Manny Espinoza

Manny Espinoza has been CEO at ALPFA since 2001 and is responsible for effectively guiding ALPFA in a new and bold direction with inspiration, leadership and vision. Under his leadership, the organization has reached its highest membership numbers in history. In addition, Mr. Espinoza is responsible for opening ALPFA to a broader scope of Latino professionals and students, and was instrumental in the merger with NHBA.

Prior to joining ALPFA, Mr. Espinoza was with PricewaterhouseCoopers where he served as managing partner of the Tucson, Ariz., office and personnel partner in the San Diego office. During his tenure, he was assigned to the Mexico City office for the firm, where he served as Country Desk for Mexico and was responsible for U.S. subsidiaries doing business in those countries. He also provided Financial Advisory Services from the Houston office specializing in International Litigation Support Services.

Mr. Espinoza is a member of the Ascend Corporate Advisory Board, serves on Deloitte’s Diversity External Advisory Council and is on the Board of the NASBA Center for Public Trust. Mr. Espinoza received the prestigious Eagle Award for his dedication and commitment to leadership and diversity issues. In 2007, Diversity Edge magazine named him one of the “Top 20 Diversity Champions,” and in 2008 HispanicBusiness magazine named Mr. Espinoza one of the Top 100 Most Influential Hispanics. Espinoza is a graduate of the University of Arizona where he earned both a master’s and bachelor’s degree in Accounting.

Suri Surinder

Suri Surinder is Chief Operating Officer at ALPFA Institute, leading the development of strategic relationships, and design and delivery of client programs.

Mr. Surinder has developed the techniques and concepts he teaches during a long and successful business career spanning 25 years and 25 assignments as an executive, consultant, board member, author, entrepreneur and professor. His leadership arc has been extraordinary, starting in 1984 as an immigrant graduate student on an academic fellowship, with several humble roles along the way.

His entrepreneurial experience includes serving as Founder and CEO of CTR Factor, and Chief Learning Officer and Global Head of Consulting Services at Diversity MBA Consulting. His corporate experience spans multiple industries, including telecom, banking, energy, transportation, retail, city government, non-profit, and healthcare at companies like Pfizer, Verizon, McKinsey, Centurylink, Capital One, Fidelity, Best Buy, Wellpoint, Chase, and Con Edison.

He has held C-level roles running billion dollar P&Ls and large global functional groups:

• CEO of $1.7B regional P&L,5K associates

• COO of $2.7B regional P&L,3K associates

• CMO of $1B P&L serving 50M customers

• CHRO of $1.8B global P&L

• Chief of Staff to COO of $39B P&L

• Global Head of Broadband call centers

• Head of Process Re-engineering of $1.2B unit

• Expert in Customer Experience at McKinsey

• Head of $3B early stage Collections unit

He is the author of the forthcoming book “The CTR Factor: How High Is Your Leadership Quotient”, former board member of three boards, and former Adjunct Professor of Strategic Management at the City University of New York.  In 2011, he was recognized by Diversity MBA magazine as one of the Top 100 under 50 Senior Executives in the country.  Mr. Surinder holds a BS in Civil Engineering, an MS in Structural Engineering and an MBA in Marketing.

Anita Gonzalez

Anita Gonzalez is VP of Advisory Services for ALPFA Institute. She is a results driven management executive, with over 15 years of experience and advanced strategic leadership skills in managing sales and marketing teams, anticipating and capitalizing on market trends, identifying profit potential, maximizing market share, and generating significant sales growth for the clients and companies she supports and leads.

She also serves as Chief Operating Officer at CTR Factor as well as Chief Marketing Officer at Diversity MBA Magazine, a Chicago based business, offering an innovative approach to diversity business solutions for Fortune 1000 companies.

Ms. Gonzalez has served as CMO and Managing Partner at EZ Language Services, a nationwide interpretation, translation and transportation company where she continues to serve on the Board of Directors. She has also served as head of Sales and Marketing reporting to the President of the Southeast Region for Verizon, with responsibility for delivering $321 million in revenue and for managing all marketing and sales channels, including:

• Retail: VZ stores, Big Box, mall kiosks
• Call Centers: Inbound, outbound, retention, winback
• Premise-based : Door to door, Business Affinity, events
• Program-based: Employee/customer referrals, loyalty
• Online: Webstores, social media, SEO, banners

Some other companies she has partnered with and worked for are Long & Foster, Bertucci’s Corporate, National Amusements, Tac Temps Corporate, Arthur Murray Studios, Noble Construction, First Centrum, Hilton Hotels, Starwood Hotel & Resorts, One Point Communications, Bloomingdales Corporate, First Centrum, The TJX Companies, Inc. (TJ Max Corporate), Dermalogica Worldwide, Aerotek, Teligent Communications, Coca-Cola and Interamerica Bank.

Dr. Theres W. Stiefer

Previous to her current position she was the Director of the Career Center in the Walton College. She has been at the University of Arkansas since August 2002. She came to Arkansas from Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma where she worked in Financial Assistance, Admissions, Advisement and Placement, and Student Development. While at Cameron, Stiefer assisted in developing 4-year leadership program for the outstanding high school seniors in Oklahoma, she helped to establish and create the Red River Career Expo, and with her team built the career center at from the ground up.

Stiefer has worked in higher education for over 20 years and has a doctorate in Higher Education Leadership from the University of Arkansas. She has been involved in local, regional, and national organizations. She has served as the President of the Oklahoma Association of Colleges and Employers, the President of the Southwest Association of Colleges and Employers (SWACE), and she is the first Arkansan to ever sit on the executive board of the National Association of Colleges and Employers. She has served as Mistress of Ceremonies for several association annual SWACE conferences. Stiefer has presented keynote addresses, strategic action sessions, and workshops to regional and national organizations in Oklahoma, California, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Kansas, Arizona, and Texas. She currently serves on the Conference on Management, Executive and Professional Development Programs advisory board.

She was awarded the Superior Service award from the Walton College of Business after only a year and a half of service and was given a gold star for her service to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. She received the John M. Brooks award which is the highest award given by SWACE and was recently awarded Life Membership. She coached little league softball, soccer and basketball for ten years. In 2002, Stiefer and her sister, Shannon Cox, spent 17 days in Park City, UT as volunteers for the Salvation Army and the City of Park City for the Winter Olympics. Stiefer is a graduate of the Leadership Fayetteville class of 2005 and the Walton College of Business Emerging Leaders program.

Dr. Greg Fike

Receiving training and mentoring from some of the finest educators and communicators in the industry, the focus of Dr. Fike’s coaching and teaching is leadership, the structure of communication, performance improvement, and enhancing learning. He has coached leaders at the executive level, managers on the production floor, and people in the classroom.

He was principal on the design team which created the Emerging Leaders Program at the Walton College, bringing together leaders of national organizations and preparing them to lead their company into higher levels of productivity. He designs and delivers specific training and coaching programs to be used in the natural settings of any organization or institution. He is currently researching the uses of Non-verbal Communication in the educational and training environment which enhance and facilitate learning and integration.

James Lascano

James Lascano is Director of Operations for ALPFA Institute.

Prior to joining ALPFA, he was employed by Anastasia Confections as a Director of Operations.  As Director of Operations, he oversaw Human Resources, Sales, Operations, Safety and Quality. Under his leadership, Anastasia Confections developed a more corporate structure, attracting mainstream clientele both nationally and internationally.

Prior to this role, Mr. Lascano was employed by Verizon Communications as Regional Manager of Sales and Service for the Southeast Region. As the Regional Manager, he was responsible for the day to day business management of a sales force of 150 employees. While at Verizon, also held positions as Operations Manager, and Multicultural Marketing Manager. Mr. Lascano has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida, and Six Sigma Green Belt from Villanova University.

Mr. Lascano has a firm belief in getting involved within the community in which he resides and being a responsible citizen. For the contributions he has given his community, he has been awarded the Community Service Award by the Florida Telecommunications Industry Association, as well as named the Hispanic Civic Man of the Year by Tampa Hispanic Heritage Inc. He currently sits on Multiple Non-Profit Boards including Hispanic Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs (HYPE), an organization whose main purpose is to reduce the High School dropout rate within Hispanic youth.