Latino Business Speakers Bureau: Raymond Arroyo
story by: David Gomez
An amazing recurring aspect of givers is that many times those who have the least give the most. It baffles the imagination that as some hoard for themselves those with much less tend to be more generous. It is a matter of perspective; generous people havetreasures of another kind. Raymond Arroyo is rich beyond any possessions and accolades he has accumulated through his life. He is a friend, mentor, servant-leader, and a giver. His ambition is set on helping others succeed and move upwards towards their goals. Although his upbringing lacked the direction and guidance that poises individuals to seize greatness, Raymond had “¡ganas!” and that desire and drive gave him the fuel to pursue his goals. As his career aligned and he achieved his goals steadily, he felt an urgency to give back and pay it forward. In hindsight, Raymond feels that mentorships are quintessential for Latinos to continue making strides in corporate America; especially in the C-Suite. He is committed to motivate leaders to join in and takean active role investing in future leaders.
Raymond was born in New Jersey but moved to Puerto Rico at a young age. Even at an early age he learned to value both cultures and he strived to maintain proficiency in both languages. That precocious commitment to bilingual literacy motivated him to read publications in both languages. It meant that he would keep both cultures alive in his life and it would equip him to value diversity from a clear and articulated lens. Today, Raymond is the managing partner oftwo organizations and has served in boards of organizations that are geared towards helping Latinos (among other minorities) into leadership positions. Among the insights his journey has shown him is that when leaders mentor others synergy flows into future generations.
A remarkable activity that Raymond cultivates is keeping up with current events in all Latin American countries. He is passionate and genuinely cares for what is going on in the homelands of fellow Latinos in the US. He believes in a new cohesive American culture of Latinos who are not segmented by origin. From that perspective, he encourages Latino leaders to widen their commitment to raising up leaders from within this new culture. In the mentor/mentee commitment spectrum there are three regions: coaching, mentoring, and sponsorship. Coaching is simply a transfer of skill or knowledge while mentoring involves a deeper knowledge and relationship between mentor and mentee. However, the highest level of commitment occurs during a sponsorship.Here a leader or mentor is putting his or her reputation on the line for the mentee. That is the level of commitment that Raymond encourages leaders to pursue when there’s an opportunity to develop a leader. It’s a way to give back and help others.
As Raymond contemplates the beginnings of the Latino Business Speaker Bureau, he remembers the idea of an organization of Latino leaders who share their stories and provide insights in the field of their expertise. This vision was a reaction to the lack of Latino representation at corporate events where keynote speakers were invited. For the most part, minorities were underrepresented in the speaker pool even though there were impressive leaders whose stories were uplifting and inspiring. He saw an opportunity to highlight those stories and to show the added value in sharing them with mainstream corporations. Subsequently Raymond co-founded LBSB (along with Dr. Betty and Dr. Adam Arroyos) to amplify the voices of those leaders. Those stories not only open new opportunities for emerging Latino leaders, they also open the minds of those who could not envision those opportunities for themselves.