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Earlier today, President Biden signed an Executive Order to further advance racial equity and support for underserved communities. This policy reaffirms the Administration’s commitment to deliver equity and support to communities coast to coast, so that all Americans can participate, prosper and reach their full economic potential.
On this momentous occasion, Ines Hernandez, StartUP FIU Senior Fellow for Economic Development and Florida International University alumna, was recently named Counselor for Equity by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
In this newly-created federal role, Ines will work Ines will work across the U.S. Department of Commerce’s 13 bureaus to ensure they strategically utilize the nation’s resources to catalyze innovation, inspire growth and generate prosperity in communities coast to coast. Ines will also advise the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Commerce on policy design and implementation strategies that help advance racial and gender equity agenda within the Department’s programs and strategic initiatives.
Focused on strengthening and growing the nation’s economy, the Department of Commerce makes America more competitive by encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship both at home and abroad, preparing citizens for 21st century employment opportunities, and ensuring all Americans have the chance to share in our nation’s economic bounty. Some of the Department’s key policy areas include working to close the digital divide, helping minority-owned businesses grow, ensuring underrepresented communities are accurately counted in the Census, and enacting policies that help our economy provide value and opportunities in a fair, just and equitable manner.
“Ines has a proven track record of connecting people across communities and uniting them towards one goal – economic prosperity,” said Emily Gresham, Assistant Vice President of Research, Innovation & Economic Development and Co-Founder of StartUP FIU. “We are proud to see Ines’ decades of success recognized by the federal government and look forward to watching her inspire communities throughout the nation towards greater success and economic strength.”
A passionate change-maker committed to building inclusive and thriving communities, Ines has worked for more than 20 years to impactfully address the prosperity gap in South Florida. Most recently, Ines served as a trusted counselor for StartUP FIU, Florida International University’s dedicated innovation hub, where she advised the unit’s economic development program and put innovative frameworks in place to ensure the organization’s reach extended to all South Florida communities. With her trademark enthusiasm and strong cross-sectional relationships, Ines embraced and advanced StartUP FIU’s goal of making the core tenets of entrepreneurship accessible to all.
StartUP FIU was founded on the principle that entrepreneurship and innovation are the keys to building financial independence and prosperity for individuals, their families, and by extension, their communities. By sharing the principles of an entrepreneurial mindset and the skills necessary to thrive, StartUP FIU helps small businesses, family-owned enterprises and similar ventures attain the American Dream.
“I am honored to have been selected as the first Counselor for Equity by the U.S. Department of Commerce and look forward to guiding federal resources to communities nationwide so that we can grow an economy that works for everyone,” said Ines Hernandez, who won an FIU Torch Award in 2022 for exemplary Community Leadership. “My years of experience working to bring financial inclusion and economic empowerment to culturally diverse communities will guide me as I continue to advocate for economic mobility at the national level.”
About Counselor Ines Hernandez:
Ines Hernandez is driven by her passion and commitment to building inclusive, resilient, and thriving communities. During her 20-plus year career in community development, Ines honed her skills in applied research, program development, public policy formulation, and public affairs. Time and again, she has proven her expertise navigating a variety of intersecting issues, including economic empowerment, affordable housing, climate, public health, and equity. Ines has a knack for translating public commitments into policy, and transforming grassroots action into demonstrable results for multiple stakeholders.
Most recently, Ines served as the inaugural Senior Economic Development Fellow for StartUP FIU where she helped connect the university to opportunities that foster entrepreneurship and build inclusive prosperity by leveraging its role as an anchor institution and innovation hub. In her prior role as SVP in Community Investment and Development at Citi, Ines was responsible for leading the bank’s regional commitment to economic inclusion and leveraged philanthropy, business solutions and relationship expertise to launch and scale transformative programs with high social impact. Under her leadership, Citi built cross-sector coalitions with public and private sector organizations, universities, and communities to deliver on universally beneficial goals such as: economic development, job creation, small business growth, and affordable housing.
In her prior role as Principal of Civica Consulting Group Inc., Ines advised municipalities, nonprofits, and philanthropies on how to use data to advance community and economic development initiatives. As the lead consultant for The Social Compact (Washington, D.C) and Emerging Markets, Inc. (Los Angeles, CA), Ines used research data to demonstrate the untapped market potential of low-income neighborhoods and encouraged major financial institutions and supermarkets to begin serving these areas. During her tenure as Communication Director of the American Red Cross of South Florida, Ines applied her unique understanding of the area’s business, political, and grassroots landscapes to proactively and effectively shape media coverage, political discussion and public dialogue about natural disasters.
After years of working closely with community leaders to inspire innovation at the ground level, Ines is excited to continue her critical work growing communities and encouraging economic development at the nation’s capital with the Department of Commerce.
About the Department of Commerce:
The Department of Commerce supports Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) at all stages of the employee life cycle. The Department is committed to ensuring its work results in broadly shared benefits for employees and leaders as well as customers and stakeholders. By amplifying and sustaining efforts to build a diverse, world-class workforce and an equitable, inclusive, accessible, and safe workplace, the Department of Commerce will continue to be a leading employer of choice. For more information visit www.commerce.gov/equity
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