Pedro Guerrero is used to leading events with a few hundred people in attendance. This year is something else entirely. AVANCE Global is expected to draw 6,000 people to Las Vegas, and for the founder and president of Hispanic Executive, it’s time for things to move to the next level.
“I think I have a different perspective going into AVANCE Global this year because I’ve gotten to see all of the planning behind the scenes from the NAHREP [National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals] and AVANCE teams,” Guerrero explains. “I’ve seen the sausage made, and you know what, it just makes me appreciate this all the more. It is impressive to be a part of a team that can handle this type of gathering at this scale.”
Guerrero says this year’s AVANCE is also a chance to meet people in person whom Hispanic Executive has featured over the years under one roof, from billionaire businessman and Kind founder Daniel Lubetzky to fellow billionaire and Leon Capital Group founder Fernando De Leon. Then there are the more personal relationships.
“There are people like [co-founder and president of Populus Group] Bobby Herrera who I got to know during COVID and has come to be a very good friend,” Guerrero explains. “Not only do I get to meet him in person finally. I get to hear him speak and inspire the audience. That’s the kind of energy you really look forward to encountering.”
AVANCE Global, Guerrero says, is essentially a “conference of conferences,” a chance to see the multiple tributaries of NAHREP, AVANCE, Latinos in Sports, and other organizations all flowing into the same deep lake of Latino leadership.
It’s been a big year for Guerrero and Hispanic Executive. In July, Guerrero’s creation merged with AVANCE in a partnership that AVANCE founder Gary Acosta has described as “a scenario where two plus two equals five.”
Guerrero sees AVANCE as a vehicle for realizing the full potential of the publication’s media platform while HE brings its own trusted storytelling capabilities and relationships with a wide range of influential Latino leaders. In practical terms, the partnership creates new opportunities to build programming around AVANCE Global, connect audiences across sectors, and transform individual gatherings into an enduring media-and-events platform.
It also puts Hispanic Executive in position to support a major new initiative: an upcoming media brand focused directly on the U.S. Latino audience. Guerrero believes that audience remains underserved by mainstream media, which too often approaches Latinos exclusively through Spanish-language content — or fails to approach them at all.
Guerrero says the new project will be built for an English-speaking audience that is simultaneously Hispanic and American, offering coverage and representation tailored to that unique, underserved and growing segment.
Beyond the immediate media opportunity, Guerrero is drawn to AVANCE’s global orientation. He sees the organization as a bridge between the United States, Latin America, and Spain, one that can help create new commercial and cultural connections across the diaspora.
“There is real potential in bringing those worlds into closer conversation, culturally and commercially,” Guerrero says. “If our community is a competitor from a GDP perspective, I want to see what becomes possible when our community operates like one with a natural connection to its roots, playing on the same field as the broader international Latin American community.”
Whether he sees AVANCE Global as the capstone or kickoff of an already massive year, the AVANCE president is looking forward to what unfolds at the Bellagio.
