Nathalie Molina Niño has never been one to shy away from breaking barriers, and now, sheâs focusing her attention on a new mission: demystifying corporate boardrooms for women, especially Latinas. Molina Niño is the President of Known, an asset management and financial services firm, a veteran tech entrepreneur and builder capitalist, and a board member at the iconic lingerie Brand, Hanky Panky, and others.
Like many corporate boards, Hanky Panky hadnât publicly disclosed its board composition until recently. After the brand survived the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Molina Niño decided it was time for more women, specifically more Latinas, to know what it means to be on corporate boards.
Coincidentally, the decision to finally be more vocal about this topic aligned with the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, which served as the perfect kick-off to the work.
"Something that rarely gets talked about and I think almost gets kept opaque by design is boards,â she explains in a recent Instagram announcement. â[This Latinx Heritage Month], thatâs what Iâll be talking about.â Her goal? To equip more Latinas with the knowledge they need to navigate onto for-profit boards, where they can thrive and build multi-generational wealth.
For-profit corporate boards often feel like an exclusive club. And in many ways, they are, especially for Latinas, who hold the smallest percentage of board seats in Fortune 500 companies compared to other racial groups. According to the latest report from Latino Board Monitor, while Latinos hold 4.1% of these board seats (compared to 82.5% held by white people), only 1% go to Latinas. Molina Niño, a first-generation American of Ecuadorian and Colombian descent, is part of this boardroom minority.
When asked about her experience as a Latina board member during a recent Zoom interview, she said, âItâs been lonely. Thereâs not a lot of Latinas on boards.â She went on to explain that even serving on boards of Latina-founded businesses gets lonely because, âA lot of the times, people who serve on their boards represent their investors and, as a result, [...] you still donât see a lot of Latinas on those boards.â
This lack of representation drives Molina Niñoâs determination to increase Latina presence in corporate boardrooms. By sharing her insights, she hopes to give Latinas a roadmap to claim their seats at the table. âIf you donât know where to go, itâs impossible to figure out how to get there,â she says.
The Road to the Boardroom
Getting onto a for-profit corporate board isnât an overnight achievement, but itâs not an unattainable dream either. People often think you need to be a CEO or have a certain type of background, but thatâs one of the biggest myths about boards in Molina Niñoâs experience. What theyâre really looking for is expertise â whether thatâs in finance, marketing, sustainability, or even technology. If you have that expertise, youâre already an asset. Itâs simply a matter of which road you should take.
Understanding what boards are and how they operate is key to unlocking opportunities. For-profit boards serve as the governing body for companies, overseeing direction and financial stability, and guiding CEOs and executives in decision-making. But Molina Niño emphasizes that not all for-profit boards are created equal.
âThere are two kinds [of for-profit boards] [...]. Thereâs the publicly traded business board and then, on the privately held side, there are, I would argue, two types of boards [...] the traditional business board and the venture-backed business board,â explains Molina Niño. Traditional businesses are often family-owned or long-established and may only form boards to meet requirements, like securing financing or transitioning through an ESOP. Venture-backed boards, on the other hand, are typically filled by investors who hold major stakes in the company.
According to Molina Niño, understanding the difference between them is how you can create a successful strategy. With publicly traded business boards, the whole world is privy to them, so, âThe way that you get in there is a little bit more transparent. Sometimes those publicly traded companies will hire a recruiter to help them find new board members,â explains Molina Niño. For private companies, on the other hand, thereâs no legal requirement to make announcements. As a result, most people donât know anything about them or their inner workings.
âUsually what happens in traditional businesses that donât have venture-capital investments is that the Founders, Executives, or the board members, if one existed already, they usually go to their friends,â and people they deem experienced to fill board seats. In other words, itâs the founderâs decision, and thatâs an entirely different approach than hiring recruiters. When it comes to venture-backed business boards, the seats on the board are filled by whichever investor writes the biggest check.
This is why an understanding of the different types of boards and acknowledgment of their own strengths is what will help Latinas define a sound strategy. Whether thatâs working with a recruiter, networking and connecting with founders to build trust, or making the biggest investment.
The Path for Latinas
For Molina Niño, the key to getting more Latinas into corporate boardrooms is education. Knowing what a board looks like and how it functions is how you can position yourself to get on it. In openly talking about this, without the mystique itâs usually shrouded in, Molina Niño is providing women, especially Latinas, with invaluable insights. âIf we had Latinas understanding what are the three types of for-profit boards I think that, on their own, they would be able to figure out what their best chance is and adjust their careers to make themselves more competitive,â states Molina Niño.
When asked about the impact of increased Latina representation in boardrooms, Molina Niño flips the narrative. âBoards donât help Latinas by offering them seats; Latinas help businesses thrive by being on their boards,â she says. âThe whole point of sitting on a board is that you have experience and expertise, and as Latinas, you also have some cultural experience that everyone wants. [...] At the end of the day, we [Latinas] have to realize that we have a ton to offer and we have to be selective about where we put that expertise,â she explains.
As demand for access to the Latina consumer rises, Molina Niño predicts that more Latinas will find themselves recruited into boardrooms. But sheâs not content to sit back and wait for that moment. By openly sharing her journey and insights, sheâs making sure other Latinas know their worth and have the tools to claim their place at the table. âI realized that quietly being on boards that helped me personally is not helping other Latinas. [...] I was lucky enough to have friends who could advise me and share their experiences, so thatâs why Iâm doing this,â she stated.
With Hispanic Heritage Month as the backdrop, Nathalie Molina Niñoâs mission is clear: âMy goal is just to give Latinas enough information so they can make a plan for how to eventually get on a board that theyâre paid to be on and that will eventually help them build generational wealth.â
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