To kick-off the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, Microsoft employees and members of HOLA, Microsoft’s Hispanic/Latinx Employee Resource Group (Hispanic/Latinx Organization of Leaders in Action) represented Microsoft at the Nasdaq Closing Bell Ceremony in New York City.  Lucy Garate-Barros, Senior Market Research Manager, Diego Martinez, Program Manager, and Alex Talarico, Senior Product Consultant, joined the ceremony. 

 Ahead of the ceremony, Garate-Barros joined a panel led by Nasdaq’s Latinx community, Adelante, to discuss diversity initiatives and the power of the Latinx community. 

 “It is an honor to take part in the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month and embrace the passion, ideas, and achievements of diverse cultures that blend together to make influential contributions to the growth and development of society,” said Lucy Garate-Barros, Chair of Microsoft’s HOLA group. 

 At $2.3 trillion, the U.S. Latino GDP is the seventh largest GDP in the world. Furthermore, it should come as no surprise that the buying power of the United States Latinx population is expected to top $1.9 trillion by 2023, which is higher than the gross domestic product (GDP) of countries like Australia, Spain and Mexico.  

“At Microsoft, we believe in the transformative power of diversity and inclusion. We are honored to represent every single member of the HOLA community who bring their true selves to work in order to create a better community for everyone. Only by actively engaging different perspectives can we challenge and stretch our thinking, enrich employee experiences, and empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more,” said Diego Martinez, Co-Chair of Microsoft’s HOLA group. 

HOLA helps recruit, retain and advance current and future Hispanic/Latinx employees at Microsoft. The group also engages the Hispanic/Latinx community through its 22 chapters within the United States, internally and externally driving conversations around the importance of Latinx in technology.  

To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, Microsoft will run a campaign titled Our Voz which will highlight the stories of four Latino trailblazers who are dedicated to the future of the Latinx community. In addition to these stories, Microsoft will host Latinx thought leaders in a series of events in different Microsoft Stores as well as a series of on campus activities and celebrations. We invite you to visit the Microsoft Latinx blog from September 15 to October 15 to read their inspiring stories or visit microsoft.com/hispanic-heritage-month for more details.