Hispanic influence in American history is widely prominent, yet its value has been unsung. In 1968, Hispanic Heritage Month was established to recognize the overlooked history of Americans with Spanish, Mexican, Caribbean, Central & South American ancestry. This eye-opening episode will spotlight some of today’s most outstanding Hispanic professionals who have achieved admirable success. Join the conversation as these leaders inspire us with their stories of resilience that form part of the Hispanic Heritage of America.
American Express Company
Apple
HUB404
American Express Company
Martha Krawczyk De Sedas is an award-winning sales and marketing leader with 30 years of progressive experience in various areas of senior management and business development for American Express, TradeStation (fintech), Visa, and Sony. She brings entrepreneurial vision and drive and unwavering dedication to the brand, organization, and people while delivering remarkable business growth, innovative product development, operational efficiencies, and brand equity.
Most recently, Martha navigated roles as VP & GM, Global Commercial Services – U.S. Small Business Segment B2B Sales and VP, Global Commercial Services, Global Field Enablement—Small, Mid-sized, and Large Businesses for American Express. Throughout her tenure, Martha led a cross border team to deliver a record year in all business metrics; established a new operating model for acquisition, mission, and vision; led teams through compliance-focused culture transformation; led the Strategy Center of Excellence of Amex; improved sales performance globally; and was instrumental to business continuity and employee engagement through the COVID-19 pandemic. While with Amex, Martha earned recognition as an inspirational leader across various company forums and initiatives, including the Master Class Leadership Program, Women’s Ambition Project on International Women’s Day, and Hispanic Women Leaders.
Prior, with TradeStation Group, Martha served as Global Head, VP of Marketing. Here she rebranded and repositioned a fully digital marketing team as trusted advisors to other business units, designed and led global long-term marketing strategies, established key external partnerships, and achieved significant budget efficiencies.
Previously, Martha led a progressive tenure in a variety of Marketing leadership roles with Visa. As Head of Marketing, Brazil, she developed and implemented a new user-centric digital strategy; boosted partnerships with Google, Twitter, Facebook, and others; and developed and launched a CRM program to enhance digital analytics and data capabilities. As VP, Regional and Local Marketing – Latin America and Caribbean, Martha sold more than one million cards in Mexico and Brazil in one year, increased customer sales, and delivered increased consumption per card. Her preceding roles with Visa included VP, Global Marketing – Visa IPO Project, Head of Marketing Strategies & Planning, and VP, Latin America & Caribbean.
Earlier in her career, Martha was Senior Marketing Communications Manager—Latin America for Sony Corporation.
Martha holds an Executive MBA from the University of Miami and a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Universidad Santa Maria La Antigua (USMA) in Panama City. She completed the Visa Leadership Team training at the Aspen Institute and the Marketing Leadership Program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Martha also earned Chef de Cuisine credentials through the Culinary School of Chef Nicolau Rosa in Brazil.
A thought leader in her space, Martha has been recognized with dozens awards throughout her career, including 12 ADDY Awards, five Silver Lions at Cannes, and several Silver Effie Awards. She was also featured in the book Stories of Corporate Success in Brazil published in 2016.
Apple
Liz Randall is a Technology Portfolio Manager at Apple where she leads the delivery of Zero Trust, IPv6 and connecting ultra programs to core services. Prior to joining Apple, she served as SVP of Digital Strategy & Development at Hemisphere Media, overseeing HMTV’s digital businesses and direct to consumer strategy including the acquisition of Pantaya.
Prior to joining Hemisphere, Liz led Digital Transformation and Business Operations for MotorTrend Group, a Discovery, Inc. company where she was the architect of the transformation of a 70-year old brand into an SVOD service. Her career as a disruptor began at WarnerMedia, as Director of Innovation & Corporate Strategy where she worked in the development of strategies that extend the company’s competitive position and managing the company’s growth portfolio initiatives including incubation and acquisitions. Liz also led the Data & Platforms Integration workstream for the AT&T/TimeWarner merger and set up the current cross-business unit operational model still being used today.
Liz enjoys serving the community and championing diversity, she has served on the board of Emory’s Goizueta Business School’s Endowment and The Latin American Association. Liz received an MBA degree in Media Strategy from Emory University, and a BBA from Georgia State University where she was recognized as a “Top 40 under 40 Honoree.
HUB404
Anthony Rodriguez, a career non-profit leader, is proud to be the first Executive Director of the Hub404 Conservancy. HUB404 is an innovative 9-acre “cap park” that will soar above GA 400 and provide a direct connection to MARTA’s Buckhead rail station. HUB404 will create a dynamic, active, gathering place for the Metro-Atlanta region and transform the core of Buckhead.
Prior to joining HUB404, Anthony was President and CEO of Aurora Theatre, a professional theatre he co-founded 26 years ago. He currently serves on various boards, both nationally and locally, including Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, National Alliance for Musical Theatre (Vice President), Theatre Communications Group, the Citizens Advisory Board for Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful, and the Advisory Board for Public Broadcasting Atlanta which includes the NPR station WABE and PBS station PBA30.
Anthony is a past Chair of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, the first Latino and first Arts Leader to hold that position. He served as Vice Chair of Arts for the Chamber and Chair of Partnership Gwinnett and serves on the National Steering Committee for the Latinx Theatre Commons. Anthony is a graduate of the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Regional Leadership Institute, Leadership Atlanta (#2classes) and the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures’ Leadership Institute and Advocacy Institute, all three exemplary programs for leaders who want to spearhead transformational change in community.
To date, Anthony’s greatest accomplishment has been the successful negotiation that relocated Aurora Theatre to downtown Lawrenceville in 2007. Under his leadership, Aurora became the second largest professional theatre in the state of Georgia, producing 850 events and entertaining more than 80,000 visitors each year. Aurora’s critical success inspired the City of Lawrenceville to invest in a $35 million campus expansion. The Lawrenceville Arts Center (LAC) opened in October of 2021, and Aurora continues to serve as the resident theatre company and management agent. LAC now serves as a cultural gathering place and an arts education incubator for the entire Metro Atlanta region.
Anthony, born in New York, and raised in Atlanta, graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre. He resides in Duluth with his partner in life, Ann-Carol Pence, and their dog Bella.
