Group’s New Hire Builds on Efforts Toward Member Expansion and Diversity
SAN JOSE, Calif. – January 4, 2021 – The Silicon Valley Leadership Group today announced the hire of Pedro David Espinoza as their new Vice President of Business Development. Espinoza is an entrepreneur, racial diversity speaker and founder of SmileyGo – a startup that indexes the data of 1 million nonprofits in order to empower companies to invest smarter and was part of the Berkeley SkyDeck cohort. SVLG CEO Ahmad Thomas pointed to Espinoza’s track record of success working with startups and his operating leadership.
“Silicon Valley Leadership Group is looking for the next generation of diverse business leaders to help us grow,” said Thomas. “Pedro is a very talented and dynamic addition to our team, who represents both where we’re going and what we want to accomplish.”
Besides his business development background, Espinoza is a thought leader in corporate diversity. Espinoza co-authored “Differences That Make a Difference: How Organizations Succeed by Focusing on Innovation through Inclusion” with Jorge Titinger. The book – which explains how corporate culture can retain talent while expanding inclusion – featured contributions from Reed Hastings, Nancy Brown, Eric Schmidt, Tim Draper and others.
“I am thrilled about joining the Silicon Valley Leadership Group – an organization I’ve been connected to for years – at an important time in its change and growth,” said Espinoza. “It’s a chance to work with their industry defining members – and the SVLG team – to keep their momentum going on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusivity.
The hire comes on the heels of recent moves by the Leadership Group in the inclusion space including the launch this week of SVLG’s corporate diversity initiative 25×25 and the naming of Angelica Cortez as SVLG’s first VP for Racial Justice and Equity. Espinoza hopes to add to the efforts with an initiative focused on Black and Hispanic owned startups that he’ll be talking more about at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s upcoming Diversity Forward Summit on February 19th.
About Silicon Valley Leadership Group
The Leadership Group is a business organization of hundreds of Silicon Valley’s most dynamic companies working to shape the innovation economy of California and the nation. Founded by David Packard of Hewlett-Packard, for over 40 years SVLG has worked to address issues that affect the region’s economic health and quality of life. Today SVLG is focused on economic competitiveness with an emphasis on infrastructure,
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