Looking Back to Look Ahead
Supplier Diversity
Nelson Reyneri
by: Luisana Rodríguez
"Whenever I have a tough day, I think about my mom leaving Cuba with three kids under four years old. Not knowing when we were going to see my father again," reflects Nelson Reyneri, incoming board chair for the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) and Principal, ESG, at Point B, a global consulting company.
For a Cuban child coming of age in New York, the city’s cultural diversity was hugely important. Diversity was a strength—not a detriment. "Like many immigrant families, I come from one that struggled with the basics, like learning English and trying to make ends meet. But I was fortunate to have a wonderful family who led us with values and taught us to appreciate being in this country and instilled in us a belief that if we worked hard and played by the rules, we could live our dreams."
Reyneri became the first of his family to attend college when he enrolled at Boston University. He excelled at BU, graduating with honors. For Reyneri, BU was a “democracy of ideas.” His time there inspired his younger brothers to follow in their brother’s footsteps, and seek their college degree, also at Boston University. When Reyneri reflects on this time in his life, he grows emotional. The best advice he ever received, he recalls, was from his mother: ten fe en ti y ten fe en Dios. ‘Have faith in yourself and in God.’
Not long after graduation, Reyneri joined the office of then Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis’. Being introduced to the world of politics and public service was inspirational. For a kid from Cuba, “where the government doesn’t work,” his time with Governor Dukakis helped him find his “passion for public service.” He subsequently earned a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and after graduation served in various senior management roles in the Clinton Administration which, for Reyneri, was a “dream come true to be able to being involved in public service at that level.”
Reyneri believes his path toward business was inevitable given some of the formative experiences he had a teenager. Reyneri’s father owned a bodega where Reyneri spent a great deal of time—and where he could see, in his father, the aspirations and limitations of a Latino small-business owner. "There were little to no resources to help an entrepreneur back then."
In 2002, Reyneri entered the private sector when he met David Hernandez, who was just starting Liberty Power, a retail energy company. Over the next decade a half, the business grew from a start up to a billion dollar business, and one that went from serving a dozen Fortune 500 customers to over 100. For Reyneri, it demonstrated the “value of supplier diversity advocates in helping make introductions to key stakeholders in corporations, so that we could have the opportunity to just introduce ourselves.”
At Point B, Reyneri is proud to be part of a team that leads with empathy and expertise, while prioritizing the importance of social impact within the rapidly growing environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) industry. In Reyneri’s opinion “ESG validates the view that issues such as climate action, diversity and inclusion are no longer side projects but instead a central part of any corporate strategy.”
Reyneri is excited about his role as incoming Chair of the USHCC. “I’m assuming this role with tremendous wind behind our sails, given the great work of our previous Chairs, our Board, and our CEO and management team”. Over the last four years, the USHCC has grown significantly, both in terms of corporate memberships which in turn increases the Chamber’s ability to further support the more than 200 local Hispanic Chambers as well as expanding programs and funding to support Hispanic owned businesses. And doing so while staying focused on its core missions of advocacy for the 5 million Hispanic owned business in the US. "If we help to unleash the economic potential that Latino entrepreneurs have, it will result in tremendous benefits to society.”
But work is not everything. Reyneri takes his work-life balance seriously. When he’s not at the office, he focuses on spending time with his family in Seattle. When considering his background as an immigrant, he shares his goal of wanting to honor one’s roots to his son. "I try to instill in him three values that reflect our common heritage as immigrants: Optimism – you have to believe tomorrow will be better than today; resilience, because nothing good comes easy, and compassion, which is taking empathy from feeling to action.”
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** editors pick: “I’m assuming this role with tremendous wind behind our sails, given the great work of our previous Chairs, our Board, and our CEO and management team”.
** photo credit: Courtesy of USHCC