with Tyrone Taborn
Garland L. Thompson
editors@ccgmag.com
Editor/Publisher/CEO H
E&IT’s Garland Thompson interviewed the magazine’s publisher, Tyrone Taborn, about why it was so impor- tant to introduce a publication about Hispanic techni- cal professionals a quarter of a century ago:
HE&IT: What gave you the idea to start Hispanic Engineer & IT back in 1985?
Taborn: When I looked at the progress of Hispanic profes- sionals in the Technology Enterprise, I could see that major developments were being ignored by the mainstream news media. The Hispanic population was growing rapidly—every- one can see that today—but for the most part, Hispanics were lost in the background noise when people talked about U.S. industry’s achievements. Something had to be done to color in that picture.
HE&IT: Organizations like the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), MAES and SOCNAS were working toward that goal, too, weren’t they?
Taborn: Yes, and I’ve always held those groups in high re- gard. But while each of those organizations is providing criti- cal support to the hungry minds of the young people coming out of the Hispanic community, even their efforts were mostly ignored outside the Hispanic community. It was clear that much more was needed to support their efforts. We decided to showcase the role models for success, so that Hispanic youth could not only see that people from their own com- munities were scaling the heights of engineering achievement, but also could follow their pathways to successes of their own.
HE&IT: How critical is it for young people to see people who look like them reaching for success?
Taborn: All you have to do is look at the school dropout rates to see the answer. When young people have no hope, they give up. But when young Hispanic children—or those from any community of color, for that matter—see that people who look like them are actually major achievers, contributing innovations that drive entire industries in the world’s leading economy, they also can see hope for themselves, for a future full of success and fulfillment for their families.
www.hispanicengineer.com
HE&IT: Is that why you also started the La Familia Technology Awareness program?
Taborn: Absolutely. When Career Communications Group started publishing Hispanic Engineer 25 years ago, there was no national publication covering the drive of Hispanics for access in the Technology Enterprise. SHPE had a newsletter—kudos to SHPE—and we stole their editor, Carmella Mellado, to edit the new magazine. But it was obvious that still more needed to be done. So then we inaugurated La Familia Technology Awareness Week, with generous national sponsorship from IBM, to reach out to Hispanic families and their children all over America, to showcase the promise of technology and the opportunities technology careers hold for them.
HE&IT: You are a publisher who began with a vision. When you look back at those early days and compare the situation to today, what do you see?
Taborn: As I said earlier, the demographers, politicians, and the consumer marketers have now discovered the vitality of the Hispanic community. But what we see at Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology is that Hispanic professionals are no longer taken for granted in the workplace. Hispanic engineers now vie for the very top jobs in corporate America. Look our features on the 50 Most Important Hispanics in Technology and Business, or our Women of Color magazine feature on the Top Women in Finance. The Hispanics we’ve found are at the top of their game—Senior vice presidents and executive VPs, CFOs and COOs, even CEOs.
Hispanic Engineer & IT has been there for 25 years, not only covering the rise of Hispanic professionals, but shining a spotlight on their abilities and their achievements, helping to promote a better appreciation for their contributions to the corporate Bottom Line. That is our mission at CCG, and I’m proud that our magazine could play its own role in helping to color in the picture of the critical value Hispanic engineers, scientists and managers bring to this diverse, multicultural society we call America.
Tyrone D. Taborn
HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | 2010
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