Inclusiveness in Corporate America

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By John Black

Cid Wilson was named President and CEO of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR) in July 2014, bringing more than twenty years of corporate finance and Wall Street equity research experience to his new job. At HACR, he manages a staff of talented and dedicated professionals and works closely with Corporate board members, Hispanic organizations, and Corporate partners around the country developing programs and initiatives aimed at encouraging Fortune 500 companies to include Hispanics in the areas of employment, procurement, philanthropy, and governance.

“We do a lot of research and study about the business world—past, present, and future—and when we see an area where we know we can be an influence, then we get together with the CEO or the directors of that business and start a dialogue,” Wilson explained. “The key is to assess the situation and then start talking about how it can be improved.”

Wilson travels all around the country to meet with leaders who have completed HACR’s programs and even those who are eager to move forward with their careers and make a difference. Wilson considers himself a servant leader who guides others and works to achieve that overall mission of HACR.

“The most rewarding part of my work is seeing the positive impact of our programs, research, communications, and outreach,” says Wilson.

Although numbers and statistics play an important part in his day-to-day job, Wilson stressed that his real goal as the CEO of HACR is to get business leaders to look beyond the numbers and become true believers in what those figures illustrate. He’s always been willing to roll up his sleeves and work hard to get things done. Graduating from Ohio State University with a degree in economics, Wilson launched his career in 1993 and was steadily promoted from the mail room to the executive suite.

“We’re not satisfied with business leaders who only support inclusion because they have to; that passive support isn’t good enough,” he says. “I want to help business leaders become champions of diversity in the workplace, in their companies, and in every company they do business with. That’s real success to me,” he added. “I don’t think we’re there yet, but we’ve made some amazing progress in the past few years and we’re not going to stop until we are all champions to the cause of diversity.”