Ana Valdez, president and CEO of the Latino Donor Collaborative (LDC), works to educate business leaders about the economic power of U.S. Latinos, who represent a $4.4 trillion economy—equivalent to the fourth-largest in the world if measured as its own country. Valdez highlights that despite her extensive background—including work for the United Nations and President Bill Clinton’s administration—she still faces skepticism when she presents these data points to executives. The LDC uses market research, similar to what Valdez did at Nielsen, to challenge stereotypes about Latino customers and demonstrate their significant economic influence.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-15,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Sometimes, when Ana Valdez walks into a C-Suite office and introduces herself, she can see the person taking in her Mexican accent and her last name with some surprise.
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person → walk → surprise
“They were expecting somebody different,” Valdez says.
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Valdez → expect → somebody
It can get “old, and a little annoying” to re-introduce herself—to explain she’s a CEO who has worked for the United Nations in Geneva and President Bill Clinton’s Administration in Washington, D.C.—but, Valdez says, in some ways, she’s happy to do it: “I like this part of my job.
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I → get → job
I’m proud to represent whom a Latino should be regarded as.
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Latino → ’m → whom
The LDC is a clearinghouse for original research and what Valdez describes as “data-driven Latino economic advocacy.”
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Valdez → describe → advocacy
In practice, this is what that advocacy looks like: Valdez walks into CEOs’ offices and tells them that, when they think about their Latino customers, they need to transform the image that comes into their heads.
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that → look → heads
Valdez puts the LDC’s data in front of them, and explains that, according to their research, U.S.-based Latinos represent a $4.4 trillion economy.
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Latinos → put → economy
If measured as their own country, U.S. Latinos would rank as the fourth-largest economy in the world.
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Latinos → measure → world
She is often met with disbelief.
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She → meet → disbelief
“People are saying, ‘It can’t be that my housekeeper produces $4.4 trillion,’” Valdez recounts, laughing.
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Valdez → say → trillion
“I mean, literally, these are the kind of comments I hear.”
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I → mean → comments
Valdez grew up in Mexico City and studied at the prestigious Tecnológico de Monterrey, housed on a modernist campus south of Monterrey’s skyscrapers.
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Valdez → grow → skyscrapers
Later, back in Mexico City, she worked as a senior account executive with Nielsen.
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she → work → Nielsen
It was there that Valdez saw the power of market research to change the look of entire cities.
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Valdez → see → cities
Nielsen would tell multinational companies where untapped customers lived, and those companies would then flood those markets with commercials, new stores, and billboards to reach them.
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companies → tell → them
In 1996, Valdez became an immigrant, moving to the U.S. to work for the Clinton Administration.
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Valdez → become → Administration
She moved to Los Angeles to support Clinton and Vice President Al Gore’s reelection campaign in ’97 and has called L.A. home ever since.
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She → move → L.A.
Even with a high-powered background, Valdez had to fight the feeling that she was starting over in the States.
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she → power → States
In Mexico, saying she went to Tec meant something; in the U.S., it went over people’s heads.
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it → say → heads
That personal experience, as much as her background, made her a natural fit for the LDC.
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her → make → LDC
The LDC was founded in 2010, when a small group of business leaders and former politicians decided to push back against “harmful stereotypes” about Latinos among the business community.
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group → found → community
The officially nonpartisan organization pursues this goal using market research—the kind of work Valdez did at Nielsen.
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Valdez → pursue → Nielsen
It might not look like a march in the streets or a political campaign, but the central thesis of LDC’s work is that transforming the way businesses see their Latino customers can change the world: it evolves the TV people watch, the stores they walk into, the language they use.
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they → look → TV
Valdez began as a development consultant with the LDC before becoming president and CEO in 2015.
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Valdez → begin → 2015
She says that, in boardrooms and corner offices, her pitch is easy: ditch Latino stereotypes and get rich, or hold onto them and fail.
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pitch → say → them
She points to the growing popularity in the U.S. of Latin music and Mexican food-and-beverage brands, from Bad Bunny to Modelo beer.
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She → point → beer
“For those decision makers that know the numbers, and are tracing the source and the root of pop culture today, they’ll be in great position in the coming years,” Valdez says.
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Valdez → know → years
“Those who don’t recognize it,” she warns, “will not.”
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she → recognize → it
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