A LEADER IS DEVOTED TO GUIDING ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE.- LUIS UBIÑAS

FORMER PRESIDENT FOR THE FORD FOUNDATION BOARD DIRECTOR FOR ELECTRONIC ARTS, TANGER OUTLETS, MERCER, EBSCO INDUSTRIES.

During his 20 years at the global consultants McKinsey and Company he advised media companies through what he described as an era of fundamental discontinuity in their industry.

Then it was on to the Ford Foundation where he served six years as president, guiding the organization through fundamental changes in its structure and redefining itself around social justice issues. Today, Ubiñas devotes his time to being an investor, advisor and member of several corporate and non-profit boards. Two things that are important in this governance role, Ubiñas said. One relates to technology. "What every board needs to understand that we are period of fundamental change, in every area and aspect of the business," Ubiñas said.

Number two, he expects the growth of the Latino population to have a great impact on corporate management and governance. He cites the 2020 Census results which show this group growing to 20 percent of the U.S. population versus 13 percent a decade earlier. He also noted that Latinos will represent 70 percent of the growth in household formation over the next decade but only represent about three percent of board membership. His expectation: "If you have a CEO, a C-suite or board devoid of Latinas or Latinos the likelihood of you being able to make good decisions about the community that is going to be the central driver in growth in the next generation are low."

Ubiñas' interest in board service grew from his work with McKinsey. "I spent decades helping CEOs make decisions, giving them additional information, advice, working with them in myriad ways," he said. Meanwhile, his gained was an understanding of how boards drive change, including the hiring of CEOs, approval of major decisions changes in strategy. Ubiñas saw that with the economy going through fundamental change that that he what he wanted to do is work with organizations that mattered in different ways and what is a driving force for management is the role of boards. As he looks at the huge responsibilities that board faces he sees two major challenges. One relates to wireless and the advent of 5G and the faster speeds in mobility. "I can't imagine a board that shouldn't be dealing with issues of connectivity of consumers who no longer have to come to you or have the capacity to gather data in ways that have never done before," he said. He advises that companies will need to find people who in some cases were born into technology and who understand them intuitively.

Issue two, Ubiñas said, and something he has been speaking about for years, it that the Census has confirmed is that the country has become a vastly different place. This includes the impact of a growing Latino population and what it is doing, such as attending college more and building businesses more than the average American. "We are going to have to find ways," Ubiñas suggests, "to create leadership pipelines so that companies in their governance and nonprofits all can begin to have decision makers at the table who can bring an intuitive understanding of the community that will drive this country's growth for the coming generation. The third issue, Ubiñas identified is the "growing disparity in economic outcomes, the erosion in the capacity of a typical middle-class person to live a good life, to consume, to get health care, to send kids to colleges that they can afford" has become a business issue. He recognizes many businesses are taking action in this regard, establishing corporate minimum wages and other kinds of things that say their well-being is tied to the well-being of their workers. Still, he noted, "We are in a period when a lot of learning has to be done." People who want to serve on a board should respect that this is a position of deep trust and also a position of deep responsibility. "At the end of the day the thing that is really required is judgement, he said, "the judgment that comes from a deep interest in the organization and the company, a background in what the company does." For Ubiñas the seminal question is why do you want to be on a board, on the board of this kind of company and are you ready to engage in way that is fundamental. There also should be humility, Ubiñas said, in that is senior management, not the board, that runs the company and is responsible for day-to-day management. Board members should not be there, he said, "for their own benefit or for any other reason that is self-involved and self-interested."