Gloria Rodríguez is the Founder / President & CEO of Comunicad, LLC, a full-service, cross-cultural public relations and marketing communications agency. Comunicad is a Latina-owned, Virginia-certified Small, Women, and Minority (SWaM)/Disadvantaged Business. Gloria founded Comunicad in 1985 and since that time has been at the forefront of the multicultural communications evolution. Her company strength is built on the creation and execution of public relations programs and campaigns grounded in principles of cultural values and relevancy for the cross-cultural consumer/constituent and the communities where they live, work, and play.
Demonstrated Ability in the PR Field
Gloria’s exceptional visionary, strategic, and leadership skills have led her to build a public relations and marketing communications firm that excels in community engagement, brand awareness, and building partnerships between/among key stakeholders that is unparalleled. As a Latina-owned business, Gloria broke through the glass ceiling on many fronts and continues to make a difference in many ways.
Gloria has been a visionary and pioneer in the PR industry and her expertise in mainstream and multicultural markets spans over three decades. She began her career as the only Hispanic producer in the newsroom of a major media market. Throughout her career, Gloria has been an advocate and active member of the community. Through her dedication, she has succeeded in developing campaigns and programs to make the business case for philanthropic/corporate social responsibility activity which have had an impact on issues affecting communities locally, nationally, and globally. Gloria has led strategic coalitions to advocate on behalf of important social and business needs in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Latin America. She continues to apply the principles from early on in her career to the work she implements throughout the country and in parts of Latin America. She devotes a good deal of her time writing about specific PR tactics and strategies from a unique perspective. Her recent articles about Cultural Intelligence, Brand Communications, and blogs generate interest and discussion from PR pros who are interested in the realities about diversity, inclusion, and integration.
Contributions to the Community
Gloria has contributed greatly to the development of membership organizations, corporate boards, and the formation of advisory groups. Her breadth of knowledge in public relations, the arts, and leadership development is evident through her service on advisory boards of several major Hispanic organizations in the U.S., including the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the Cuban American National Council; she's on the Board of Directors for the Center for Latino Initiatives at the Smithsonian Institution. Gloria is a founding Board Member of the University of Maryland's Academy of Leadership and was a founding Board Member and past Chair of the National Hispana Leadership Institute and National Latino Children’s Institute.
A very important component of Gloria’s communications/PR career success is giving back and mentoring others. Throughout the span of her career, Gloria has mentored countless of women and men from various industries beyond PR. For her, mentoring is essential to the empowerment of those who will follow in her footsteps, especially PR practitioners. Gloria’s mentees have achieved career success in their own right and are now mentors to others. Gloria continues to be a role model, especially to young Latinas who aspire to enter the field of PR.
Industry Leadership Qualities
In addition, Gloria serves on the Board of Excelencia in Education, an organization with the mission to accelerate Latino student success in higher education through effective programs, powerful strategies and timely research. She is also on the board of Centro Fox, the first Presidential library in Latin America. In 2009, Gloria became the founding Vice Chair of Global Business Sustainability Forum with former Mexico President Vicente Fox. She is also a member of the Inter-American Development Bank’s first Advisory Board for Women's Leadership in the Americas, as well as the International Women's Forum and Women in International Trade.
Gloria’s business, community development, and communications work is nationally recognized. She was named to the Faculty of the University of Nebraska / Gallup University’s School of Executive Leadership and appointed Founding Fellow of the Gallup International Institute at Princeton University. The Gallup Organization honored her by awarding her their highest Leadership Award and selecting her "Visionary Leader for the 21st Century."
Gloria has received many awards and recognitions from distinguished institutions, among which include:
International Association of Business Communicators Pinnacle Award
Public Relations Society of America Diversity Champion Award
Women Legislators of Argentina, Capacitas International Project Interchange
Named "Honorary Citizen of San Antonio"
Academy for Educational Development
Institute of Puerto Rican Culture
Head Start of America
National Hispanic Leadership Conference
Department of Defense
State Chambers of Commerce
National Puerto Rican Forum President's Distinguished Service Award
Center for Creative Leadership
American Press Institute
National Association of Hispanic Publications
