National Hispanic Business Association

Chris Lawrence Ochoa
City Council Member
Jacinto City, Texas

Chris is a recent graduate of the University of Texas with a BBA in Marketing and an Alumnus of the UT Austin Hispanic Business Student Association, as well as a student leader in numerous organizations on campus.  He excelled in various capacities especially serving as a board member of the University of Texas Leadership Board (UTLB) where he helped 19 culturally diverse members that serve two functions: to provide student leaders a hands-on learning environment for the development of their leadership skills and to serve as a resource to UT students and campus organizations by providing events and activities that foster student leadership.

LYDIA A. ARANDA
Vice President, Regional Diverse Growth Segments Director
Wells Fargo Bank

Lydia Aranda is Vice President & Regional Director of Diverse Growth Segments for Wells Fargo, overseeing strategic growth and development in Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada.

Prior to joining Wells Fargo Ms. Aranda served under former Governor Janet Napolitano for several years as Governor's Small Business Advocate, Executive Director of the Governor's Small Business Council, and as Director of Small Business Services for the Arizona Department of Commerce. In her current role with Wells Fargo, Ms. Aranda works closely with business and community leaders, focusing on the emerging and diverse markets throughout the southwest.

Lydia grew up in Tempe, Arizona spending many years on the Arizona State University campus where her parents have held various teaching and administrative positions in the Colleges of Business, Education, and Liberal Arts. She is an Alumnus and current Corporate Advisor of The Arizona State University Hispanic Business Students Association (HBSA).

Ms. Aranda holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Intercultural Communication from ASU, and is recognized nationally, regionally and locally for her leadership and significant civic contributions.

Robert R. Olivares

Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC)

Corporate VP, Multicultural Marketing

Robert R. Olivares is a first generation American whose family originates from the Mexican state of Coahuila.  Mr. Olivares grew up in the southside of San Antonio, Texas were he graduated from Luther Burbank High School in the top ten of his class.  He went on to attend the University of Texas at Austin where he earned a BBA in Marketing and served as Administrative Vice- President of the Hispanic Business Student Association.  Mr. Olivares received his MBA from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas while working full-time with Nabisco Biscuit Company.  He also completed the Marketing Workshop Series program at Austin Community College.  He served as the Public Relations/Marketing Committee Chair on the Board of Directors for the National Hispanic Business Association (NHBA).  NHBA is a national network of students and alumni whose mission is to address educational and business issues related to Hispanics.  In addition to his past involvement with NHBA, he is a member of the Texas Exes Association, a member of the American Marketing Association Advertisers Council, and also serves on the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Public Affairs Local Government Committee.

Mr. Olivares currently resides in San Antonio, TX as the Corporate Vice President of Multicultural Marketing for Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC), USA.  RNDC is the second largest distributor of wines and spirits in the United States with over 5,000 employees.  Mr. Olivares is responsible for managing a sales and marketing team in key markets across the U.S. focused against Multicultural Consumer Market Development.  His team develops and executes target marketing programs on Bacardi, Jack Daniel’s, Chivas, Remy Martin, Skyy, Grey Goose, Patron, and other major brands.

Mr. Olivares is currently enrolled in the Doctoral Program with a concentration in Organizational Leadership at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. 

My parents named me Juan Pablo Barajas on January 28, 1985.  I was born in a small town in Jalisco, Mexico.  I came to the United States with my parents when I was six years old.  I grew up on Chicago’s south side, where I graduated from Brother Rice High School in 2003.  I am now an alumnus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where I obtained both a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy degree and a Master of Accounting Science degree in 2007 and 2008, respectively.  I will begin work as an audit associate for KPMG in late September.  In the mean time, I am studying to obtain CPA certification.

            Although my life seems to follow a simple path, getting to where I am now has not been easy.  I have faced the language barrier that most Hispanics have to deal with.  I have lived in neighborhoods where violence and crime are a common occurrence.  I have faced indecisiveness about my future career and goals.  Despite the constant changes in my life, one thing has remained the same, family.  My parents have sacrificed everything to give my brother and me the education they never received.  They have shown support in all my endeavors.  I owe a huge debt to my parents, one that I can never repay but one that I can show my appreciation for by working hard.  For this reason, I strive to attain my goals with the hope of making my parents proud.  If I have learned anything in my life thus far, it is that everyone can achieve his or her goals.  All it takes is a little perseverance and hard work.

Mike Gomez, Thomson Reuters, Director, Product & Integration Planning

Mike is currently employed as the Director of Product & Integration Planning for the Markets (Financial) Division of Thomson Reuters currently based in New York, NY. Mike received his Bachelor of Business Administration, Management Information Systems, from Texas A&M University in May of 1999 and received his Master of Business Administration from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in May 2005. He is also a graduate of Thomson Reuters’ Management Associates Program (MAP).

MAP is a two-year rotational program broken down into three or four assignments, each lasting six to nine months. MAP provides the rare opportunity to work closely with Thomson Reuters executives, while experiencing life at our corporate office and within our individual business units. The assignments are chosen with a view to both the current business needs and the participant’s own interests and career goals. Assignments are offered in various disciplines across the business such as finance, strategy, technology, operations, marketing, customer service and human resources.

Arturo Acevedo was born and raised in the Central Valley of California. He attended Fresno State University from fall 2002 to spring 2006. He received his Bachelors of Science in Business Administration-Management with a dual major in Chicano Latin American Studies. He was a member of the National Hispanic Business Association (NHBA) 2004-2006 and Hispanic Business Student Association (HBSA) where he served as vice president from 2004-2005 and president from 2005-2006. Acevedo is currently employed with Kraft Foods North America as an operations supervisor and his future plans are to move into upper management to develop strategies and future growth plans. Kraft Foods Inc. is one of the world's largest food and beverage companies.