WorkingNation logo with the tagline of "Covering the Future of Work"
DONATE
Search
WIP Henry Cisneros
Tags   
Tags 

Unlocking economic opportunity for the Latino workforce in the ‘next’ economy

A conversation with Henry Cisneros, chairman & co-founder, American Triple I and former U.S. HUD Secretary
By Ramona Schindelheim
-

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pandora | Youtube Music | RSS

In this episode of Work in Progress, I am joined by Henry Cisneros, the chairman and co-founder of the infrastructure investment and management firm American Triple I (ATI) and the former secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton.

I sat down with Cisneros at the Aspen Latino Business Summit in Washington, D.C. in early September.

American Triple I focuses on investments in the transportation field, in the energy field, and in social infrastructure, which means schools, higher education, hospitals, and digital.

Cisneros was at the summit to talk about unlocking economic opportunities for the Latino workforce and Latino business owners in these high-growth areas.

“I think it’s very foresighted of Aspen to create a conference focusing on the next economy, the new economy. And Latinos can be an important part of that,” Cisneros tells me.

“We know that Latinos have been locked out of the economy and are characterized by smaller businesses. Most of Latinos are employed in one-person businesses. But this is a point of inflection for the entire American economy, and it suggests that if you’ve been locked out before, you don’t have to be locked out in the new economy,” he adds.

“We’re younger than the national average. A whole lot of young people getting trained in good schools. There’s no reason why we can’t have a inordinately larger role than we’ve ever had before in the American economy as it transitions into my field of infrastructure. I can tell you, we’re at a point of inflection where the next generation of infrastructure is not going to be the same.”

Cisneros describes the next economy as tech-driven and full of possibilities.

“It’s not going to be just wider roadways. It’s going to be roadways with technology embedded in them to guide traffic. It’s not just going to be fossil fuel-generating plants and power, but it’s going to be solar and wind and hydrogen and a lot of other new fuels. It’s not going to be just traditional communications, but it’s going to be broadband into the neighborhoods that have been left out to this point. It’s not going to be just traditional airports, but fantastically different airports with space for vertical takeoff and landing aircraft with different passenger experiences.

“Everything about the country is changing. It’s one of those moments when if you can dream, if you can imagine, if you can train yourself for the future, then you can play in the new economy.”

But, says Cisneros, skills development is key to full participation in the future of work.

“There clearly does need to be a concerted effort. It would be just a terrible thing to have this moment of transition to new fields where we’re not locked out but – for lack of training, for lack of skills, for lack of preparation, for lack of knowledge – are left out again. It’s absolutely critical that the (Latino) community be able to make that transition.”

You can hear more from Henry Cisneros by listening to the podcast here. Or, you can download and listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Episode 288:  Henry Cisneros, American Triple I chairman and co-founder
Host & Executive Producer: Ramona Schindelheim, Editor-in-Chief, WorkingNation
Producer: Larry Buhl
Executive Producers: Joan Lynch and Melissa Panzer
Theme Music: Composed by Lee Rosevere and licensed under CC by 4
Download the transcript for this podcast here.
You can check out all the other podcasts at this link: Work in Progress podcasts

Related Articles
Get the latest from WorkingNation
DONATE
Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Our Mission
Contact Us

© Copyright 2024 by Structural Unemployment, LLC dba WorkingNation

Gain access to Essential Stories that Drive Change

Receive compelling updates and in-depth analysis of the latest trends shaping the Latino workforce.

Select how often you'd like to receive insights:

Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.

Share Bio