Every year from September 15th through October 15th, we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month to pay tribute to Hispanic Americans nationwide, especially those whose achievements and contributions make a daily mark on society.
During HHM, we recognize those who inspire others to succeed; representation is everything. In advertising technology specifically, very few Hispanic/Latinx people are running the show.
Still, here at AdMonsters, we are fortunate enough to know a few who are striving in their professional roles daily and have been for years.
Here are 10 Hispanic/Latin American ad tech professionals making their mark on the industry. Keep an eye out for them!
1. Dennis Colón
Founder, Head of Product & Strategy Media Division at Jiffy.ai
Dennis Colón is a Puerto Rican native New Yorker who has been in the ad tech space for over two decades, building and leading Ad Ops, Rev Ops, and Ad Tech teams.
He has held senior positions at top publishers in print and TV — like CBS Interactive and Condé Nast — and is currently one of the founders of Jiffy.ai Media, where he leads Strategy and Product.
Jiffy.ai focuses on providing simple-to-build, cost-effective, high-value solutions to organizations on both the advertising ecosystem’s buy and sell sides. The intelligent automation platform builds Bots that leverage a company’s existing systems and workflow to deliver end-to-end automation. They also partner with media organizations to provide transformational results that leverage artificial intelligence to bring automation to various media operations processes.
Best Career Advice:
Bet on yourself.Be supportive and try to just listen.Don’t be afraid to make decisions or to execute.
2. Victoria de Leon 
Director of Content Marketing at LiveIntent
Victoria is LiveIntent’s Director of Content Marketing. She also previously held marketing roles at ViralGains and Integral Ad Science.
Victoria enjoys Madtech’s fast pace and loves breaking down industry topics with engaging and digestible content. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, she dedicated time to Literacy New Jersey, an organization that allows adults to read, write, and communicate effectively, and hopes to continue helping those who want to learn English. Victoria is also a founding member of LiveIntent’s Latinx ERG, Juntos. She is a first-generation American and was born and bred in NYC.
Best Career Advice:
Set a goal — it’s ok if it’s “too” ambitious. You set the goal, shoot for the mark, and try. Don’t focus so much on whether or not you’ll make the goal, focus more on the steps you’ll implement to try and get there. If you make the goal, great! If not, that’s cool too. It means you get to learn from your previous attempt and inform your future strategies.
We can often get caught up in proving the efficacy and value of our efforts. Of course, those things are important, but it’s also important to test, iterate, and sometimes “fail.” And I use the term fail loosely because I truly believe that as long as you’re learning, you’re not failing at anything.
Growing up in a Hispanic household, my mom and dad always said, “Ponte las pilas!” which translates to, “Put your batteries in.” It really means to pour your energy; your all, into something. And I always try to bring my “pilas” to whatever I do.
3. Abraham Martinez
Seasoned Ad Tech Veteran
Abraham Martínez is a seasoned media and technology professional, thought leader, and subject matter expert specializing in product management and end-to-end software development.
He works across the video AdTech & MarTech ecosystem to execute strategies that improve digital audience targeting, contextual viewing experience, and yield management to maximize revenue for premium Programmers, Publishers, and Brand Marketers.
With expertise ranging from Product at Condé Nast, FreeWheel Advisory Services, MarTech at Peacock, and Directing advanced advertising at Univisión, he has a breadth of knowledge that stems from some of the largest video publishers and Ad Tech companies in the world.
Abraham is of Mexican and Spanish origin and is a proud ally in growing the Hispanic community across the media landscape. Abraham strives to amplify the voice of Spanish speakers everywhere, creating environments for Hispanics in media to learn, grow and accelerate in their careers.
Best Career Advice:
Always be collaborative, open, and a team player — but never lose sight of who you are, your best interests, and your career goals.
4. Jennifer Castillo
Executive Director, Ad Operations at Dow Jones
Jennifer Castillo is a seasoned advertising executive with over a decade of experience in ad operations, campaign management, revenue operations, programmatic, and podcasting.
Born in the Dominican Republic and a New Yorker since age five, she started her career amid the financial crisis and great recession. She continued to lead through industry upheavals like the ongoing privacy, user, and data protection discussions.
Formerly Senior Director, Ad Operations at Slate, Jennifer currently heads up the ad operations and programmatic teams at Dow Jones, managing properties such as The Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch. She’s a member of Latinas in Tech, supporting and empowering Latinxs in the advertising space.
Best Career Advice:
Mia Birkhead, my VP at Slate and mentor, told me that if I wanted to continue growing in my space, I should always strive to take her position, which always empowered me to push to emulate the leaders I admired and wanted to mimic to some degree.
5. Richie Torres
Senior Director, Business Development at Playwire
Richie Torres is currently Senior Director, Business Development at Playwire, where he’s worked for the past three years. He helps the company grow its partner network by bringing on new supply, building market and brand awareness, and educating new and existing partners about Playwire’s evolving platform offerings. Throughout his ten-year career, Richie has always worked in digital but is lucky enough to have worked on the publisher and ad tech sides in multiple roles from Ops to Business Development. He is of Puerto Rican descent and was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY.
Of being a minority in ad tech, Richie says, “It’s interesting being a minority in any industry. Fortunately for me, in my personal and professional experience, “Digital” has been inclusive of different people, and I’ve yet to feel that there is a barrier to entry to become successful. Playwire has a huge DEI focus that trickles down to our partners. Our employees are almost at a 50/50 split between men and women, with minorities in that group holding VP and exec roles.
More recently, I’ve noticed new faces on stage presenting at a Pub Forum or even hosting a local happy hour, proving that new talent in my community is being taken more seriously and proving we’re in a position to make a difference. Proud to be part of this LatinX community in our fabulous bubble of digital entrepreneurs.”
Best Career Advice:
“Listen more, talk less. When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know; but when you listen, you may learn something new.” — the Dalai Lama
Also, our Playwire motto – G$D or Get Shit Done.
6. Odalys Moreno
BFP: Odalys Moreno headshots 1/31/21 DUMBO Brooklyn photo: Lizzy Snaps Sullivan
Senior Director, Video Ad Operations at PREMION
Odalys has been in the Digital Ad Ops realm since 2004. She was referred and landed a linear trafficker position for Viacom/MTV Networks by a good friend she had previously worked with at a Reprographics company. After a year of Linear trafficking, she was curious about what else the advertising world had to offer.
That curiosity led her to inquire about the digital ad ops team training opportunities. After training with the group for two months on her lunch hour, they extended a trafficker role to her. She excitedly accepted and has stayed in the industry since.
It offered the exact challenge, growth, and future outlook Odalys desired. She’s worked her way through the industry from large media corporations to startups to consulting and back. She currently works at an OTT Digital Media company called Premion as Sr. Director of Ad Operations. Odalys likes to keep her Ad Ops industry knowledge fresh with lots of self-research, attending industry events regularly, and reaching out to her circle of Ad Ops peers.
Outside of her day-to-day Ops work, she mentors other Hispanics on how to get a “foot in” and navigate the digital world. She’s a firm believer in diversity and paying it forward. When she’s not in “Ops Mode,” she’s a Nature Girl, Cyclist, Art Aficionado, Traveler, and Avid Conversationalist.
Best Career Advice:
“Dress for the job you want” – Although cliché, “dressing the part” is more than just what you’re wearing. It’s symbolic of how you feel about yourself and what you feel you deserve and reflects how important your job/career is to you.
“Sometimes, you have to play the game” – This advice was given to me early in my career to remind me not to act off of emotions and not take others’ actions so personally. It was also expressed to help me remember that there will be times when I will need to compromise to achieve a greater good. Strategy is really the name of that “game.”
7. Anthony Dominguez
Director, Publisher Development (Multicultural), Colossus SSP
Anthony Dominguez is an Ad Tech veteran of over 12 years, specializing in driving publisher programmatic monetization, agency development, building audience data taxonomies, and more. Over at Colossus SSP, he is following his passion for creating greater equity within the AdTech ecosystem by heading Multicultural Publisher Development. In his past life, he co-founded programmatic sales and operations for Univision.com.
Anthony also advocates for getting more ad spend across LGBTQ websites, considering many are not getting the advertising dollars they really need to survive and thrive. He resides in Miami, Florida, and was born in the United States of Cuban-Dominican descent.
Best Career Advice:
Make it a priority to continue learning. Learning agility is key to staying successful in adtech. Also, your reputation is your brand and like learning agility, one needs to continuously develop their brand.
8. Raymundo E. Olivo
Vice President of Data Architecture at Spark Foundry
Raymundo E. Olivo oversees various advertisers’ data operations, strategy, and activations. Raymundo previously worked for Ziff Davis as the Director of Programmatic Strategy & Operations. In this role, he oversaw programmatic monetization and implementations for several sites (PC Magazine, Mashable, IGN, etc.).
Recently he shifted from the Publisher Side to Agency Side, shifting focus from Programmatic to Data Architecture in an omnichannel perspective. His first position in Media/Advertising was with Haymarket Media, a smaller UK-Based Publisher. In this role, Raymundo oversaw project management for multiple websites and applications. He is a second-generation American, and both of his parents immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic.
Best Career Advice:
Situational awareness is a valuable skill needed to advance in both your career and life. An early mentor of mine stated something that I’ve held as a concrete element of how I manage as well as communicate: “Know when to speak up but most importantly know when to listen.”
9. Joe Guzmán
Senior Account Manager at Verve Group
As a Hispanic American in Ad Tech, Joe Guzman takes pride in being a mentor to other Hispanic and Latino people within companies that he has worked with. He finds it very important to pay it forward by helping guide and support those starting their careers.
His career began in TV Ad Operations and moved throughout media, eventually into Ad Tech. He is a Puerto Rican from the Bronx, always looking to amplify his voice and make the best of all the opportunities that cross his path. Guzman takes pride in his Puerto Rican culture and considers it a way of life. Although he was born here in the US, his love for the people, culture, food, flag, and music is in his blood.
“I’ve been proud to showcase that WE are here. It’s been amazing working in Ad Tech, and I hope to keep seeing more Hispanic and Latinos in America continue to join the industry!”
Best Career Advice:
Build meaningful relationships and take care of them.
All those long and hard hours working should be met with long hours dedicated to YOU not working. Work is important, but YOU mean the most so recharge with no guilt when needed.
10. Brenda Salce-Garcia
Head of Creator Success at Jellysmack
With over 15 years of experience in media and ad tech, it’s safe to say that Brenda is an OG in this advertising game. She is head of Creator Success at Jellysmack, a technology platform that optimizes, operates, and distributes creator-made video content to YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and Twitter.
Before Jellysmack, Brenda was the SVP of Customer Success at Operative, where she spearheaded strategic direction for its global customer base for all products and services. She also led its Marketing and Customer Support divisions.
Brenda is a DEI advocate, which led her in the direction of co-founding Techbae. This organization advances equality by presenting meaningful connections and creating opportunities for women in ad tech regardless of status on the totem pole. Throughout Brenda’s career, she has demonstrated her problem-solving abilities to clients by actively evaluating their needs, understanding their business goals, and advocating for them cross-functionally.
A proud Dominican coming from a vibrant community in the Bronx is what anchored her to get to where she is today.
“My parents raised me to not only be proud of where I came from but to believe that nothing was impossible if you put in the effort. When I first started in the industry I was an online ad trafficker and I thrived off both the challenge of the job (hello, HTML anyone?) and the direct impact/ contribution to the revenue line,” Brenda said.
“The other contributing factor that led me to the industry was amazing mentors that saw more potential in me than I did in myself. Shout out to Oleg Korenfeld and Michelle Chen for opening the door for me!”
Best Career Advice:
Don’t ever let fear drive any decision that you make in life and in your career. Always come from a place of yes because it is in those moments of challenges and uncomfortability that you grow.