OLAF GROWALD
As the new CEO and president of the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Anette Landeros says 12-hour days are common. She usually starts with a breakfast or coffee meeting with chamber members or others in the community. That’s followed with office work directing her team of five, then usually a networking lunch, followed by more office work. The work day usually ends with a mixer or meeting — her position serves on four boards — before heading home.
“There are a lot of meet and greets,” the energetic 36-year-old said. “My job is to be a constant relationship builder."
Beginnings Landeros hails from San Antonio and attended graduate school at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. She’s dug deep into Fort Worth over 10 years, serving Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas, Carter BloodCare, Fort Worth Sister Cities International, Leadership Fort Worth, Artes de la Rosa Cultural Center for the Arts, and Planned Parenthood. All this on top of a full-time job as project manager for the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Transportation in Fort Worth.
Big Pivot It was her two years on the FWHCC board that led to her new job, which she started July 15, replacing John Hernandez. “Several folks encouraged me to apply.”
Changes Afoot Landeros has identified three areas of improvement she already sees for the 400-member chamber. One is to increase membership; 10 years ago, the FWHCC was near 1,000 members. Secondly, she is implementing a way to measure effectiveness of the chamber’s programming and outreach. Finally, she wants to educate members in advantages minority and women-owned businesses have in pursuing contracts with the federal government and major corporations. “We need to demystify the contracting and bidding process.”
Scaling Up Hispanics are three times more likely to start a business than other races, Landeros said. “But research shows those businesses stay rather small,” she said. “We see value in helping businesses scale. If we can take these small businesses and help them thrive and scale, we are creating jobs and economic impact. We want to help with navigating city permits, finding capital and staff, getting HR policies — connecting these dots for folks.”
Collaborations Another initiative that could expand the reach of the chamber is an initiative — announced in early September — that will have the Hispanic chamber, Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce, and Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce working together. The agreement allows the three chambers to jointly set goals, interact regularly with each other’s staffs and make statements together.