Esther Aguilera

A 2X CEO and 2X Executive Director, Esther brings a 35-year track record building enterprises, executing strategic business plans, and leading high performing teams. She has forged hundreds of strategic partnerships with Fortune 500 companies, institutional investors, search firms, and private equity.

Esther serves as Senior Advisor at Atlura Capital. She is on the Advisory Board of Angeles Investors and serves on the Board of Women Business Collaborative. From 2016 to 2023, she served as President & CEO of the Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA) where she built and led the rapid expansion of the first national network of Latino corporate directors and executive officers. She launched the BoardReady Institute and was executive producer of the Annual Board Leaders Convening covering corporate governance trends.

She brings a deep understanding of the intersection of corporate, non-profit, and national government sectors having led consequential entities including as Executive Director of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus at the US House of Representatives (1993 to 1999), Executive Director of small business procurement at the U.S. Department of Energy (1999 to 2001), business consulting with The Dewey Square Group (2002-2004), and CEO of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, a national non-profit leadership development organization (2004-2015).

She was recognized by Diligent as a 2022 Modern Governance 100 Honoree, served on the inaugural advisory council of NACD’s Center for Inclusive Governance, and as faculty for Competent Boards — based in Canada. Esther was recognized by Al Dia News Service as the 2021 Person of the Year, by ALPFA as the 50 Most Powerful Latinas in 2021 and 2022, and recognized by Hispanic Executive Magazine and Latino Leaders Magazine for her leadership roles. In 2010, Esther was awarded the 2010 Alumni Seal Award by Occidental College, her alma mater. Esther has appeared as speaker at leading business forums, including the Bloomberg Summit, The Financial Times ODX conference, NACD Global Summit, and CNBC‘s Opportunity Forum, among others. Plus, her work has been featured in Bloomberg, LA Times, WSJ, the Sacramento Bee, USA Today, and Reuters, among others.