Dolores Kunda
Member of the Board of Directors | Latino Corporate Directors Association, Kellogg Alumni Council
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
When Dolores Kunda was in high school, her parents offered her a pretty good deal. They said, “Get into the best college you can, and we’ll figure out how pay for it.” So in 1973, she began at Smith College, graduating four years later. But it wasn’t an easy road. For the first time, Kunda was competing with peers that were equally as talented, and as one of the few Latinas in her class, she was also adjusting to culture shock.
“It was hard, it was competitive, and it was a game changer,” she says. “The fact that I graduated with the amazing talent in the class of 1977 is a huge blessing and has affected my life more than any course of study.” The college must have agreed. In 2012, Kunda was the first Latina awarded the Smith Medal, the highest award bestowed from the college to alumnae who exemplify the true purpose of a liberal arts education.
After her formidable experience at Smith, Kunda entered the workforce with a newfound ambition. In 1984, she earned an MBA from Northwestern University, and as she accepted more and more senior positions in advertising, her career became less driven by ambition and more by a desire for more Latino access in business. So she founded Lapiz—one of the largest and most awarded Hispanic advertising agencies in the US—under the Leo Burnett umbrella.
“It was very rewarding to advance the US Latino agenda inside a large, well-
respected advertising agency,” she says.
Since retiring from Lapiz in 2013, Kunda has not wavered in her mission of driving Latino success. Kunda is an active board member in the Latino Corporate Directors Association and the Kellogg Alumni Council. In both organizations, Kunda focuses on Latino participation.
“My passion for US Latinos and Latinas in the corporate boardroom comes from my own experience,” she says. “Ethnic diversity is being proven to lead to better decision-making and increased shareholder value. American business needs to make gender and ethnic diversity an imperative at the C-suite and the boardroom level. It’s not about social justice; it’s about increasing shareholder value.”
DC Ties
Dolores Kunda grew up in a suburb of Washington, DC, something that’s she very proud of. In fact, she was a tour guide guide in the History and Technology Building of the Smithsonian Institution while in high school.
Although her illustrious career has given her a résumé that far outweighs a tour guide position, she still fondly remembers the time and is grateful for the experience.
