Each year, Forbes constructs a list that features 20, 30 or 50 of the most powerful businesswomen in the world, and that compilation examines the contributions those women made to their respective industries and briefly hails the women for their ability to take a bat to the status quo.

Ursula Burns is an example of one of the businesswomen who've seized business leadership. The Panamanian chairman and chief executive officer of Xerox Corp was raised in a New York City housing project. Today, she's reframed the company and helped the corporations to take on the task of managing electric ticket transactions, parking meters and road tolls (in addition to the routine sales of copiers and printers), which brings in 50 percent of all revenues.

Brazilian CEO Maria das Gracas Silva Foster contributes her talents to the of oil company Petrobas, a company that's produced 90 percent of Brazil's oil and 91 percent of Brazil's gas. She oversees the revenues of more than $130 billion.

But it isn't easy for Latinas to trek to the top of the business world, particularly due to barriers disabling the path to the frontier of leadership. Grant Thornton International released a recent business report that surveyed 5,404 business leaders. The research showed that senior roles held by women have only grown by 3 percent since 2004 (19 percent versus 22 percent). Nearly a third of businesses have no women in senior leadership teams.

Career barriers and enablers emerged from the study. It included the facts family care requires women to make sacrifice; women are likelier to work their way up to management positions; men and women differ in the way they network; and women are twice as likely to cite their sex as an obstacle. The research also produced 12 recommendations for businesses, society, government and women aimed at facilitating female advancement.

The study's recommendations included refraining from forcing female leaders to meet higher standards, improving business leadership stereotypes, facilitating shared parental lead, mandating quotas for placing women on boards, and building necessary legislation.

The study also recommended placing top-level support in women's leadership, investing funds into sponsorship and mentoring programs, women pushing themselves outside of the comfort zones, and women challenging organizations to tackle gender biases that may exist in its infrastructure.

But, it takes more than a list of recommendations to empower Latina leaders; it takes an expansion of opportunities and pathways to enable positive outcomes. It takes inclusiveness, teamwork, professional growth, relationship building and leveraging unique cultural perspective. It's also a matter of supporting other Latina professionals. That means supporting Latina-run programs, Latina-owned businesses, purchasing Latina-produced goods and employing Latina-produced services.

It's about a commitment to diversity, the promotion of Latina hiring, providing scholarships and encouraging Latinas to take part of the economic growth in the Latino market. Customized personal and professional development enhances Latino leadership and creates a culture for Latina opportunities, ethical standards, leadership initiatives, networking, preservation of bicultural heritage and principled values.

There are some tremendous Latina success stories. And those stories belong to Marlene Gonzalez, founder and president of Life Coaching Group, LLC and former executive at McDonald's Corp; America Corrales-Bortin, the co- founder
 of America's Taco; Dr. Maria Harper-Marinick , executive vice chancellor and provost for 
Maricopa Community Colleges; Carmen Castillo, CEO of SDI International Corp (Superior Design International; SDI); Nina G. Vaca,Founder, Chairman, & CEO of Pinnacle Technical Resources; Lori Higuera
, Director
 of Fennemore Craig; Ana María López, MD, 
associate dean, professor of medicine and pathology at 
University of Arizona; Marie Torres
, Founder of 
MRM Construction Services
; Lisa Urias,
President and CEO of 
Urias Communications; María Martínez, executive vice president for Customers for Life and chief growth officer at Salesforce.com; Dawn C. Valdivia 
Partner, chair of the Labor & Employment Practice at Group 
Quarles & Brady; Marie D. Quintero-Johnson, Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions at the Coca-Cola Company; María Elena Lagomasino, Partner at WE Family Offices; and Lorena Valencia, CEO
of Reliance Wire.

Even with their success, women only make up a small fraction of Forbes mentions for top business leaders, and Latinas hold fewer top jobs at Fortune 500 companies. It's a documented fact there are more men named James and David who head companies than there are women CEOs, particularly when it comes to women of color.

Aren't Latinas qualified for these positions? If not, how can an educated and business-minded Latinas reach top positions?

Commitment to home is often listed as a disability, even if Latinas extend the same interest to education and career. The reality for many Latinas is that home remains a part of their focus even when seeking education, and a lack of financial resources means that attention has to also be directed holding down multiple jobs.

For many, persistence is already a part of their foundation and success in corporate America has to recognize the dimensions of the Latina businesswoman and encouraging her toward the head of mainstream business. These companies have to recognize that Latina representation is vital before they're likely to place women of Latin descent into power, and that's education.

But, it's also a matter of Latinas always keeping the door open for the next herd of educated and talented Latina business leaders, leaving an opportunity to succeed. No amount of motivation or confidence will allow a Latina to succeed if she doesn't receive mentorship, guidance and encouragement from likeminded female leaders who have fiercely encouraged equity and equality in the workforce to strike down discrimination and promote workforce diversity.

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