Pat Martinez
President and CEO
pmartinez@nhcchq.org

Pat Martinez is the President and CEO of the National Hispanic Corporate Council (NHCC). 
The NHCC is a not- for-profit organization established in 1985 focused on the professional advancement of Hispanics in Corporate America.

Pat brings extensive not-for-profit experience from her work in the corporate workforce and a broad range of significant leadership roles. Her most recent position as the National Director of Development for the Hispanic Scholarship Fund encompassed planning and delivering of fundraising strategies to corporations and foundations.  Her role also allowed her to work on a national level with Top Fortune 500 Corporations, helping them to develop programs that enhance their diverse workforce development strategies.

As the leader of NHCC, she provides vision and strategic direction for the organization in accordance with its established mission and goals, and serves as the principal spokesperson and advocate for the NHCC. Along with her primary duties, she works diligently to ensure the financial well-being of the organization, manages programming, and oversees the recruiting and retaining of NHCC members.

She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science from Rutgers, The State University. She attended Montclair State University for paralegal studies, attended the Kennedy School of Government-Harvard University for a Community Problem-Solving Program and her next step is beginning the Executive Leadership Program at Cornell University.

Pat received the Leadership Award from Toast Master International and has been inducted into the Women's History Hall of Fame at the Levine Museum of the New South by the National Association of Negro Business & Professional Women’s Club, Inc. She has been recognized for her professional achievements by the Cambridge Who’s Who. Her civic engagement and professional affiliations include participating in business and community organizations on a local and national scale.

Her communication skills afforded her many speaking engagements. Pat was interviewed by Edith Valladares McElroy for the CPCC hit show “Perfiles Latinos” (Latino Profiles); she appeared on “Saluda y Vida”(Health and Wellness) and participated on a number of radio programs to discuss the need to increase the college pipeline and prepare the future workforce to meet the needs of Corporate America. She has coached business professionals and non-profit Boards on how to increase their effectiveness in the marketplace by conducting “Art of Connecting”, “Professionalism” and “Effective Fund Raising” workshops.

Pat believes that the NHCC can become the primary resource for Corporate America as they work to recruit and retain talented Hispanic professionals. Under her leadership, NHCC will continue to work at solidifying relationships to further multi-cultural workforce development across the nation. 

Claudia L. Torres
Sr. Communications Coordinator
ctorres@nhcchq.org

Claudia Torres was born in Lima, Peru, and raised in Arlington, VA. She manages the National Hispanic Corporate Council’s communications function through market research and the development and distribution of NHCC communication pieces, both internally and externally. A part of her role at the NHCC is also to assists the President with business development activities and to maintain current and prospective member databases for on-going correspondence.

She received her Bachelor of Science in Public Policy & Administration and her minor in Women Studies and Spanish from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Claudia has served on the Advisory Board for Latinas Leading Tomorrow (LLT), an after-school leadership development program for Latinas (age 11 through 18). She is the Alumni Liaison for the newly-formed Arlington Latino Network (ALN) and assisted in the creation and development of the organization and its first Latino Education Summit. As a member of the Arlington County Drop-out Prevention Task Force she aspires to continue her education in Public Policy.

Ray Celaya
NHCC-CEDP Director
cedp@nhcchq.org

Ray Celaya, is a former NHCC board member and was the organization’s Interim President from November 2009 until May 2010. He is also the President and Founder of Diverse-Markets and has been working with the NHCC to develop and execute the NHCC-Corporate Executive Development Program (CEDP). The program will accelerate development of midlevel Hispanic managers into their initial corporate executive position.  The program addresses leadership competencies and cultural differences which can act as barriers in leadership development. 
Ray retired from Allstate Insurance Company in 2006 after 29 years.  He was instrumental is launching strategic initiatives in talent development through corporate diversity and Hispanic and multicultural marketing.

He is also a retired U.S. Army Major having served tours of duty in Vietnam, Europe and the Mid-East. As a military advisor his leadership experiences included training nomadic tribesmen of central Vietnam in basic military skills to training the Turkish Army on the use of nuclear weapons.  He is a graduate of California State University, Hayward and the University of the State of New York, Albany. 

Ray’s accomplishments as a corporate executive, global experience and perspective bring a unique set of skills and talents to the NHCC-CEDP.

Lena Y. Young
Financial Manager

Lena was born in Mumbai, India.  She has lived in the U.S. since her early twenties.  Lena is responsible for the financial reporting of NHCC.  She works closely with the President, Pat Martinez in the reporting process.

Lena has a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Bombay with a minor in auditing.  Lena has about 20 years of accounting experience.   She has a varied background – she has worked at CPA firms, printing firms, reception firms, home builders, interior designers, not for profit firms, and other small business industries.  Besides her accounting background she has also worked on the management team of the printing company.

Lena volunteers her time at the IRS VITA site - a free individual tax return center for low income families during tax season.  She also volunteers as a friendly visitor for the INOVA volunteer program and for their flu vaccine program.

Jose Carlos Merino
Communications and Technologies Manager

With more than a decade serving as a creative artist for the public and private sector, José Carlos possesses both the skill and experience necessary for effective brand management, communication, and technology implementation.

A graduate of The Art Institute of Washington, in August 2008, the prestigious publication Graphic Design USA awarded Jose an American Graphic Design Award for developing the American Soldier website (www.american-soldier.com.  Along with his extensive creative skills, Jose has more than six years of IT management and uses his experience and insight to provide strategic technological guidance and directs internal research and development for NHCC.