Vidal Torres

ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL AT GENWORTH FINANCIAL

Vidal Torres oversees mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, corporate transactions, corporate governance and regulatory matters for Genworth Financial in Richmond. He came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic at the age of 5. From there, he earned scholarships to the Hotchkiss School and Hamilton College, and completed the joint J.D. and M.B.A programs at the University of Richmond in just three years. Mr. Torres was named to the University of Richmond top 35 under 35 in 2013, to the Lawyers of Color Hot List in 2014 and to Richmond Style Weekly’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2014.

Raphael holds a PhD in English Literature from Brandeis University, a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins, and a bachelor’s degree from Cornell. An independent Shakespeare scholar, he has numerous publication credits. He has held editorial positions with the U.S. Military Academy and Cornell University Press, plus several faculty positions in the Humanities. A violinist, he is a founding member of the ensemble Jefferson Baroque.

In the nonprofit realm, Raphael currently teaches music to disadvantaged schoolchildren through the FRIENDS Association for Children. He is a past president of Henley Street Theatre, Virginia Heroes Inc., and the National Investor Relations Institute Richmond Chapter. Recently, he served as a board member of the Rotary Club of Richmond and oversaw a youth leadership institute for Rotary’s District 7600.

Raphael Seligmann

PRINCIPAL, SELIGMANN CONSULTING, INC

Dr. Raphael Seligmann is a communications consultant, instructional designer, and business communicator. His firm, Seligmann Consulting, Inc., serves businesses and nonprofits of all sizes. Raphael has taught business people, soldiers, and students in topics ranging from banking compliance to classical rhetoric. A veteran teacher of English as a Second Language, he often coaches foreign-born executives. He also translates technical and scholarly writing from French and German.

Carlos Carillo

SENIOR LEAD CORPORATE TAX DEPARTMENT, ALTRIA, FINANCIAL

Carlos has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of San Diego (1996). Upon graduation he began working for as a CPA for a small accounting firm in Carlsbad, California. He then joined KPMG LLP (New York) performing financial audits and providing M&A due diligence services for potential acquisitions. In 2001, Carlos began working for Philip Morris USA. He has held several finance and budget positions within Philip Morris USA and related companies. In 2008, Carlos joined Altria Client Services working closely with the investment community through the Investor Relations Department. Additionally, Carlos has held various leadership roles at Altria including Corporate Audit and marketing finance. Carlos completed his MBA at the Robins School of Business in 2013. He currently works in the Altria tax department.

Janet Santana

MANAGER, BRAND DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM AT PHILIP MORRIS USA

Janet Santana serves as Director, Brand Management for Helix Innovations an operating company for Altria Group in Richmond, Virginia.  She has held this position since September 2020.  

Prior to her current role, Janet served as Director, Brand Management for PM USA.   Throughout her 28 year career with Altria, Janet has held multiple leadership positions in Marketing, Leadership Development, and in Field Sales.  Janet has a Bachelor of Science degree from Le Moyne College and a Master’s Degree from Adelphi University.

Kathy Barnes

Senior Recruitment Officer for CBRE

 Kathy was born in New York City. She was raised in Puerto Rico by her grandmother from when she was six months until she was seven years old. When she returned back to New York to live with her parents and brother, she had to learn English quickly with the help of a tutor. She returned to Puerto Rico every holiday and summer until high school.  

Kathy attended private schools in the Bronx and then enrolled in Baruch College, part of the City University of New York system, majoring in Business Administration and Psychology. After graduation, she moved to Hampton, Virginia, where she took her first human resources position with Verizon. After serving as a deputy clerk in the Newport News Juvenile District Court, Kathy joined Bank of America in Norfolk. There, she found friendship and meaningful service opportunities with the local chapter of the Hispanic Organization for Leadership and Advancement (HOLA), an employee network.

After a couple of years at the Charlotte headquarters, Kathy returned to Norfolk. By this time, she had bought a house in New Kent County, across the Chesapeake Bay from her office. To ease her commute, Kathy transferred to Richmond in 2014.

At that time, employee networks were just getting started in Richmond. Kathy was active in early attempts to found a HOLA chapter. In 2019, her persistence paid off. She gathered a group of like-minded associates and launched a successful campaign to found a chapter.

Almost three years later, the chapter she founded is thriving, with over 125 members and a full-year calendar of career development, cultural enrichment, and community service programs, including partnerships with the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and several Hispanic-focused social service agencies.

In 2021, Kathy left Bank of America to become a senior recruiter with the commercial real estate firm CBRE. She draws on her 20 plus years’ experience in human resources to design and implement plans for talent recruitment and development, while coaching, influencing, and partnering with leaders at all levels.

Outside of work, Kathy enjoys living in the country, spending time with her husband and two children, driving her antique cars – a 1977 Chevy Nova and a 1999 Mustang 5.0 – and now and then motocross racing on motorcycles. 

J. Latane Ware

VICE-PRESIDENT OPERATIONS AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OF JAMES RIVER SEMICONDUCTOR

Latané was born in Richmond, Virginia and attended St. Christopher’s School. After graduating from Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, he briefly lived in South Florida before moving back to Richmond and working as a commercial real estate agent for the Virginia Landmark Corporation, specializing in industrial land sales in addition to office sales and leasing. Latané left real estate to become involved in the construction industry. He worked as President of Dover Contractors, a local home builder and spent ten years working for Moore Brothers Company, a Heavy Highway contractor that built roads and bridges in Northern Virginia. In 2005, he went to work for JW Burress, a heavy equipment sales and leasing company, as a territory manager. Several years later, H&E Equipment Services, Inc. purchased JW Burress and Latané was promoted to run their Northern Virginia division. After living in Warrenton, Virginia for ten years, Latané, his wife and two children moved to Argentina for four years. During this time abroad, he studied Spanish at the University of Buenos Aires in addition to getting his Master’s in Business Administration. Returning to the United States, Latané and his family moved to Richmond, VA. Currently he works as an independent contractor in the semiconductor industry. Latané is proud to serve on the board of directors for the Latin Ballet of Virginia and looks forward to being an active and impactful member of the LBV family.

Sharon Feldman

PH.D. - PROFESSOR OF SPANISH AND CATALAN STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND

Sharon G. Feldman is Professor of Spanish and Catalan Studies in the Department of Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies at the University of Richmond, where she holds the William Judson Gaines Chair in Modern Foreign Languages. Before arriving at Richmond in 2000, she was Cramer Associate Professor of Spanish at the University of Kansas.
A specialist in theatre and performance from the Iberian Peninsula, she has held visiting appointments in the graduate programs in performing arts at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela and the Institut del Teatre de la Diputació de Barcelona/Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, where she was a Fulbright Senior Lecturer. She has been the recipient of grants from the Institut d’Estudis Catalans, the Institut Ramon Llull, the Sala Beckett, the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture, and the Teatre Lliure. Her many publications include the book In the Eye of the Storm: Contemporary Theater in Barcelona / A l’ull de l’huracà: Teatre català contemporani (Bucknell and L’Avenç), which was awarded the Serra d’Or Critics’ Prize for Research in Catalan Studies in 2010. Her translations of Catalan plays have been staged and read at venues in Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Ireland, and the United States.
She is affiliated with the Grup de Recerca en Arts Escèniques (GRAE) of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Projecte de Recerca de les Arts Escèniques Catalanes (PRAEC) of the Institut del Teatre de la Diputació de Barcelona. She also serves on the advisory boards of Revista Don Galán (Centro de Documentación Teatral/Instituto Nacional de las Artes Escénicas y la Música) and Catalan Review: International Journal of Catalan Culture. In 2015, she was named a “corresponding member abroad” of the Reial Acadèmia de Bones Lletres de Barcelona (the Royal Academy of Good Letters of Barcelona).

Solomon Plater

PHilip morris usa, brand manager

Solomon Plater Serves as a Marlboro Brand Manager for Philip Morris USA in Altria’s Headquarters Facility in Richmond, Virginia. He has held this position since May 2015. In his current role Solomon leads marketing activities inclusive of one to one marketing programs, both online and offline as well as marketing strategy and brand positioning.

Through his 10 year career at Altria Solomon has held multiple leadership positions in brand management and field sales.

As the chair of Spring, Altria’s Young Professional employee resource group, Solomon has displayed his passion for helping others realize their dreams. Volunteering his time, Solomon has worked with his team to develop a strategic framework that will empower employees to develop themselves, the company and the community. Solomon has a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from the Pennsylvania State University. But most importantly he is a Father, Husband, Son, Brother and Uncle…. In other words a human that has a vested interest in leaving this world better that he found it.

Nashira Herrera, Administrative Assistant, Federal Reserve Bank

Suyapa Marquez, Senior Community Affairs Representative, Dominion Energy

Claudia Perez, Director of Counseling, New Life for Youth