This Leader Invests in Latinx Communities: Lisa Garcia Quiroz
To commemorate Hispanics in Philanthropy’s 33rd year, we honored 33 Latino leaders who inspire as our 2017 HIPGivers. Read the story of HIPGiver Lisa Garcia Quiroz below.
If you ask Lisa Garcia Quiroz about her professional work, an amazing sense of optimism emerges. Garcia Quiroz, who serves as the President of the Time Warner Foundation and the Senior Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer of Time Warner Inc., believes firmly that any person can give back to their community.
No matter what you do, there’s always a way for one to give back in ways that are meaningful. I’ve been lucky that my professional life has intersected with my heart.
Born in Staten Island, New York, to a Puerto Rican mother and a Mexican father, Garcia Quiroz recalls stories of her father serving as a social worker and of her grandmother donating portions of her small paycheck to orphanages. From these experiences, Garcia Quiroz says she inherited a “cultural ethos of giving back to your community” that she says exists in many Latino families.
Garcia Quiroz became the first graduate from her high school to be accepted by Harvard University, where she studied sociology and became involved with Latinos on campus. Upon graduating, Garcia Quiroz worked for three years in the Harvard Admissions Office before re-enrolling to pursue a master’s degree in business.
“I decided to go to business school because I could use it in any sector,” she said. “Leadership and making sure institutions are strong are all things that you can do in either sector.”
She joined Time Inc. more than 25 years ago and has never looked back. “I felt strongly that there was an absence of people of color in the media and the kind of stories that should be told about our community” she stated. In 1993, she began developing Time for Kids, a weekly classroom news magazine aimed at promoting literacy and citizenship. It has achieved a circulation of close to four million. In 1997, she served as the launch publisher for People en Español, the best-selling Hispanic-oriented magazine in the U.S.
These achievements, among others, earned Garcia Quiroz top jobs at both Time Warner Foundation and Time Warner Inc. While at Time Warner, she served on the Board of the Corporation for National and Community Service, for which she was nominated in 2010 by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Garcia Quiroz also chairs the Board of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, where she supports creation of Latino Scholar groups to strengthen Latino community-building.
Garcia Quiroz also said that she hopes to inspire Latinos to give back, not only to their loved ones but also to their larger community.
“As Latinos, our charity work oftentimes begins at home,” she said, in praising Latino generosity. “By supporting Hispanic Scholarship Fund and other Latino organizations, we are investing in the future of the Latino community.”
Garcia Quiroz also wants to see greater diversity at the top of major foundations.
It’s important to see more Latinos leading influential institutions . . . We need to be active participants in leading our country forward.
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Garcia Quiroz became the first graduate from her high school to be accepted by Harvard University, where she studied sociology and became involved with Latinos on campus. Upon graduating, Garcia Quiroz worked for three years in the Harvard Admissions Office before re-enrolling to pursue a master’s degree in business.
“I decided to go to business school because I could use it in any sector,” she said. “Leadership and making sure institutions are strong are all things that you can do in either sector.”
She joined Time Inc. more than 25 years ago and has never looked back. “I felt strongly that there was an absence of people of color in the media and the kind of stories that should be told about our community” she stated. In 1993, she began developing Time for Kids, a weekly classroom news magazine aimed at promoting literacy and citizenship. It has achieved a circulation of close to four million. In 1997, she served as the launch publisher for People en Español, the best-selling Hispanic-oriented magazine in the U.S.
These achievements, among others, earned Garcia Quiroz top jobs at both Time Warner Foundation and Time Warner Inc. While at Time Warner, she served on the Board of the Corporation for National and Community Service, for which she was nominated in 2010 by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Garcia Quiroz also chairs the Board of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, where she supports creation of Latino Scholar groups to strengthen Latino community-building.
Garcia Quiroz also said that she hopes to inspire Latinos to give back, not only to their loved ones but also to their larger community.
“As Latinos, our charity work oftentimes begins at home,” she said, in praising Latino generosity. “By supporting Hispanic Scholarship Fund and other Latino organizations, we are investing in the future of the Latino community.”
Garcia Quiroz also wants to see greater diversity at the top of major foundations.