On June 1, the Hispanic IT Executive Council (HITEC) announced the award recipients of the 2021 HITEC 50.

Since 2011, HITEC has compiled a comprehensive list featuring the top 50 most influential and notable professionals in the technology industry in Latin America, Spain & Portugal called the "HITEC 50."

"We're very proud to recognize the top 50 technology leaders across the Ibero-America. This is an outstanding and diverse group of executives that is contributing to the digital transformation of the region," said JC Gutierrez, HITEC Board Member and Co-Chair of the Awards Committee, in a press release.

Here are the 2021 HITEC 50 Award Winners: 

• Ana Margarita Albir Sarmiento, President of ADL Digital Lab (Colombia)
• Laércio Albuquerque, Vice President of Latin America Cisco Systems (Brazil)
• Mauricio Amaro, IT Corporate Director/Chief Information Officer at Grupo Avante Textil (Mexico)
• Salvador Aponte, Global Chief Information Officer & Chief Technology Officer at Alsea (Mexico)
• Erika Araujo, Latin America Channel, Ecosystem and Inside Sales Director at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (Brazil)
• Maria Teresa Arnal, Head of Latam at Stripe (Mexico)
• Olga Botero, Partner & Managing Director at C&S Customers and Strategy (Colombia)
• Gabriela Cadenas, Senior Vice President Digital and Technology Americas at The Heineken Company
• Alvaro Camarena, Senior Vice President & General Manager of the Latin America Channel at Dell Technologies (Mexico)
• Joaquim Campos, Vice President of IBM Technology Latin America at IBM (Brazil)
• Patty Canales, Vice President of Business Operations and Technology at Banco Interamericano de Finanzas (Peru)
• Carlos Caraza, Global Marketing & NAM Vegetable Seeds Digital Transformation Lead at Bayer Crop Science (Mexico)
• Mariana Castro, Sales, Marketing and Operations Vice President at Microsoft Latin America 
• Eduardo Coello, President of Latin American & Caribbean at Visa, Inc. 
• Ahide Betzabe Contreras Martinez, Citi Technology Infrastructure Mexico Head at Citibanamex 
• Tânia Cosentino, General Manager at Microsoft Brazil
• Angela J. Cruz, Senior Director of N3 Digital Inside Sales at Accenture (Miami)
• João Lúcio de Azevedo Filho, Former LATAM Market Head & Brazil Country Manager at Cognizant 
• Ana Paula de Jesus Assis, General Manager IBM Client Transition Leader at IBM (Brazil)
• Mariano Alberto Dolhare, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay Managing Director at  Hewlett Packard Enterprise
• Natalie Gil, Corporate Chief Architect and Digital Strategist & Corporate Chief Technology Officer at Auna
• Ludmila Gragnani Wolf, Vice President & IT Consumer Health Latin America at Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health (Brazil)
• Arturo Grapa, Chief Technology Officer/Chief Information Officer at Bank of America Mexico
• Ernesto Jose Gutierrez de Piñeres Luna, Digital Vice President at Ecopetrol (Colombia)
• Manuel Hinojosa Hernández, Partner of Customer Solutions and Innovation at KPMG Mexico
• Mario Julio, PwC Argentina Partner of Innovation & Automation Leader for US Acceleration Centers (Argentina)
• Gloria Kojima, Executive Director at JP Morgan Chase & Co. (Brazil)
• Andres Madero, Chief Technology Officer - Latin America & Caribbean at Infinera
• Diego Majdalani, Channel International President at Dell Technologies (Argentina)
• Luiz Meisler, Executive Vice President of Oracle Latin America (Brazil)
• Claudia Minzi, Managing Director & Head of Cybersecurity and Tech Control for Latam and Canada, JP Morgan Chase & Co. (Argentina)
• Cleber Morais, Country Director at Amazon Web Services (Brazil)
• Claudio Muruzabal, Chairman of SAP Latin America and Caribbean & President of SAP Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa
• Enrique Perezyera, General Manager at Microsoft (Mexico)
• Teresa Reyes, Vice President of Operations at Tigo Colombia
• Walter Ariel Risi, Partner and Head of Consulting at KPMG Argentina/Global Lead of IoT/IloT Cybersecurity at KPMG Argentina
• Margarita Salazar, Vice President of Client Delivery Management LAC at SAP Enterprise Cloud Services
• Carlos Sánchez Fanjul, Chief Process and Information Officer at Soriana
• Guayente Sanmartin, General Manager and Global Head of Large Format Business at HP Inc (Spain)
• José Antonio Saracho Angulo, Director of Systems at Coppel (Mexico)
• Lusmary Silva, Chief Information Officer at Bank of America (Brazil)
• Fausto Sosa de la Fuente, Vice President of Information Technologies at CEMEX (Mexico)
• Fernando Thompson de la Rosa, Chief Information Officer at Universidad de las Américas Puebla (Mexico) 
• Albert Triola, Senior Vice President of Support Renewal Seals in EMEA and Spanish Country Leader at Oracle (Spain)
• Jaime Vallés, Vice President LATAM of Amazon Web Services
• Susana Zumel Vara, Chief Information Officer at Cepsa (Spain)
• Katia Vaskys, General Manager at IBM Brazil
• Juan Felipe Wills, Managing Director Strategy & Banking Transformation Head at Citibank (Mexico) 
• Alonso Yañez, Vice President & Chief Information Officer at Walmart Mexico and Central America
• Maria Elizabeth Zapata, Distinguished Technologist and R&D Manager at HP Inc. (Spain)

The HITEC 50 award program recognizes and celebrates the contributions and accomplishments of the most influential and notable Hispanic executives and entrepreneurs in the technology industry across Latin America, Spain and Portugal.

"During the incredible changes we have all experienced last year, these leaders have shown resilience to succeed and inspire the Hispanic community,” Gutierrez added.

Honorees are evaluated on their accomplishments in the ever-changing global landscape of technology and for their mentoring and professional development activities. 

“Being a leader is more than just a title,” Board Member and Co-Chair of the Awards Committee Lúcia Soares said in a statement. 

“These 50 awardees represent technology leadership and innovation but also reflect the values of perseverance, determination and talent development. By recognizing these 50 outstanding leaders, we continue to push up and pull up talent in our communities.” 

HITEC is globally recognized as the premier executive leadership organization of senior-level business and technology executives. 

Its objectives are to recognize talented individuals and highlight their achievements; foster business and professional growth for its members; and build and develop strategic business relationships that will encourage growth within the industry globally.