Twelve days after the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce facilitated a round table discussion with Latina business owners, a meeting with President Trump, Vice President Pence and Linda McMahon, Head of the Small Business Administration, quickly was arranged to continue to elevate the issues and seek further engagement to advance the priorities of women and minority owned businesses.
Joining a total group of eleven women small business owners, we- four Latina business owners- embraced the responsibility to speak up on behalf of the issues and barriers faced by the fastest growing business segment in the country; Hispanic-owned businesses.
The four Latinas at the table with the President included Patricia Funegra, a social entrepreneur and activist, founder and CEO of La Cocina VA, Dyan Medina Gibbens, former Air Force Captain now founder and CEO of the drone company Trumbull Unmanned, Claudia Mizra, an immigrant from Colombia founder and CEO of Akorbi a global provider of multilingual services and staffing and I, Lili Gil Valletta, CEO and co-founder of CIEN+ and CulturIntel.