Samsung is celebrating the one-year anniversary of Unidos, the company’s Hispanic and Latino Employee Resource Group (ERG). With nearly 200 members, the ERG has come together in their commitment to empowering their community within Samsung and beyond through increasing social and cultural awareness and promoting employee development, retention and progress.

As the first Hispanic and Latino ERG in the North American region and the 6th ERG at Samsung Electronics America, Unidos has made many meaningful contributions within the company’s larger community. Together, they led the first Hispanic Heritage Month celebration at Samsung Electronics America and added a new volunteering activity with Mi Escuelita Preschool during the company’s annual Week of Service. Throughout Hispanic Heritage Month last year, the ERG hosted several internal events including discussions surrounding intersectionality, allyship and ways to grow the Hispanic and Latino talent within Samsung, while also sharing some of their favorite cultural recipes and playlists.

Unidos’s mission extends into the broader Hispanic and Latino community. The ERG worked alongside several teams at Samsung to improve the consumer journey for Spanish-speaking consumers by launching the best version of Samsung.com/Español. In partnership with organizations such as Prospanica and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), several UNIDOS members attended the 2021 SHPE convention to interact with top Hispanic talent in STEM, host network events in a Big Tech panel and participate in professional development workshops.

To celebrate all that Unidos accomplished over the last 12 months, we sat down with the ERG’s executive sponsors and national lead to discuss some of their most memorable moments since launching Unidos.

Rich Rosalez, Vice President, Litigation

“I am immensely proud of how Unidos and its leadership team have helped create a sense of belonging at Samsung. Seeing our community of Latino employees come together and formalize an employee resource group has been exciting, invigorating, and rewarding. I have witnessed firsthand the many virtual meetings, projects, and preparation that helped us launch and have a fantastic start with meaningful panels and programs. I enjoyed participating in a number of events including speaking with high school students about educational and career advice and opportunities, as well as the sessions we held with the Galaxy of Black Professionals ERG, as we worked towards common goals and supported one another. At Unidos, we want to grow, get more members engaged, enhance the sense of community that we have created at Samsung, and have a positive impact on the larger Latino community. We are off to a great start, and we need to use that momentum to become bigger, stronger and more effective.”

Nora Lango, Director, Sales & Customer Operations, Digital Appliance Business

“This past year as Unidos National Lead has been challenging, but I am so grateful for all of the learnings and proud moments that I experienced in launching this ERG. While there were many milestones for Unidos in 2021, my proudest moment was winning the coveted prize of “ERG of the Year” and being recognized as the ERG that helped progress the North American Region Diversity and Inclusion agenda in 2021! In partnership with our Talent Acquisition and Diversity and Inclusion teams, Unidos members were able to attend the 2021 Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) convention. Our members were excited for the opportunity to share their experience at Samsung and actively participate in the job fairs, workshops and panel discussions, having over one thousand interactions with top Hispanic talent in the STEM industry. We are lucky to have such strong support from all of our partners. In 2022, we plan to launch new programs, expand our mentoring efforts, and continue to contribute to events that further Samsung’s diversity and inclusion journey.”

Renzo Villavicencio, Vice President, Process Innovation & Procurement

“As I reflect back on our first year, I’m very proud that Unidos came to life and empowered our SEA Hispanic community. The team did a fantastic job growing cultural awareness and employee engagement with different events throughout the year. My personal highlight was our Meet & Greet sessions with our Unidos members. This was an opportunity to hear some great stories of perseverance and sacrifice that the Latino community endures, while trying to excel in the corporate world. These stories truly inspired me and revealed areas that we need to focus on within our community. Next year, we are enhancing our mentorship programs to provide better tools for our Latino employees to grow within our organization, as well as continuing to work with our Talent Acquisition team to cultivate a diverse and inclusive workforce. Unidos hit the ground running in 2021, but there is a lot to do with our amazing opportunity to make a huge impact on Samsung and our broader Latino community.”

Having received the 2021 Employee Resource Group Award within Samsung in recognition of their contributions to progressing the regional diversity and inclusion agenda, Unidos acknowledges the great amount of work still needed to be done. The ERG is setting higher goals in 2022 to further empower the Hispanic and Latino community and allies, promote employee development and embrace the richness of the diverse customs, cultures and heritages within Samsung to continue building an inclusive culture where everyone feels a sense of pride and belonging.