By Samantha Paradiso
After graduating from Monterrey Institute of Technology with her bachelor’s of electronics & telecommunications engineering, Esther Audelo also received a post-graduate degree in curricular design & evaluation and a master’s in information technology management from ITESM. In addition, she earned a master’s of business administration, supply chain mgmt & international business from the University of Texas at Austin.
Aside from her studies, Audelo has garnered over twenty years of experience in high tech, with an emphasis on breadth of experience around operations management, delivering business operational improvements and cost effectiveness in functions ranging from logistics, supply chain, manufacturing and IT. She has a depth of experience in product management for both services and products in technology. Currently working as an independent advisor in the high tech industry, Audelo focuses on working with clients in private investment firms and major consultancies to discuss trends in the servers market, x86 market, sales and operations planning, supply chain practices, amongst other topics.
Outside of consulting Audelo has also completed pro bono work, including management consulting for local startups and nonprofits such as Dunti Corp and AIDS Services of Austin (ASA) and Literacy Austin. Through her involvement with ASA and Literary Austin, Audelo helped them put together their strategic plans and technology strategies, revamping their managerial processes.
Outside of her work commitments, Audelo has served on the Prospanica board as their education development officer, vice president and then president from 2001 to 2005. In her spare time, she’s also been involved with the Austin Rowing Club and the Texas Bob Bullock Museum.
With the sheer breadth of her knowledge and expertise on information technology, special events, human resources, strategic planning, youth outreach and education and finance, Latinitas can’t wait to see all the good she will accomplish as part of our board!
What is your main interest and/or motivation for serving on the Latinitas Board?
I strongly believe in the power of education, and the development of professional and interpersonal skills as one of the best not-for-profit services an organization can provide in order to produce positive change in disadvantaged communities. Further, providing these services to women is a more powerful way to reproduce the benefit to the following generation, as women often become the parents that spent the most time with their children and therefore have a lasting impact in their development. I also believe in the power of nonprofits as agents of change and progress in any community. I seek to be of service to organizations with these purposes and where I can use my skills as a technology business professional and past academic, for the good of the organization. I have finished my time of service at a prior non-profit and had been invited in the past to consider serving these organizations; now seems like the perfect time! Last, I adore Latina girls, I’ll be extremely satisfied to be of service to any of them.
In your opinion, what are the most important issues facing Latina youth today?
Latinas in the USA faces several challenges, the most encompassing one being the lack of a supporting environment that allows them to work towards and achieve their dreams, and in here we can include the most impactful ones such as lack of access to quality education and society’s stereotypes and discriminatory behaviors, which affects their access to opportunities, their confidence and thus their ability to develop fully. There’s also a lack of opportunities to be mentored by others who have overcome some of the same barriers. We need Latina youth to be able to see themselves as able as anybody else to dream of, work towards and achieve a meaningful and fulfilling life and help others like them in the process.
Responses have been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
