capital or whether it’s technology or health care so we can help our members take advantage of the opportunities that are out there.”

To learn more about USHCC, visit ushcc.com.