Moneda Moves

This season on Moneda Moves, we have been expanding how we talk about capital, because it’s not just about money. It’s also about power and access, across sectors.  In our last episode of the season, we speak with Patricia Mota – an innovative trailblazer, start-up entrepreneur, author, and more. Today, she’s President and CEO of Hispanic Alliance of Career Enhancement (HACE), on a mission to boost the national workforce by cultivating the pipeline of Latine and underrepresented talent by providing the insight, access, and support to their careers.  Since Patricia stepped in as CEO in 2015, the budget has quadrupled, membership has tripled to over 150,000, HACE has built over 250 corporate partnerships, and extended the organization’s reach across the U.S. and 50 countries. Under her leadership, the nonprofit now offers enhanced programming for youth, senior leaders, entrepreneurs, and diverse audiences worldwide.  In 2020, her leadership took a front seat to increasing activity around a newly virtual workforce, where she acted with urgency, communicated with transparency, sought diverse opinions from her team and board, and led with empathy, ultimately leading a thriving organization during such a tumultuous time.  In 2021, Patricia added Co-Founder to her list of accolades, collaborating to build SHENIX™, a Fintech startup that is leading the development of a financial tool to help close the wealth gap. (Her cofounder, Olga Camargo, has also been on Moneda Moves in years prior and has been a part of our Forbes coverage.)  Patricia chairs digitalundivided, helping women founders gain access to capital, and serves on the boards of the Chicago Foundation for Women, Associated Colleges of Illinois, Chicago Theological Seminary Board of Trustees, and the Northeastern Illinois Foundation Board. Patricia is a proud Mexican-American, Latina, daughter of immigrants, and first-generation college graduate. She is a fitness enthusiast and health and lifestyle aficionado. She grew up in East Chicago, Indiana, and currently resides in Chicago. In this week’s season finale episode, Patricia shared what she and her team at HACE are doing to close the wealth gaps in the Latino community. While striving for higher titled positions in your career does bring in more income, it doesn’t allow people to access the generational wealth that would help close the current wealth gaps. HACE works to bridge the gap in industries where there is historically limited representation with a focus on ownership. This looks like making sure Latinos negotiate for wealth levers like equity, stock options, profit sharing, and restricted stock units.  Patricia also shared how she and HACE partnered with #WeAllGrow to keep the Amigahood community alive in its new chapter.  Tune in to hear how you can build more generational wealth and what’s next for Patricia and her team. Follow Patricia on Instagram at @PMota7 and @HACEOnline.  Follow Moneda Moves on Instagram: @MonedaMoves Follow your host Lyanne Alfaro on Instagram: @LyanneAlfaro Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat. Our music is from Epidemic Sound. Podcast production for this episode was provided by CCST, an Afro-Latina-owned boutique podcast production and copywriting studio.