Texas Border Business
The RGV Hispanic Chamber Women’s Committee is honored to have Ms. Jessica Duarte, VP of Format Development, Small Formats of Walmart as their Keynote Speaker for the “Latina Leadership Conference” scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 14th at Casa de Palmas.
Ms. Duarte has over 20 years of experience in merchandising, marketing and strategy. She worked as a merchant with JC Penney and Falabella Department Stores (in Chile and Argentina) early in her career, as a buyer and then Merchandise Manager. Eventually she transitioned to marketing and has held roles in International Marketing, Packaging Innovation, Global Brand Management and Multicultural Marketing, working on some major consumer brands such as Estée Lauder, Miller Lite, Miller Genuine Draft, Miller High Life and Jim Beam.
Jessica joined Walmart in 2008 as Senior Manager – Seasonal Marketing. She was promoted to Director a year later and again in 2011 when she relocated to her native Chile to take on the role of General Merchandise Manager – Dry Grocery & Consumables. Two years later she took on the challenge of becoming Chief Merchandising Officer for Walmart Chile. Under her leadership, the merchandising team consolidated the integration with Walmart, and consistently delivered profitable growth and market share gains, in addition to making Walmart Chile the #1 retailer in the country with the supplier community for 3 years in a row. Most recently, Jessica returned to the US and took on the role of Vice President, Format Development, Small formats for the Walmart US business.
Jessica has been distinguished with the following awards: 2014: Executive of the Year – Capital Magazine & Mujeres Empresarias (Awarded to one female executive annually)- Chile and 2014 & 2015 “100 Women Leaders” – El Mercurio Newspaper (Awarded to 100 women annually in all areas of influence; government, armed forces, education, nonprofit, business, etc.) – Chile
Jessica holds a Management & Economics Degree from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Georgetown University.
For more information on sponsorship, reserved tables or tickets call the RGV Hispanic Chamber at 928-0060.
