Executive Spotlight: Kimberly A. Casiano

 

POSTED ON Jun 08, 2018

 

A member of Ford Motor Company’s board of directors since 2003, Kimberly A. Casiano is the first Hispanic woman to serve on a Fortune 100 corporate board. 

Board membership at one of America’s multinational automakers soon opened up opportunities in other sectors.

In 2006, Casiano was elected to the board of Mutual of America, a life insurance company.  Four years later, she was elected to the board of Mead Johnson, a nutrition company for babies and children. She is a founding board member of the Latino Corporate Directors Association.

As a member of the board of directors of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF), Casiano helps to award millions in scholarships and provide programs for students, HSF Scholars, Alumni, and Latino parents.

Born in New York to Puerto Rican parents, Casiano earned a bachelor’s degree in politics and Latin American studies from Princeton University in 1979 and obtained her MBA from Harvard Business School in 1981.

She launched a startup soon after graduating from business school, and her company served as a Caribbean Basin Initiative consultant to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), fostering trade and investment in the Caribbean and Latin America. She also co-founded Nuestra Casa de Los Niños, a nonprofit group that provides private school education for economically disadvantaged children in Puerto Rico.

In 1987, Casiano joined Casiano Communications, becoming president of the Hispanic magazine publisher in 1994.  Later, she established Kimberly Casiano & Associates. The firm provides advisory services in marketing, recruiting, communications, advocacy, and diversity to target the U.S. Hispanic market, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

An active philanthropist, Casiano chaired the annual fundraising event for the American Cancer Society in Puerto Rico for 10 years. Currently, she is a member of the board of advisors of Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida.