CEO of Northern California's Lucy Hernandez Consulting wins North Bay Latino business leadership award

Aligning your business model to your core beliefs is key says, Lucy Hernandez, a 2020 winner of the Business Journal's Latino Business Leadership Awards.

Education: Bachelor of Arts degree in social science from California State University Chico; Masters degree in business administration from Sonoma State University.

Staff: 3

Tell us your story and that of your organization: I was a teen mother facing homelessness and was served by a local community action agency. My caseworker provided me services such as food, housing can child care so I can could continue attending school and graduate. I lost my child to Child Welfare during this time and the agency staff helped me get back on my feet and get my daughter back.

At this moment, I knew I wanted to do this type of work and help others like me with key services to help them get back on their feet and keep their children.

I have spent over 22 years in social services and community-based as staff promoted to director for small and large organizations. In 2016, I launched my consulting firm to support agencies in maximizing their performance & services for vulnerable residents in their communities.

Is there a major accomplishment in the past year or so that you would like to share?

My business has been instrumental in supporting agencies and organizations in responding to COVID-19 community needs and developing community needs assessments to assess the community priorities and allocate CARES Act funding for the most impacted.

Our team has grown and I have been able to increase our team members, as we have expanded to Southern California counties.

What is the achievement you are most proud of?

Recognized as the Latina Entrepreneur of the Year by the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, recipient of Congressman Mike Thompson’s Congressional Recognition for my business work in the community and attaining my master’s degree in business administration from Sonoma State University last year.

My clients increased from 10 counties and agencies to 22 counties and clients in the last 12 months and I have reached $1M goal in my five year anniversary as a business owner.

What is your biggest challenge today?

Building internal capacity to respond to the increase in client demands, new contracts and state-wide projects and work. Hiring team members that have the skill set necessary to meet the needs of our evolving industry.

What are you most proud of regarding the achievements of the area Latino business community and what are the greatest challenges faced by that community?

I am proud to see our Latino’s growing in the field of human, social and community-based services through public agencies and nonprofits in our state. They are being promoted to management and administrative level positions and I get to work with them on their executive professional development to assist them in leading their agencies and organizations to respond to community-based programs and services for their communities (serving low-income/vulnerable populations).

I am proud to see our Latino professionals obtaining their degrees and taking the step towards being in executive-level positions, which impact the way we reduce disparities in our communities.

Words that best describe you: Over-achiever, passionate and innovative thinker.

I love taking a complex issue and problem and helping my clients to think of a strategic approach to lead and manage their agencies and organizations to better serve our communities. I am a one-stop consulting firm that specializes in organizational change management, strategic planning and practices and building internal capacity to endure the shifts in the environment.

As a successful professional, what were the biggest obstacles you faced and how did you overcome them?

Since I started as a staff member in human, social and community-based services in 1998, I always was the minority in the workforce that advocated for our minority groups.

Through my career I always needed to work extra hard to ensure people took me serious and deflected the racist systemic attacks that were present in my field.

Today, I work on reducing these barriers for other professionals and love that I have the opportunity to support my clients (agencies and organizations) to be more culturally-responsive and reduce barriers for other minority professionals.

This is a huge accomplishment, because I am in a position to influence executives and boards and commissions to take a deep dive in their agency and organization culture and help them shift to a strength-based approach, inclusive and culturally responsive entity.

As of today, I am the only Latina consultant and trainer that focuses on my work. There is a demand for my expertise in organizational management, strategic planning and training to build our new generation of workers in this field.

How do you think your profession will change in the next five years?

I hope there are more Latinx consultants in my field, as there is a need to assist counties, agencies and organizations to be more responsive to our community needs. We need to ensure we can be a change agent that helps them navigate to develop responsive services for the most vulnerable residents in their communities, develop a culturally competent workforce and develop a strategic framework for sustainability.

Who was your most important mentor?

I have had the opportunity to have several women mentors, who saw potential in me and took me under their wing. They share with me that their ‘generation’ has worked hard to lay out a pathway for my generation to be the best version of myself and to reduce barriers as a woman to succeed in the governmental field.

They are my inspiration every day and today I pay it forward to help other women in their journey and career.

My most special mentor is Christine Zoppi, director of Glenn Co. Health & Human Services. She was one of my first boss’s and even though we were from different backgrounds she always saw my potential and believed in me.

She gave me the opportunity to grow from a line staff member to an assistant director for a multi-county organization. She on-going coaching, advice and opportunities laid a framework to who I am today…I want to do the same for other women as she did for me for 14 years.

Tell us about your community involvement: I am responsible to assess multiple counties (clients) community needs and I develop assessment modalities to capture the residents priorities and gaps in services for their families.

I develop Spanish town halls (or e-town halls), Spanish surveys, interview Spanish residents and help bridge their needs to my clients, so they can implement responsive services. I do this for English-speaking communities, as well.

However, I have learned that my ability to connect with our Latino community and capture their needs and voice is what has created a demand in my consulting business. I develop culturally responsive services for my clients and help them learn about the Latino community, as they need to engage with this target group.

What advice would you give to a young person today?:

Get ready for the ride and enjoy every milestone.

It’s a challenging time for all but the COVID-19 virus has been especially tough on the Latino community. Tell us your experience either personally or with the group or company you work with in dealing with the economic impact of the virus.

I have developed statewide local plans for counties on how to respond to COVID-19 needs by the Latino community and ensure to engage with their community to obtain critical information to assist the agencies/organizations (clients) to develop emergency response programs.

I am a bridge for our low-income, vulnerable and minority residents on behalf of my clients, and I have assisted in millions of dollars to be released into the communities to aid with COVID-19 critical assistance and services (funded by CARES Act).

What are the lessons of this difficult year – including the COVID-19 virus, the economic downturn and the fires – for you and how has it changed your outlook for the future?

Life is unpredictable, however aligning your business purpose to your core beliefs are critical. Many counties I work for have been impacted and I am here to support my agencies and organizations to build a path, response and approach to supporting their communities through a strategic approach and community engagement model.

Is there something we didn’t ask that you would like to add?

I just want to thank you for the opportunity, I am a testament that as a daughter of immigrant parents from Guatemala can reach the American Dream.

My career has aligned to my core beliefs and today my business is focused on the same values of helping others.

I truly believe we can get through this tough period in our world as long as we can embrace the thought that we are all in this together and that is what makes our world a better place by celebrating our diversity, compassion and always looking towards helping others.