Recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month: Featuring Gladys Salazar

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, the Chamber recognizes the invaluable contributions of Hispanic leaders from our member companies to the strength, vitality, and growth of the Greater Philadelphia region. This year, we are excited to recognize Chamber member Gladys Salazar, Founder & CEO, Vision Utilities, Inc. In our interview with Gladys, she shares her thought leadership on being a Latina executive in a critical infrastructure industry, gives advice for the next generation of Hispanic leaders, and provides practical ways for the business community to uplift the Hispanic community in the workplace and beyond.

How has your identity helped shape your leadership style and how has your way of leading positively impacted the communities you serve?

As a Latina and woman-owned CEO in a critical-infrastructure industry, my leadership is grounded in service, accountability, and family—values I learned at home and carry into the field. Storm restoration begins when everyone else shelters in place; that reality demands calm, data-driven decisions and deep empathy for crews and communities. I lead with a “clear eyes, full hearts” mindset: set a high bar for safety and performance, invest in people, and remove obstacles so teams can win.

At Vision Utilities, that looks like transparent processes, weekly learning loops, and targeted training so groundmen become journeymen and administrators become leaders. We partner with utilities and workforce groups to expand opportunities, especially for bilingual talent. Our goal is simple: restore power quickly and leave communities stronger than we found them—through safe work, fair pay, and career ladders. My identity reminds me that representation matters. When a young Latina sees a crew truck or a boardroom and knows she belongs, we all move forward.

What personal and professional advice do you have for future generations of business professionals from the Hispanic community?

1. Own your story. Being Hispanic is a strategic advantage—cultural fluency, resilience, and community trust. Lead with it.
2. Learn the language of business: cash flow, contracts, insurance, safety, and unit economics. Take a finance-for-non-finance course if needed.
3. Build two mentor circles: one that understands your lived experience and one that pushes you beyond your comfort zone. Ask for sponsorship, not just advice.
4. Document everything. Systems beat heroics—especially in fast, complex work.
5. Get operational reps. Run a project end-to-end: scope, budget, safety, delivery, billing. You’ll become indispensable.
6. Negotiate with receipts. Bring data, not vibes—KPIs, risk, and ROI.
7. Protect your health. Leadership is an endurance sport.
8. Lift as you climb. Open doors for the next person—internships, referrals, mock interviews.
9. Stay bilingual—in language and in context. Translate between the field and the boardroom.
10. Take the seat. If a table doesn’t have room, bring your own chair—and your own table. Seize the opportunity and lean in.

What can our business community do to ensure we are creating a working culture that encourages, protects, and uplifts Hispanic talent and community?

1. Measure what matters. Publish pay-equity, promotion, and supplier-diversity metrics. Tie leadership bonuses to outcomes, not intentions.
2. Build paid pathways. Fund apprenticeships, CDL/OSHA scholarships, and internship-to-offer pipelines. Remove unnecessary degree requirements.
3. Procure inclusively. Set targets for spending with Hispanic-owned firms, pay on time, and offer fair terms (e.g., faster pay for small vendors).
4. Invest in safety & upskilling. Co-sponsor training bootcamps and credentialing that lead to real wages and careers.
5. Design for bilingual excellence. Provide Spanish/English training, signage, and client-facing materials; reward cultural competence.
6. Sponsor, don’t just mentor. Put Hispanic talent on high-visibility projects with P&L impact and executive exposure.
7. Create belonging. Equip managers to lead diverse teams; establish ERGs with budgets and executive champions.
8. Simplify compliance. Offer templates and office hours for small suppliers (insurance, safety, invoicing) so they can scale.

When we align incentives, capital, and skills, Hispanic talent doesn’t merely “participate”—it leads, builds, and sustains growth across our region.

A Message from Gladys:

Resilience is learned in storms—literal and economic. Our crews restore power after hurricanes; our businesses can restore possibility every day. We’re building a “storm-to-career” coalition: utilities, contractors, unions, schools, and chambers aligning paid apprenticeships, bilingual safety academies, and fast-track credentials that move families from hourly work to generational stability.

To make that real, we’re looking to partner with a national lineman training academy to expand apprenticeships and utility programs for the Latino community, delivered in Spanish and English and scheduled around real-life work.

We’ve teamed up with Univision Foundation and the JUMP Project so youth and adults impacted by the justice system can access education, employment, and economic mobility.

We also take a unique approach to generational wealth through our Vision National program, which shares profit with every lineman enrolled. It ensures that when they’re out working, they’re maximizing their hard work. 

We also mentor our lineworkers—on the job and off—through coaching, financial literacy, and career planning. And we help youth become tomorrow’s leaders with internships, ride-alongs, and bilingual opportunities.

Inclusive growth isn’t charity; it’s a performance strategy. Pick one action this quarter—sponsor a credential, hire an apprentice, mentor a returning citizen, or shift 5% of spend to diverse suppliers. Small, consistent moves compound.