Juana Bordas

Dr. Juana Bordas is a Nicaraguan-American community activist, author, and speaker with expertise in leadership development, diversity, and multicultural inclusion. Bordas emigrated to the United States from Nicaragua as a young child and, after graduating from college, joined the Peace Corps, working in the barrios of Santiago, Chile, to assist women in forming work cooperatives. She later received the Franklin Williams Award from the U.S. Peace Corps for her commitment to advancing communities of color.

Bordas has built institutions that promote Latino and Latina leadership. She is a founder of several Denver-area organizations, including Mi Casa Resource Center for Women, the National Hispana Leadership Institute, and Mestiza Leadership International, where she serves as president. She co-founded the National Hispana Leadership Institute, which prepares Latinas for leadership roles on a national level, and served as its president for its first seven years. As the first Latina faculty member at the Center for Creative Leadership, Bordas taught in the Leadership Development Program. She also launched Lideramos, The National Latino Leadership Alliance, which works to enhance and initiate Latino leadership programs across the United States.

Bordas is the author of two books on multicultural leadership. Her first book, "Salsa, Soul, and Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age," presents eight principles of multicultural leadership drawn from Latino, African American, and Native American cultures. Her second book, "The Power of Latino Leadership: Culture, Inclusion, and Contribution," focuses on Latino issues and outlines ten principles of Latino leadership. "Salsa, Soul, and Spirit" won the International Latino Book Award for best leadership book, and "The Power of Latino Leadership" received the Nautilus Award for best multicultural/indigenous book and the International Latino Book Award for best business/leadership book. Bordas also contributed to the New York Times bestseller "Peter Drucker's Five Most Important Questions."

Bordas's work spans government, corporations, nonprofits, educational institutions, and labor unions. She has partnered with organizations such as Google, Microsoft, General Electric, Cigna, and Chevron to support multicultural leadership development. Bordas has served as an advisor to Harvard's Hispanic Journal on Public Policy and the Kellogg National Fellows Program, and was vice president of the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Board and a trustee of the International Leadership Association. She was named one of the 100 Top Latino Leaders in the United States by the National Diversity Council.

Bordas has received several honors in the leadership field, including an honorary doctorate from Union University and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Leadership Association, becoming the first Latina to receive this recognition. She is an inductee of the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame, which released a documentary on her life titled "The Voice and Vision of Latina Leadership." Latina Style Magazine recognized her for her contributions to Latina leadership development.