Esther Aguilera

Esther Aguilera is President and CEO of the Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA), which convenes Latino directors and executives at the highest levels of corporate leadership who share the mission: to increase the number of US Latinos on corporate boards. She’s a proven leader who brings a 30-year record of successfully executing strategic business plans to drive organizational effectiveness, growth, and impact. In her current role, she influences some of the most powerful companies by bringing together accomplished executives at the pinnacle of corporate governance to advance diversity in the boardroom.

She is recognized as a social entrepreneur and turnaround specialist, leading scale-up, innovative change, and managing high-performance teams. She led the growth of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) for 11 years as its President & CEO, where she spearheaded programs that transformed the life trajectory of hundreds of young Latinos across the country. Previous positions also included serving as a principal at the Dewey Square Group, senior advisor to the Secretary of the US Department of Energy, executive and legislative director of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), and a policy analyst at the National Council of La Raza (now UnidosUS).

She has worked in leadership positions with the Nation’s most accomplished leaders from Corporate America, the U.S. Congress, the Executive Branch, and the not-for-profit sector. Drawing upon this unique cross section of experiences, she is a sought-after thought leader who has delivered numerous speeches and presentations for diverse audiences. She also writes on the subjects of board diversity and organizational effectiveness and is a guest columnist in numerous publications. Additionally, she’s been taped and highlighted by NBC, Yahoo Finance, MSNBC, Bloomberg, Comcast Newsmakers, Inside America’s Boardrooms, C-SPAN, CNBC, Occidental College, Harvard Kennedy School, HuffPost, Hispanic Executive, El Tiempo Latino, Washington Hispanic, AL DÍA News, Latino Leaders, Latino Magazine, Aspen Institute’s College Excellence initiative, and many others. She was recognized as one of the nation’s top 90 Female Mentoring Leaders by Women of Wealth Magazine, recognized by Hispanic Business Magazine among the Top 100 Most Influential Hispanics in America, received the Alumni Seal Award for Service to Community from her alma mater, Occidental College, and was inducted into a prestigious Spanish Royal Order by King Juan Carlos I for exceptional community service.

She has a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy from Occidental College, completed the Harvard Corporate Governance Executive Program in 2005, and completed leadership programs in Mexico and Spain.