Adolph Canales

At its annual gathering, the Dallas Hispanic Bar Association (DHBA) honored the distinguished career of the Honorable Adolph Canales, the first Hispanic elected countywide to public office in Dallas. Judge Canales, who was presented with a DHBA Lifetime Achievement Award, is retiring as district court judge for the 298th Dallas County District Court after 20 years of service. Established in 1969 as the Mexican-American Bar Association, the DHBA is composed of judges, Dallas attorneys, law students and legal staff. Among its missions is to provide legal services to the Hispanic community and address issues affecting the Latino community.

 

Jovita Carranza

Jovita Carranza, former United Parcel Service (UPS) air operations vice president, was chosen to serve as the U.S. Small Business Administration’s deputy administrator. She was nominated by President George Bush. Carranza previously oversaw UPS’ automated processing center in Louisville, Kentucky. Carranza, who grew up in Chicago’s inner city in a first-generation Mexican-American family, began her career at UPS three decades ago. She started out as a night clerk and subsequently worked her way up through the company, ultimately overseeing UPS Worldport, the company’s 4 million-square-foot international package processing plant, the crown jewel of the company’s global distribution network. Much of UPS’ customer base is made up of small businesses. Former President Bill Clinton addresses NCLR Conference attendees on Saturday, July 8 at “Café con Clinton.”

Hector J. Cuellar
Hector J. Cuellar was named president of RSM EquiCo, the financial services firm that is a subsidiary of H&R Block. Cuellar was previously president of RSM EquiCo Capital Markets, the investment banking arm of the company. In his former role, Cuellar helped steer his firm into the third-largest M&A advisor of transactions up to $100 million. He also strengthened RSM EquiCo Capital Markets’ buyside capabilities, expanded its range of services to include capital-raising and fairness opinions, organized the practice into 10 vertical industry specialty groups, and added several senior professionals to the company’s deal-making team.

 

Daisy Exposito-Ulla
Daisy Exposito-Ulla, the founder and former chairwoman and CEO of WPP’s The Bravo Group, one of the largest Hispanic ad agencies in the country, has joined the firm of CMS/Partners. Created in May 2005 by Fernando Fernandez and Gloria Constanza, Exposito-Ulla’s former colleagues, CMS has grown substantially after attracting clients such as McDonald’s, General Electric Consumer Finance, NY Tri-State Co-Op, Novartis Consumer Health, Kare Distribution and Cerveza Tesoro. The firm will now function under the name d exposito and partners. Exposito-Ulla left The Bravo Group in November 2004. D exposito and partners, with a staff of 21 people and billings estimated at $22 million, will operate from its New York City headquarters.

 

Nokia
Nokia, the Finland-based mobile communications company, announced it will establish its Latin America division’s headquarters in Miami, with regional functions such as sales and marketing to be based at the new premises. The office will be headed by Maurizio Angelone, Nokia Latin America’s vice president for customer and market operations. The new offices are scheduled to be operational by November and will occupy approximately 25,500 square feet at Miami’s Enterprise Zone. The company expects that within a year of opening, the new regional headquarters will house close to 100 Nokia employees. Nokia currently employs more than 4,500 people in Latin America and has operations in 11 of the region’s countries. The division handles the marketing, sales, sourcing, manufacturing and logistics for mobile devices in the Latin American and Caribbean markets. Previously Latin American operations were handled out of offices in Irving

 

Alex Soto
Alex Soto, president of InSource, one of South Florida’s largest independently owned insurance agencies, has been inaugurated as the new president of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA). He is the first Hispanic president in the group’s 110-year history. The IIABA, also known as “Big I,” is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers. It is highly influential in Washington, D.C. in shaping insurance policy. Soto has been active in “Big I” and in the Florida Association of Independent Agents during his 34-year career as an independent insurance agent.

 

Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Seyfarth Shaw LLP, one of the nation’s leading full-service law firms, was recognized by the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) as Law Firm of the Year in 2006. The award, presented at the organization’s recent 31st annual convention in San Francisco, honored the firm for its leadership in supporting diversity efforts in the workplace and its commitment to attorney participation in regional and national bar associations. The award also honored Seyfarth Shaw for its support of the Hispanic business community and diversity initiatives the firm has established that reflect the tenets of the HNBA and other minority-sponsored organizations. With more than 650 attorneys in 10 offices, Seyfarth Shaw’s practice spans the United States. The firm’s chair and managing partner is J. Stephen Poor. “Our firm appreciates the creative contributions of an inclusive workforce and believes that achieving and valuing diversity is fundamental to the continued success of our profession, as well as our personal satisfaction as attorneys,” Poor said when the award was announced.

 

Tere Zubizarreta
Tere Zubizarreta, founder and CEO of Zubi Advertising, one of the nation’s top independent Hispanic marketing agencies, was honored with one of the industry’s highest honors: the Eduardo Caballero Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA). Zubizaretta, who is Cuban American and battling cancer, founded Zubi Advertising over three decades ago in a rented office with one phone and a borrowed typewriter. She led the Miami-area firm, with its staff of more than 100, to billings of $175 million this year. The firm’s clients include American Airlines, Ford Motor Company, Progressive Direct and SC Johnson.