Making an authentic impact – a look at our Hispanic and Latino employee resource group

September 12, 2024

Fabio Zamarreno-Mendez didn’t know it at the time, but his style of speaking was giving his new colleagues the wrong impression.

He had just started in human resources at Pratt & Whitney, an RTX business. It was his first corporate job in the U.S., and he quickly learned that his habit of interjecting – the way he learned to show agreement while growing up in Madrid – did not translate.

“The way I was communicating came off as interrupting, cutting people off. My intention was totally opposite,” Zamarreno-Mendez said. “In corporate America, that was causing me a hard time, and I didn't know what I was doing wrong.”

Lucky for him, a mentor from the RTX Hispanic Organization for Leadership and Advancement, an employee resource group, had lived in Spain, recognized the problem and helped him correct course. Now, he leads the mentorship program that helped him rethink his professional communication style.

“I would like people to understand that you can grow in many ways,” said Zamarreno-Mendez. “I feel more confident because I understand I don’t have to change who I am, and I am good enough.”

“I feel more confident because I understand I don’t have to change who I am, and I am good enough.”

Fabio Zamarreno-Mendez | RTX HOLA professional development lead

Supporting the whole employee

The RTX Hispanic Organization for Leadership and Advancement, also called RTX HOLA, is an employee resource group that supports the Hispanic and Latino community and is open to all RTX employees. The group’s major objectives include:

Further developing the RTX HOLA mentorship program, now in its second year and third cohort

Supporting career development to increase the number of Hispanic and Latino executives

Partnering with the company on Hispanic and Latino talent recruitment and retention

Raising awareness for Hispanic and Latino culture and representation at RTX

The power of performance

A key part of RTX HOLA’s mentorship program is guiding participants in self-advocacy at work, including networking, speaking about their achievements, and proactively seeking their next career move. This is important because of a cultural tendency to be modest, said Esther Casas, global co-chair of RTX HOLA.

“As Hispanics, we tend to stay quiet about our accomplishments,” said Casas, an associate director of supplier quality at Collins Aerospace, an RTX business. “What we tend to do is come in Monday morning and just start working. We don’t build those relationships with those above us. We are taught that we just come in and get the work done - and our supervisors or managers don’t know we had 10 issues we resolved that week.”

The group’s mentorship program works in a year-long cohort, and in 2024 it includes 75 mentees and 60 mentors from across RTX. They meet both one-on-one and as a group to discuss career development, network, and share personal successes and challenges.

“Many of us speak English as a second language,” Zamarreno-Mendez said. “I learned to give grace to myself. You can make mistakes, and there is value in the effort I’m making to show up in a second language, and to even feel proud of myself.”

“When people in the Hispanic community see us outside of work, especially students at conferences, they want to come work for RTX because they see how united we are and how we see each other as a familia.”

Esther Casas | Global co-chair | RTX HOLA

Representation matters

RTX HOLA is partnering with the company’s human resources department to help attract and retain Hispanic and Latino employees. The group attends external conferences and career fairs, and aims to increase Hispanic and Latino representation in RTX’s executive ranks by supporting employees’ career development.

“It’s about showing people they should be proud of who they are,” said RTX HOLA Global Chair Gustavo Delcampo.

In years past, Casas said she would go to work wearing a suit with her hair pulled back because that was “the norm.”

“But why can’t I wear the loud pink skirt and big earrings because that’s what I feel comfortable in?” she said. “How are you true to yourself but still making an impact on the business?”

Paying it forward

RTX HOLA membership has doubled since the group re-organized companywide in 2022. That’s a strong statistic, but for Delcampo and Casas, it’s “not about the numbers.”

That’s why when Delcampo travels to an RTX site, he makes it a point to meet local ERG members.

“It’s important to let them know we appreciate everything they do, and that we’re there to support and represent them,” said Delcampo, director of enterprise supplier quality at Collins Aerospace.

He also reminds them how important it is to help others.

“It can be hard for some of us to realize how much impact kind words, a helping hand or open ears can have,” he said. “It’s important for us to have a strong familia we can rely on.”

“It can be hard for some of us to realize how much impact kind words, a helping hand or open ears can have.”

Gustavo Delcampo | Global chair | RTX HOLA

A long-term impact

Now that he leads the RTX HOLA mentorship program, Zamarreno-Mendez wants to support others in finding career guidance that will help them figure out where they really want to go – and build the skills and relationships to get there.

Participants “leave feeling they have grown, and years from now, they remember what they learned is now valuable,” said Zamarreno-Mendez. “Maybe not in the month after you leave, but I hope in 10 years, you realize, ‘I communicated better or I had the confidence to apply for that role.’ It’s a long-term impact.”

And his mentor’s guidance left a long-term impact on Zamarreno-Mendez and his career trajectory. In 2024, he was promoted to learning and development lead at Collins Aerospace.

“Now with time, I found a sweet place,” Zamarreno-Mendez said of his current communication style. “My mentor taught me that there was nothing wrong with me – and how to continue to be myself.”