President and CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Lousiana Mayra Pineda has joined The Historic New Orleans Collection’s board of directors.

She will be joining the board of directors along with Tod Smith. The previous board member and immediate-past chair Hilton S. Bell and Drew Jardine respectively, will become board members emeriti.

The Collection has been operating since 1966 as a museum, research center, and publisher focusing on New Orleans’ multicultural history.

In addition to her current position within the Collection, Pineda previously worked with their acquisition committee as a community advisor, and on its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion advisory council in 2020.

Pineda has presently served as the President of the HCC of Louisiana for many years. According to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana, this position will be her twelfth active position on a board of directors.

These positions include the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Commissioner at Jefferson Economic Development Council, and has been a part of the New Orleans Hispanic Heritage Foundation since its founding in 2000, serving as its president from 2008 to 2011.

Pineda is also a former Consul General of Honduras, where she was born, and has worked in New Orleans, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

Over the course of her career, her work has centered on building solid relationships and enduring business ties between Louisiana, the Hispanic community, and Latin America.

Beyond serving on boards of directors, in an interview with WSDU Pineda stated that she had owned Subway franchises for 25 years.

Previous recognition of her work include being a recipient of the Leadership Award by the New Orleans Hispanic Heritage Foundation, the 2018 Top Female Achiever by The New Orleans Magazine, the High Achievement in Compliance by Subway Corporation, an Honoree of Men and Women of Fashion/Prix de Elegance, and most recently, she received the Vale la Pena Award at the 2020 Diversity in Scouting Gala.

The Collection has published a series of books about the region, publishes its own magazine the Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly, and has uploaded a digital gallery of hundreds of thousands of items from its collection to be available on its website.