The Oracle Latinos Alliance: Building Community and Empowering Leadership All Year Long

During Hispanic Heritage Month, and every month of the year, Oracle and the Oracle Latinos Alliance (OLA) are focused on creating a future for people with different backgrounds, experiences, and ways of thinking.

The Oracle Latinos Alliance (OLA)

OLA has 16 chapters with more than 1800 members globally and focuses on building cultural awareness, inclusive recruitment, and community engagement. Its mission is future focused, recognizing how integral Latinos are to the success of the company. This is why OLA’s mission places particular emphasis on the unique heritage and cultural values they bring to Oracle.

Here’s what Hispanic Heritage Month and OLA’s work throughout the year means to its members!

Carla Benavides, Principal Product Manager:  To me, Hispanic Heritage Month is a community gatherer. By celebrating Latin heritage, we build pride and togetherness. It is also a celebration of unity and differences, providing an opportunity to raise awareness, like the fact that Latin small business owners are the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the US, despite lower average incomes and credit access

Fer Perez Almodovar, Senior Manager, Software Development: Being part of an organization that supports expression of employee heritage means being in a place where I can be authentic and completely who I am and who I want to become in my career and personal life. I believe that being Latino should not be an obstacle, being Latino is a superpower.

Michelle Rodriguez, Application Sales Executive: Being a part of a space that allows me to express, learn, and connect with others that are driven by diversity is one of the main reasons I wanted to get involved with Oracle’s Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). Working remotely, it can be easy to become disconnected and isolated, but OLA has helped me stay connected to peers all while feeling like I am doing my part to stay true to my roots.

In the end, it is all about cultivating a positive environment where we can all come together to learn from each other and grow.

Oracle and the Hispanic Technology Executive Council (HITEC)

OLA’s members are taking the ERG to the next level, demonstrating how it can be a powerful tool both within Oracle and outside of the company. In fact, its Latinos are being recognized for their efforts to help shape a more inclusive future, including Hispanic Technology Executive Council (HITEC100).

As part of advancing Oracle’s Diversity and Inclusion goals and OLA’s mission, the company has partnered with HITEC since 2016. The benefits are many, including quarterly symposiums on topics related to tech and career development, access to a cohort-based leadership development program, and a corporate board readiness program.

Recognition is also an important part of what HITEC does. It celebrates Latino leaders’ work in tech globally, as part of the HITEC 100 awards and in specific regions with the HITEC 50 awards (Iberian Peninsula and LAD), in which OLA members have been selected for making positive, inspiring and meaningful contributions with their work.

This year, HITEC is recognizing three OLA members:

• Markia Archuleta, Vice President, Global Sales Operations, 2024 HITEC 100;
• Christian Linacre, Vice President, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, 2024 HITEC 100; and
• Adriana Torres, SVP and Global Head of Customer Support, 2024 HITEC Hall of Fame.

Torres, who prides herself on being a leader, mentor and student explained that “when you work across the world for this long, you can’t help but learn to love the culture of different countries and the incredible people it creates. You learn that bringing together different people and different perspectives enriches the dynamic of every team. And you learn that we are all connected, even though we come from different places and have different experiences.”