Unlocking Growth: Exploring Opportunities in the U.S. Latino Segment in California

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Ted Dunn:

Hola. Me llamo Ted Dunn, and I lead Diversified Industries Group West for BMO Commercial Bank. Today, I have the privilege of introducing our episode with Nadim Hirji, Group Head, BMO Commercial Bank, North America. With him is George Pla, Founder, President, and CEO of Cordoba Corporation, and Fatima Rodriguez, the first Latina CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California. These leaders gathered at a recent BMO Index 500 event in Los Angeles at our BMO Stadium to discuss the opportunities that exist in the US Latino segment, charitable giving, succession planning, among other topics. Enjoy.

Nadim Hirji:

I'm Nadim Hirji. Our Latino segment at BMO has proudly showcased the largest Latino-owned companies now for the past two years. And both of you have been huge advocates of what we're trying to do for the community and trying to do for the environment, trying to do for all of LA and all of California. This is not just about one segment, but what I want to really ask you, when you think about all the great leaders in this room today, and Fatima, I'll start with you, what is the biggest opportunities you think for the Latino segment?

Fatima Rodriguez:

I love that question and I love how we led with acknowledging the role of the US Latino impact in our economy being the fifth largest GDP, $3.6 trillion that we're generating every year. That's huge, right? As a nonprofit leader, I'm always looking at, where are the opportunities for our Latino community to get more involved with the nonprofit sector? We are solving problems that for-profit and government cannot solve. That's the reality of our nonprofit sector, right?

And within Ronald McDonald House Charities, we are a very mainstream organization, and people don't often know that majority of the families that we're serving are people of color. About 45% of our families are Latino, and more than half are people of color. Half of our families live below poverty level. 30% of our families are making $19,000 or less a year. So as a Latina, the first Latina in my role, I'm trying to generate transformational gifts for our organization, but I'm looking to ensure that the representation of philanthropists for our organization represents the population that we're serving. So for me, as a nonprofit leader, I think one of the greatest opportunities is to involve the Latino community even more on the philanthropic side within the nonprofit sector.

George Pla:

What I would add is I remember when I started our firm in the 80s, Latino-owned firm, minority-owned firm, woman-owned business, we were thought of as not capable or too expensive or certainly not large enough. Nowadays, now, we're cool. Now, we are in the mainstream of this culture, and the opportunities are greater. We know what the numbers are. Now, we need to take advantage of it. And I think that a huge advantage is the Latino workforce is fierce and loyal and productive, and it bodes well for what the opportunities are going forward. And then, finally, we're highly engaged in social and political issues, something that's necessary as part of business. It's not one or the other. They're all entwined as one. And I think that we are ideally positioned now, going forward, to take advantage of the opportunity.

Nadim Hirji:

George, let me just turn it a little bit. You've been very successful in engineering and construction. That's a tough business. Just as a business person, tell us, how did you succeed? And what other tips would you give in general about business to all the great leaders in this room today?

George Pla:

When you look at infrastructure, and I quantify this, only in California, $500 billion funded projects yet to be developed, with goals that are set for minority owned, small business, medium sized business to take advantage of it. The truth is there aren't enough companies today to take advantage of that market and that opportunity. Funded work, not looking forward to maybe. Funded yet to be done. Streets, roads, schools, energy, water infrastructure. And we have a history, it certainly was my beginning, of being involved in construction and then, evolving from that to engineering, construction management, project management. The opportunities to be a prime are enormous. Entrepreneurs know what to do. They know the opportunity. They know how to sell it. They know how to do the work. The biggest obstacle in, get this, 41 years is access to capital, not only debt, but equity as well. And we don't know a lot about equity investment. We need to learn about that and be more sophisticated about it, but it's still an obstacle. It's still a burden. We've got to overcome that.

Nadim Hirji:

Fatima, going back to something you said, just at the beginning, in terms of, how can the community help more, it already does help a lot, but how can it help more, you've got a lot of people here that could help, what would you say to them as to how?

Fatima Rodriguez:

Well, just speaking on behalf of Ronald McDonald House Charities, I've been with the organization almost 12 years and three years in my position, I always say that the opportunity to get involved with our organization is a gift to the individuals that we are offering to get involved in our organization. Because I see the impact on our children, on our families. We provide access to healthcare, that because of the housing we provide our families, they would not have that access. And employees, especially this new generation, we're talking about Gen Z, Gen Alpha, they want to have a positive impact in the community. They don't want to just earn a paycheck. They want to know what is their employer doing to make a difference, and they want it to be integrated into their work life. They want to integrate their families into that. So it's a business opportunity for you all, besides being philanthropic and giving back, which is just good, it's also an opportunity for you to strengthen your business, to get involved with a nonprofit organization that aligns with your values.

George Pla:

Sometimes, people think, "Focused on my business, we need to be successful, do well," and they don't think about the philanthropic opportunities. Now, what do they say? "Doing good is doing well," something like that. They're not incompatible. It's not one or the other. We do have Latino wealth. It does exist in this country, in California, and I don't see enough companies that have done well to take the time to give back, but also understand that it's good business and it'll take time to create more wealth. But we have enough that I encourage and I urge other companies to think about that and do the same. Everybody benefits, including the bottom line.

Nadim Hirji:

When you think about the next generation or when we think about, as immigrants in general, you come into the country, you come because of a reason, you want to have a better life for your kids. Now, you create this better life. You've paid these companies, but now, they're having these great lives. How do you ensure you instill that work ethic, inside you, of what made you who you are, to make sure that this continues for generations to come? How do we think about succession planning?

George Pla:

I'd love to take that on, first, personally, and then, professional. Personally, I'm wrestling with that. Immigrant, worked hard, where we are, this is a great country, great opportunity. We all agree, right? Okay, with its flaws. And yet, when you work so hard and where you come from, you want to provide every opportunity and everything you can for your and your grandchildren. And I have great grandchildren. Are you instilling the work ethic that made you successful? Because it's a paradox. You want to provide everything that you dreamed about for your children, and yet, you want to instill that hunger and that work ethic to be successful. A lot of family-owned businesses, and I dare say that most don't have a succession plan. And they have to. They have to think about it. They have to formally develop one, because it's inevitable that there's going to be a succession.

Fatima Rodriguez:

So from my perspective, because I've been in the nonprofit sector my whole career, I have two daughters, I have a 13-year-old and an almost 10-year-old, and so I've integrated them into my work. And so, I know, oftentimes, when we talk about giving back, it'll be tied to, "This is required by the school," or, "It's the holidays, let's go to a soup kitchen," or something. And with my girls, I really try to integrate it into, "This is part of the fabric of who we are and it's part of our value system."

Nadim Hirji:

I'm going to ask one last question. I always find it interesting when I talk to people who have been as accomplished as you two are. I would love if you would talk about if somebody said something to you throughout your life that stuck to you until today, whether it's a personal advice or a business advice or some inflection point that made you who you are today.

George Pla:

That's a great question. Immigrant, coming across the border, undocumented, end up in Boyle Heights, the Ellis Island of Los Angeles, where very different disparate communities of all shapes, sizes, and colors came together, supported each other, to survive and to thrive. I actually remember it fondly, not as something negative, but that desire to succeed and overcome. And it's not a tale of woe. I think it's a great American story, putting cardboard in your shoe when you have holes in it, but striving that this would never happen again, that you would work and work and work to be successful was just a motivating force.

Fatima Rodriguez:

For me, I'm second generation Mexican American, and then, my father immigrated from Algeria here. But I was raised by my mother primarily. And when my mother graduated, she was pregnant with my brother and she already had me. There's even a picture at her graduation, my dad's holding me and my mom's pregnant with my brother. And when I went to SC, I was there all four years, I lived on campus, but there was still that struggle where my mom was supporting my education. But I was working several jobs, so that I could support, paying for my books, and paying for other fun things that I wanted to do. So I always had to work very hard, even though I had that support from my mom. And so, that work ethic was instilled in me. And I think, being formed at Ramona Convent, where I went to high school, that's where I really had that formation about, "I want to give back. I want to make a difference."

I started with my spiritual formation there, and I think all of that, between the way I was raised, my education, all of that shaped who I am today. In terms of leadership and stepping into leadership roles, because I started as a development director when I was only 25 years old, for Proyecto Pastoral, which is a grassroots organization in Boyle Heights, I was there seven and a half years before I transitioned to Ronald McDonald House. And I have found that, as I take on leadership roles, it's not so much about I'm aspiring for that title, it's more I'm aspiring to make a particular change I see I can make in that role.

So even when I took on the role as CEO, it was not something I was aspiring to, even though I moved up in the organization. I aspired for that role, because I saw a vision of how I could make a difference if I was in that position. I knew that we need to modernize the organization, we need to generate transformational gifts, we need to have a deeper impact on the children and the families we serve, because that's why I'm in this job. I love those kids and I love those families. That's what motivates me every day.

Nadim Hirji:

Firstly, thank you. Gift of your time is very appreciative, I know by all of us, very accomplished individuals.

Ted Dunn:

If you haven't already, be sure to listen to the previous podcasts in our series where we take a deeper dive into how the Index 500 was born and purposefully highlight the remarkable achievements of many Latinos and Latinas.

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