More than 20 ago years Juan Carlos emigrated from Venezuela to the California Bay Area, where he now lives with his wife and two daughters. On the subject of diversity and inclusion he says: “We should accept each other and celebrate our differences. It’s easier said than done since we all have biases, our egos, and our values that we got from our families and culture. It requires awareness, growing, evolving, and changing. It’s an endless journey.”

As chair of the Oracle Latinos Alliance Employee Resource Group, he’s passionate about coaching and sharing his career experience with the Hispanic community at Oracle. “I have made many mistakes and at times I struggled in my career, in some cases I learned the hard way. Others can benefit from that,” he says.

Adriana is senior vice president in Oracle Global Hospitality and Food and Beverage Support, an organization with more than 1,000 employees that supports customers in more than 140 countries, in over 20 languages. With a trailblazing career that began in Brazil and has spanned 30 years, she has a keen understanding of the links between diversity and success.

“Diversity of thought, mind, gender, culture, and race are attributes that make us unique and special as human beings,” she says. “If you’re able to recognize these differences and leverage them to learn and grow personally and professionally, then you are able to accomplish greater successes. In my field, understanding and promoting diversity is key to providing better services to our diverse customer base.”

Katty started out in IT 15 years ago—now she's the vice president of Oracle NetSuite and co-leader of the Oracle Latino's Alliance. She's learned a lot along the way and feels inspired to share her hard earned wisdom as a Latina in technology.

She says that confidence and courage are cornerstones of her career success—but she didn't always have them. "I remember receiving feedback during one review about my lack of confidence and presence during meetings. Luckily, this leader paired this feedback with registering me for executive communications training," she recalls. "Skills can be learned, and with enough hard work, we can always achieve higher levels of proficiency. In time, I was able to improve—now I present and lead at meetings, keynotes, and conferences with thousands of attendees."

As the Oracle Latinos Alliance (OLA) infrastructure lead, Sam has been involved in the group’s inclusive recruitment practices. Originally from Mexico City, he believes Hispanic heritage is a distinct advantage in the workplace. “I think my background allows me to be more empathetic and gives me the ability to connect better with people,” he says. “There’s a strong sense of teamwork and camaraderie in Mexico. You spend a lot of time with your coworkers and you get to know your customers very well.

This is one of the many reasons Sam advises his Hispanic colleagues to bring their whole selves to work. “We have so many desirable cultural skills that are important in the workplace: hard work, creativity, caring for others, socializing, our strong family ties, speaking a second language, and loyalty. All those skills go a long way at Oracle.”