Devoted to women of color in business

Congratulations to Jovita Carranza on being tapped for the Deputy Administrator position at the U.S. Small Business Administration!

President Bush announced Carranza's selection based on her deep knowledge of small business needs and her stellar capabilities at United Parcel Service, where she was most recently vice president of air operations, responsible for a 4 million square foot facility in Louisville, Kentucky with 17,000 conveyors that process 304,000 packages every hour on the hour.

Her story is amazing: she was raised in a first-generation Mexican-American household in Chicago, and started with UPS in 1976 as a part-time employee, on the night shift as a clerk in Los Angeles to raise money while going to college as a single mom. She's been with the company for thirty years and even received an MBA from the University of Miami while rising through the ranks.

She received Hispanic Business Magazine's 2004 Woman of the Year award, and in her interview has some great statements that all women of color in business can relate to:

• "Playing a small role doesn't benefit or serve anyone. Not yourself, your employer, your family, your peers, your constituents ... Striving for an always higher level is better for the world."
  
• "One of my MOs is to sit back and listen and observe. You learn more by not speaking. Intelligent people learn from their own experiences; with wisdom, you learn from other people's mistakes. I'm very methodical about that."
  
• "The fact that as a woman you have multiple diversities, personal and professional, I believe it prepares you to deal with the workforce environment in what it offers in diversity."
  
  
• "I am very adaptable, patient, observant, flexible. I tend to be a listener … I value the input of the staff and the front-line employees."
  
  

Congratulations, Jovita!