7 Latina leaders in the business world

March 8 is International Women's Day. It is a day to think and evaluate the progress of today's society in the inclusion, equality and defense of the rights and life of women.

Despite several advances that have been registered year after year, the business world appears to be one of the most (if not the most) difficult to achieve inclusion and gender equality. In the world of companies and businesses, it is men who occupy the lists of the most powerful and wealthy in the world.

In Latin America the fight has not been easy either and very few women manage to break the corporate glass ceiling and reach relevant and influential positions.

For example, within the list of the 500 most important companies according to Standard & Poors, only 16 were led by Latinos or of Hispanic descent. None of them were women.

Iris Fontbona

She is the only woman in the group of richest Latinos in the world. Her name is next to Carlos Slim, Luís Carlos Sarmiento Angulo or Joseph Safra. Her fortune was inherited from her husband Andrónico Luksic who amassed it in the mining and beverage industry. According to Forbes , her fortune is close to 23 billion dollars.

Katia Beauchamp

Katia is the co-founder of Birchbox, an online company that is responsible for sending makeup by subscription to its more than 300 thousand subscribers and 800 thousand active clients. Beauchamp is American, but of Latino roots (mother of a Mexican family).

Nina Vaca

Born in Quito, Ecuador, Vaca is the president and CEO of Pinnacle Group. She serves on the boards of Comerica Inc. (a financial services company with operations in various states of the US, Canada and Mexico); Kohl's, a North American department store chain; and Cinemark Holdings, one of the most important movie theater chains in the world.

Ana Corrales

This Costa Rican is the Chief of Operations for Google's Consumer Hardware. She has been listed as one of the 50 most powerful Latinas according to Forbes and one of the most influential on the west coast of the United States. She grew up in San José, Costa Rica, and went to North America to study at the University of Washington.

Also read: Women lose prominence on the political map of Latam

Elizabeth Grandson

Born and raised in Argentina, this Columbia University graduate served as Amazon's global director of diversity and inclusion. She recently left for Spotify, the world's leading music streaming company.

Blanca Treviño

This Mexican native of Monterrey is the president and CEO of Softtek, a technology company, being the largest private provider of IT services in all of Latin America.

Sylvia Escovar

Until the beginning of this year, Escovar was the president of Terpel, the second company with the highest income in all of Colombia, only behind the public oil company (Ecopetrol). She is part of the group of the 50 most powerful women in Colombia, according to Forbes.

Beatriz Fernandez

This Colombian was one of the founders of Crepes and Waffles, one of the most important food chains in Colombia. From this company, Fernández has promoted the hiring of female heads of household mothers, empowering thousands of women in the country.