HispanicBusiness

MARISA LAGO
Global Head of Compliance
--Company: Citigroup
--Currently: Ms. Lago, a physician-turned-lawyer, serves as a quasi-corporate detective making sure that the multinational firm and its clients don't get into any legal trouble. Ms. Lago says she's led a "charmed career backed up by incredibly hard work, perseverance and intelligence." Before joining Citigroup in 2001 to help create and head the company's global workforce development office, Ms. Lago worked in both the private and public sector. She previously worked at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as director of the Office of International Affairs. A self-described workaholic, she says the keys to climbing the corporate success ladder are finding the right company and people to work with, loving what you do, and "being passionate about it." And, of course, "hard work, that's an indispensable ingredient of climbing the corporate ladder, no one should ever try and sugar coat it."



JENNY MARTINEZ
Associate Professor of Law
--Workplace: Stanford Law School
--Currently: Before she argued her first case before the U.S. Supreme Court, concern arose that she didn't have the necessary gravitas. "As a young woman, it's harder to be taken seriously," she explains. "I don't have the same authority as a white-haired guy." But what she lacks in old-boy clout, she makes up for in toughness, intelligence, and passion. After graduating from Yale University, she studied at Harvard Law School, specializing in international criminal law, terrorism, and human rights. Today she balances motherhood and her professorship at Stanford. Her advice for those studying law is to, "Find what your are passionate about and work within that realm of the law and to seek out mentors who can help you along the way."



CHRISTINA NORMAN
President, MTV Networks
--Company: MTV: Music Television
--Currently: Ms. Norman, a New York City native, has made it her job to produce programming that lures throngs of young people to Times Square, screaming for the artists that populate MTV – the leading multimedia youth brand. She earned a degree in film production from Boston University before starting her professional journey in the early '90s with the Viacom-owned network, which named her president in May 2005. Under her direction, she is responsible for the leadership, strategy, and management of MTV – a job that requires not only business savvy, but also the ability to anticipate the fickle tastes of teens and young adults. Ms. Norman had previously been president of VH1 – a position she was appointed to in January 2004. Ms. Norman is also active in a NYC program called PENCIL (Public Education Needs Civic Involvement in Learning) that is designed to improve student performance.



MARIA OTERO