A Conversation with the Honorable Maria Contreras-Sweet

Burton M. Goldfield: Welcome, Maria. We’re thrilled to have you join us. And thank you very much for being here.

Maria Contreras-Sweet: Thank you, Burton. Thank you.

Burton: It's great to see you. It's no secret that over the last couple of years, entrepreneurs and the world have seen an incredible focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. Businesses want to get DE&I right, but do not always know how to get there.

Frankly, some of these businesses may not even understand why it should be a priority in the first place. So, with your permission, I have some questions I'd like to ask you.

Maria: Well, let's have some fun.

Burton: All right. I think everybody watching today would benefit from your unique perspective and experience. I would appreciate if you share a bit about your background with the entrepreneurs that are watching here today. I'd love you to talk about why DE&I is top of mind for you and why embracing diversity in business is so important.

Maria: Thank you so much, Burton. First of all, I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to be a director at TriNet. Just the fact that you engage, not just in providing excellent customer services, I enjoy that you add these continuing education elements to make our entrepreneurial ecosystems stronger.

And that's a big attraction to me. So, thank you for doing this and for leading us to this effort to this day. You know, I love entrepreneurship and I love it because it's quintessentially American. It is the American way of life to be able to have a dream and to live in an environment in a country that allows us to access capital. To be able to actualize that dream is something that sometimes we take for granted, but having traveled around the world and understanding other financial systems, it's not always the case.

And so, that's why I think that for us in America, it's important that we continue to build the small business community to make sure that we expand the middle class and, as a result, make sure that we can provide for our families and even, equally important, that we can deepen democracy—that we can expand democracy because without the middle class, you begin to have the haves and the have-nots. And that's not a proper democracy.

So, thank you for doing this again. To answer your question, the reason I love it so much is partly because of what I just said. I was born in another country. I was born in Mexico and, quite frankly… and I don't mind aging myself. When I was living in Mexico, it was largely a one-party system. And so, I didn't feel that my voice mattered, that my vote mattered.

And so, when I came here to this country, at a very young age and heard a quote from John F. Kennedy who said that "in America, we don't all have equal talent, but in America, we should all be given an equal opportunity to develop our talent." And I think that is what entrepreneurship represents. And so, for those of us who can't get the job of our dreams, that we can access some capital and build our dream, provide for our families is a wonderful way to go.

For me, again you can imagine, my mother couldn't speak a word of English. She was trying to understand how to provide for her six kids. And so, that was something in and of itself. And so, I saw that in our community, it was always the small business community that supported the local baseball games, the local soccer teams. That it was what gave our community its sense of place.

You know, you could go to the mall and go to the big beautiful department stores, but they weren't unique to our community. The reason people came to our city was because of the unique main street businesses, the local restaurant, the local boutique, the shopping store, and how much the owners engaged and provided and added service.

And so, for all those reasons, I've always enjoyed entrepreneurship. And, again, they gave me my very first job. My very first job was in a jewelry store working for a family-owned business. And that's why I think I have this affinity to them. But, for me, it was my way of life, Burton. The first thing that I did was to work for this family business and then eventually, I was asked… You know, I joined corporate America from that business.

Somebody from corporate America saw me there and brought me to corporate America where I learned all of the… what I call just process, lean, iteration, you know, efficiency ratios. Learned how to build a foundation, a strong, strong foundation and all the rules around financing, how to access capital. All of the things that really teach you how to scale a business was something that I truly enjoyed and benefited from.

And then from that, I was asked to serve in office and become California's Secretary of Transportation. And there, again, I understood and appreciated the role SMBs play in our community because while I was putting out billions of dollars of projects, I had 45,000 employees and I had a multi, multi, multibillion-dollar budget. When I put out a $5 million budget to build the east span of the Oakland Bay Bridge, for example, you know, we would get the Canadians who would apply, we'd get the French, the Japanese, the Spaniards.

And I'd say to myself, "How do I make these local American jobs?" And so, I had to do… bundle these big projects and make them smaller and then ask small businesses to apply to be a part of our supply chain. And what they'd say to me is they couldn't access capital, they didn't know how to navigate government and they just needed consultation about how to go about this.

And so, you know, my story is that after I left office, I decided to start a bank that provided some consultation, gave them access to capital and helped them navigate through governmental contracts. And so, it was a terrific thing for me to be able to do, to build this business and to help other small businesses. While I'm providing for my family, I was providing for others.

And so, I remember the day when I left Mexico and my grandmother said, "Although we've been a family of migrant workers, I believe someday, Maria, you'll be able to work in an office and maybe even be a secretary.” And so, when I think about my grandmother now, I always think, you know, little did she know that I would hold office and be a cabinet secretary. But that is what entrepreneurship allows us to do, is to be able to pivot, and to grow, and scale, and help others.

And so, that's why this is also personal to me.

Burton: Well, it's truly an amazing story. And you've always said yes, you have this can-do attitude and it is the mark of a quintessential entrepreneur from my standpoint. So, thank you for that. If we focus back on diversity for a moment, there may be some preconceived notions about what defines diversity.

Is it just about ethnicity or gender, or is it more than that in your mind?

Maria: I think that's a really important question and I'm glad that you're raising it because so oftentimes… and it is important to think about diversity in terms of gender. First and foremost, you have half of the population. How do you possibly reach the total market if you only have representation from half of that marketplace? And so, it is important to think of gender and also to think about ethnic as well as racial diversity.

So, that is really important. But also, at least when I was in office, I also thought about other communities of difference. Of course, our LGBT community, but also, you know, there were programs that I felt that I needed to target for those that had been also left out of the marketplace. There's some ageism going on, Burton. And so, sometimes [inaudible] that our re-entrepreneurs, you know, that are those that are coming back, you know, need to be considered and so, that we have the racial, the ethnic, the LGBT, the gender issues, but, of course, all of those who have stood in harm's way and protected our country.

Burton: That was perfect because you've expanded the whole construct around diversity. So, if we take your experience, what would you say to entrepreneurs today who are trying to build an innovative company and attract the best and the brightest talent? And how does this concept, diversity, come into play and how do you think it actually impacts innovation and results?

Maria: That's very interesting. You know, I think what you're really describing is culture. I lost a friend recently. He was the president of the Kaiser Health Foundation. You know, some of us… I'm a Kaiser member. And I remember having dinner with him one day and he said, "I want everybody who comes to work at Kaiser to feel that they can bring themselves, truly themselves to work and feel comfortable in our environment."

And I just love the way he thought about it because I think that's what leadership is, is that when you're running a business, whether it's small, medium or large, what you really want to do is make sure that everybody can operate optimally, that they feel really comfortable in your environment. And the way in which you get there is to say, "I want you to come as you are in an honest way." If you have to hold some of yourself back, that we don't get your full unbridled thinking at the table when we're having a brainstorm.

We want you to be fully representative because your particular pain points… Sometimes we don't think about it, but our particular pain points are going to be somebody else's pain points. And so, if we can understand those pain points, we can provide solutions for them and reach more of the marketplace. And so, I think to the extent that people can bring all of themselves to work, I think we have a more inclusive culture and also to be transparent and honest, you know, at the workplace.

Burton: I couldn't agree more in that diversity drives better results. I believe the different perspectives… you should look like your customers and you should think like your customer. There's no better way to do that than have a diverse workforce. So, fantastic. How does this impact retention?

We all, as entrepreneurs and leaders, are contending with the great resignation, or like I like to call it, the great reevaluation. In fact, last year, according to monster.com, 95% of workers considered a job change and many of them actually did take the job change.

And how does diversity, if we go back to this theme, play a role in an employee's decision to stay or leave a company?

Maria: Well, we have seen... well, you know, very strong evidence of the great resignation, but we're also just beginning to see what I call the great boomerang, because so many people felt that they weren't enjoying their work anymore, but they [inaudible] in the context of the COVID, of the pandemic era.

And so, they left. And others saying, "You know what, now I'm in another culture and it does..." So, they're realizing that it was about the pandemic and that they weren't in office connecting with others. And so, we're beginning to see some that say, you know, "I want back in, can I come back?" And I think that's very exciting. But, again, you know, sometimes somebody will come to me and they'll say, "Well, I just hired an Hispanic, Maria."

You know, like they want to, you know… And what I want to say is, you know, it's not about hiring one of each, it's about having a diverse environment where everybody thrives. And so, if it's awkward for me to be the only Latina, it's uncomfortable still. So, even though I'm welcomed and I'm invited to the dance, I'm not dancing, you know?

And so, to actually be dancing, you need to make sure that you have two, or three, four, five, or six, you know, some important percentage so that then people feel like it's really embraced and incorporated into the culture.

Burton: And it's such an important point. You and I have talked about it many times, having that broad and diverse workforce in America is going to be what makes our country great for the next 50 years. And your passion around that is absolutely clear. So, thanks for reiterating that. I have one final question for you and it's related to a March 2022 study that just came out.

The Coffman Foundation found an increase in the rate of entrepreneurs amongst Blacks, Latinos and immigrants, which is pretty exciting. The study also found that Hispanic Americans started new businesses at the fastest rate in more than a decade—23% faster than pre-pandemic levels.

And Hispanic Americans were more likely to become new entrepreneurs in a given month than Americans of any other racial, ethnic background. So, this trend sounds promising and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Maria: I find it very, very, very exciting because it's about job growth, because we're building jobs and that strengthens all of our communities. But lamenting, part of the reason why we're seeing that happen is that, by and large, Latinos have not been incorporated into corporate America and that they represent their population numbers.

You know, they're really not tracking. And so, that's unfortunate. And the other thing is that, for whatever reason, it's the same phenomenon in government. And so, for Latinos, and the only way for them to provide for their family is then to start a business. And so, the good thing is that because now through the PPP period, people were able to take a little time off their work and sort of reflect and be, you know, just reflect about all the options available to them.

And they're just saying, "You know what, now that I've studied and I've learned about what is the potential..." And they're finding that so many of the mainstream businesses haven't responded to their needs. And so, they're saying, "You know, I'm going to start my own business." And you already know my example that I'm going to give you, which is when I was in public office and I was licensing financial institutions, again, in the California… This is California-oriented, but it reflects the country, for sure, was that there were not enough Hispanic-owned banks that were banking Hispanics.

And so, I thought, "Well, if we're not being welcomed into the big mainstream banks, they don't have services for us. They don't have cultural competency. It's one thing to say, “Yeah, I have checking accounts there but there's no one that can speak my language when I go in.” see we have a language difference, you know, then you can't do business with them. And so, that was why I set out, which was a very exciting story for me in that I went to 25 girlfriends and said, "We don't have a Hispanic bank in California where our population is nearly 40%. Does that make sense?"

And so, as you know, we set out and hit the national record on how much we raised and were able to start the first Hispanic-owned financial institution in the state in about two generations. And so, it was very, very exciting to have Comerica Bank, as you know, then I was called, as I said earlier, to serve my country.

And I thought that with all of the gifts this country had given me, that it was really important that I divest from that bank. It's still operating, but I'm now divested from it and then I serve my country. But the reason… We've learned so many lessons from so many of our leaders. I've shared this with you privately. One of my favorite quotes of Martin Luther King was when he said, "We have fought so much of our civil rights. We have fought so hard to be able to have a seat at that counter." But he asked further, he said, "What good is it to be able to sit at the counter if we can't afford to buy the hamburger?" And so, he understood the importance of economic rights alongside the civil rights.

And I add, in today's society, we shouldn't just be able to sit at that table or be able to buy the hamburger. We ought to be able to build the restaurant and own the restaurant. And I think that's the way Latinos, women, African-Americans, the Black community, Asian, LGBT. Our senior citizens are saying, "You know what? I can now serve society. I have an opportunity here. I have a niche and I have companies that can be my back room so that I can focus on my business."

And that's very, very exciting.

Burton: Well, I want to thank you for your time and your wisdom today. You know I get so excited when we have a chance to talk either one-on-one or in front of a group like this. I know everybody listening will benefit from your wealth of information and, frankly, even more from your passion and the foundation that you have created to drive diversity, which is simply incredible.

We can all learn. We can all strive to do better. And what I see from you is this sense of dedication, commitment and a tireless energy to do better every day.

And, finally, on behalf of Maria, myself and the entire TriNet team, thank you very much.