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CEO's Corner - June Reflection

Updated: Jun 26


June: Pride, Juneteenth, and Fathers Day

June is heating up! We are proud to celebrate Pride Month and Juneteenth—two powerful reminders of resilience, liberation, and the ongoing journey toward true equality. Within our Latinx MBA community, we honor the intersectionality of our identities, uplift our LGBTQ+ members, and stand in solidarity as we celebrate black freedom and history. June 21 is also Father's Day. We want to extend a special recognition to the fathers, father figures, and mentors in our network who are balancing the rigors of leadership and education with the responsibilities of family. We honor your dedication and the paths you are clearing for the next generation. Heading to our upcoming summer events? We can't wait to see you soon to connect, collaborate, and celebrate our community's growing impact. Let's celebrate how far we've come and recharge for what’s next!


Upcoming Events



CEO Message

As I reflect on the past few weeks, I am filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude and excitement for the future of our community. From the rainy (but still beautifully sunny!) Pacific Northwest to the bustling energy of New York City, the power of our network has never been more apparent to me.

Recently, I had the absolute joy of welcoming The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management to my home city of Seattle for its 60th annual Orientation Program. As a proud Consortium Fellow from the Class of 2003, it was a full-circle moment to look out at the current and future leaders of business and academia, and an honor to welcome their new CEO, Eric Allen. I look forward to working with him and his team at the Consortium as official Strategic Partners.

During the event, I was able to take a few groups of leaders out on the water to experience Lake Union and Lake Washington. Showing off Seattle’s majestic views of Mount Rainier, the floating homes, and seaplanes wasn't just about being a tour guide. It was a chance to share a piece of the city I love with a community that shaped my own leadership path.

That experience got me thinking about what it truly means to be a leader, a topic that came up during a recent conversation with one of my mentees about scaling a career.

Early in my career at PepsiCo, I was tasked with pitching what would become the Shanghai Disney Resort, a massive challenge, given that Pepsi products hadn't been served in a Disney park for over 25 years. We didn't win that partnership by just selling a beverage; we won it by translating ambiguity into a massive, connected product vision that brought hardware, software, UX, and global strategy together. We listened deeply, aligned teams, and earned trust.

The lesson I shared with my mentee is the same one I want to share with you: True leadership is not just about executing the task at hand. It is about the ability to move between the fine details and the grand vision, aligning people around a shared purpose.

This exact philosophy is what brought me to New York City recently, where I proudly represented the LatinxMBA Association at the Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) National Conference. There, I had the opportunity to share our vision about our new 100x Leadership Initiative.

Inspired by the concept of the 100x Leader, this initiative is built on a simple but powerful truth: Great leaders do not just manage people; they multiply their impact.

Through this initiative, LatinxMBA is dedicated to equipping our executive and emerging leaders with the tools, community, and mindset needed to coach, sponsor, and develop the next generation. We aren't just climbing the corporate ladder; we are building a bigger ladder and pulling others up with us.

Whether you are navigating the ambiguity of a major corporate pitch, finding inspiration in your local community, or actively mentoring someone in your network, remember that your leadership has a ripple effect. Let’s continue to be curious, customer-obsessed, clear in our vision, and deeply committed to multiplying our impact.

Thank you for being an essential part of this journey. Let's keep building together.

With gratitude,Richard VelazquezCEO, Latinx MBA Association


100x Leader Webinar Series: How AI Can Transform YOUR Network | Virtual




MBA Grad Series Spotlight: Fabiola Paredes Tarazona


Meet Fabiola Paredes Tarazona, a strategy and operations professional and former direct-to-consumer startup founder who entered her MBA journey with a clear vision: to bridge the gap between hands-on international business development and the future of corporate strategy and AI. Today, she specializes in leveraging AI and data analytics to drive operational efficiency within the tech and consumer goods sectors.

For Fabiola, earning this degree was deeply intentional. Navigating traditionally male-dominated spaces requires immense grit, and her goal is clear: to turn being a "first" into creating "multiples."

During her time at Fuqua, Fabiola didn't just excel in the classroom; she actively shaped the ecosystem. From leading Tech Treks to global innovation hubs in San Francisco and Seattle as VP for the Tech Club, to serving as an Ambassador for Women MBA Peru, she has consistently engineered access for underrepresented leaders.

Congrats Fabiola and welcome to the MBA alumni familia!


Shift VC by VC Unleashed


VC Unleashed is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating pathways into venture capital and entrepreneurship for the next generation of founders and investors. Through community, education, and access, we connect emerging talent with the networks, insights, and opportunities needed to build and back world-changing companies. Learn more at https://www.vcunleashed.xyz/.

On July 10, VC Unleashed will host the fifth annual Shift VC conference at the Kapor Center in Oakland, bringing together founders, investors, and operators for a day of candid conversations about what’s next in technology and venture. Sessions will explore what product-market fit looks like in the AI era, navigating company pivots in rapidly shifting markets, building enterprise partnerships that unlock growth, and where investors are placing bets across emerging sectors.


Highlights From Last Month’s Events

Consortium OPl Seattle Latinx MBA Boat Outing



MBA Internship & Job Opportunities


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