Palo Alto, CA - We are pleased to announce our panelists at the 2021 State of Latino Entrepreneurship (SOLE) Forum! The panelists will discuss their first-hand experience with navigating the pandemic, acquiring capital, and running high-growth companies as it relates to the findings from the latest  SOLE research report.

Join us on Friday, January 29th at 1-3pm PST.

Panel Chair: Rosa Santana, President & CEO, Santana Group

Rosa Santana, a recognized outsourcing solutions expert, is the Founder and Chief Executive of Santana Group, a top-tier minority- and woman-owned outsourcer. Santana Group provides transformational solutions to differentiate industry-leading companies through more efficient, effective, and competitive service. Santana is a fearless leader who harnesses her passion to successfully create and develop companies through impeccable client service and innovative business solutions. Santana also positively impacts each of the communities she serves through participation on several business and nonprofit boards. Under her direct vision and strategic development, each company under the Santana Group, including Integrated Human Capital, Workforce Management Mexico, Diversa, Forma Automotive, and Oveana, continues to achieve profitable annual growth.

Panelist: Eric Donnelly, CEO, Capital Plus Financial

Eric Donnelly is CEO of Capital Plus Financial, which through its holding company, Crossroads Systems, is the first publicly traded nonbank Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), providing affordable housing and mortgage financing to Hispanic communities. Donnelly has 20 years of expertise in banking and specialty finance focusing on small business, consumer, and CRE lending. He is a member of the Latino Corporate Directors Association whose mission is to develop, support, and increase the number of US Latinos on public corporate boards. He has a B.A. from SMU and is a graduate of The Center for Houston’s Future Leadership Program and Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative Education Scaling program.

Panelist: Mercedes O. Enrique, President, CMS Corporation

Mercedes Enrique is President and Owner of CMS Corporation, a federal government and industrial construction contractor. Since 2004, CMS has grown from one to five locations and from 8 to 89 employees. CMS has successfully captured Department of Defense multi-year contracts with $6.3 billion in contract capacity spanning 30 states, Guam and a worldwide contract. Enrique serves on the Indiana Chamber Board and is active with the Society of American Military Engineers, the Mid-States Minority Supplier Diversity Council, and the Latino Business Action Network. She earned a BSE in Computer Engineering and an MBA in Finance from the University of Toledo.

Panelist: David Favela, CEO & Founder, Border X Brewing LLC

David Favela is a 1st generation American born to Mexican immigrants. He holds a B.A. and an MBA from UCSD, School of Global Policy & Strategy, and was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at Princeton University. Favela has worked at HP for over 20 years, in a variety of roles from Supply Chain, Business Development to his role as Global Business Manager for HP Education. He started Border X Brewing in Barrio Logan, a historic Latino community that had been economically depressed for over a decade. Border X is the first wholly-owned Latino-owned brewery in San Diego. It has been a catalyst for a grassroots-driven Barrio renaissance, with dozens of new, community-owned businesses established and flourishing. Border X was selected as “Best Brewery Start-up” by Brewbound magazine in 2016. In March 2020, Favela was nominated for the prestigious James Beard Award.