Varsovia Fernandez, President & CEO
Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Ms. Fernandez joined the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GPHCC) in March 2006. During her tenure, Ms. Fernandez has helped the Hispanic Chamber achieve record levels of membership, revenues and member-driven activities; the successful delivery of the USHCC 27th annual convention, which brought over 4,000 people to the Philadelphia region with an overall economic impact of $4.5 million. Ms. Fernandez launched GPHCC’s workforce development program the Latino Professional Mentoring Network; an initiative to help Hispanic professionals connect with executives and with Hispanic youth, in efforts to help increase Latino participation in corporate management and Latino high school graduation rates. Most important, under Ms. Fernandez leadership the Hispanic Chamber has created a voice for Hispanic business in the region.
Ms. Fernandez comes to the GPHCC as a proven executive with more than ten years of business development and operations management experience in financial services, information technology, Ecommerce and not for profit. Prior to GPHCC Ms. Fernandez worked as vice president of external affairs for Congreso de Latinos Unidos, the leading Hispanic social services organization in Philadelphia where she worked to maximize government and corporate relations as an advocate of the community. She specializes in establishing strong relationships with legislators and staff across government agencies, and her past successes include work on behalf of the federal WIA, TANF, VAWA, Immigration Reform, Voting Rights and the recently enacted Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Increase legislation, in addition to fighting for countless other issues that affect the Latino community.
As a founder of Calle Americana CareerLink, the first and leading bilingual job-seeking center in the state of Pennsylvania, Ms. Fernandez worked to enhance the Latino community's quality of life through job placement and training. During her tenure at Congreso, Ms. Fernandez contributed to successful implementation of advocacy programs, speaking engagements, national awards, as well as to a greater recognition of Congreso's offerings that extend beyond the Philadelphia community. Prior to Congreso, Ms. Fernandez served in senior management positions in the information technology, venture capital, commercial lending, and eCommerce industries; and participated in the organization and management of successful start-up operations for numerous companies.
Leadership Philadelphia identified Ms. Fernandez as one of Philadelphia’s 101 Connectors; Ms. Fernandez is a Women Making a Difference© award recipient and was recognized as the Citizen of the Year by the Dominican community in Philadelphia, and as a Latino Mover & Shaker in the state of Pennsylvania by the Multicultural Affairs Congress and Impacto Latin Newspaper for the past two consecutive years. Ms. Fernandez serves in numerous boards including the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Philadelphia and Susquehanna Valley, Community College of Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperative Authority; and represents the GPHCC on Penn’s Landing Corporation and the Philadelphia Zoning Code Commission. Most recently, Ms. Fernandez received an honorary appointment as President to the Presidential Consulting Council of Dominicans in the Exterior (CCPDE) for Pennsylvania, South New Jersey and Delaware.