Hispanic leaders scarce in Katy-area leadership posts
Although Hispanics are an increasing part of the Katy-area population, few are in leadership positions in the local school district, chamber of commerce, economic development council and at City Hall.
Local leaders believe that will eventually change. But they see factors that slow the rise of Hispanics and other minority groups to elected office or other leadership positions, even though the area population is increasingly diverse.
“It’s important to see leaders coming from every group,” said Alton Frailey, superintendent of Katy ISD.
But better representation for minorities, especially in elected positions, can take years to develop, said Frailey, 54 ,who is black and one of the few leaders in the Katy area who is not white. Frailey is a board member at the Katy Area Economic Development Council and the Katy Area Chamber of
Commerce. He is retiring in August after nine years at the district’s helm.
“Civil rights laws passed when I was a kid. We are young country, and that’s not an excuse,” Frailey added, “but it takes a while for certain people to transition out (of office).”
EDC statistics show that the area population in 2014 was 28 percent Hispanic, 10.5 percent Asian and 8.6 percent black. The council didn’t report a percentage for the white population.
Katy ISD’s students are 39.4 percent white, 34.4 percent Hispanic, 13.3 percent Asian/Pacific Islander and 9.6 percent black, according to 2015 information from the district, which extends from roughly FM 2855 east to Eldridge Road.
In the city of Katy, the Hispanic population is about 29 percent, with few black or Asian residents, according to 2014 Census estimates. Lack of minority recruitment
A lack of focus on minority recruitment by local business groups hurts the potential for more diversity in leadership, said Stefano Zullian, a Venezuelan native who owns Araya Artisan Chocolate in Katy.
A former member of the Katy chamber, Zullian now belongs to the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, where he said he’s received substantially more aid in networking with other Hispanics in business.
“There could definitely be more of an effort to recruit Hispanics or Asians, or whoever — at least something that would say, ‘Hey guys (from minority groups), you could also apply for this or that,’ ” Zullian said, “No organization is saying that.”
Leaders of the chamber and EDC said their groups don’t have recruitment efforts for Hispanics and other minority groups. At the chamber, for example, President/CEO Ann Hodge, who is white, said her organization doesn’t keep track of how many minority members it has, adding that few other chambers do.
At the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce, President/CEO Keri Schmidt, who is white, made it a point to transform the ethnic makeup of her board of directors when she began her job six years ago.
Through Schmidt’s aggressive recruitment, the 39-member board has gone from being 90 percent white to 50 percent. While Fort Bend County is more ethnically diverse than the Katy area, this serves as a model for change.
At the Katy chamber, the vast majority of the top staff and 17 directors are white.
Hodge admitted that her organization hasn’t marketed itself enough to the overall community but said it’s been tough to draw interest from minority groups.
“We’ve had a struggle to bring in that membership,” said Hodge, whose group has 850 members. Membership is required to be selected as a director.
“We don’t have a sales person that goes out and knocks on doors and asks people to join the chamber because we believe that if you see our value, you will join and join for all the right reasons. We have open doors.”
However, she said, “At a minimum, I will be bringing this issue to our board of directors for discussion and possible action.”
Few seek elected office on City Council or the Katy ISD board. This year, two people are vying for a vacant City Council seat, and two are running for an open KISD trustee seat. All are white.
“Most of the Hispanics and Latinos that I know — and I know a lot — they are not into the political environment,” Zullian said. “They’re more into their work in the business. I wish it would be more diverse because the more different perspective you get, the better things are.
“Maybe some things would exist here that don’t if more representation existed, if you had people to push for it,” he said. “But right now people are comfortable. Everything is working fine here — the roads, the schools, etc. I think it would be different if they weren’t.” First Hispanic on Katy City Council
City Council member James Mendez Jr. said he is the first Hispanic elected to a position in the city. Mendez is on his second twoyear term on the council. He owns Big City Builders LLC in Katy.
“With the Hispanic community, a lot of them keep their issues among themselves,” he said. “We don’t even get Hispanic groups coming to City Council saying, ‘Hey, we want Hispanic heritage celebration’ or something like that. Those types of things would bring more discussion.
“Diversity for the sake of diversity is bad,” he added. ‘If you have a large population of Hispanics, you want to have representation, but there’s no issues right now.”
David Thompson and Mike Moses, Katy ISD’s superintendent search consultants, have said that interviewing diverse candidates to replace Frailey, the district’s first nonwhite superintendent, will be important.
Katy ISD trustees could not be reached for comments on this story.
Financial roadblocks may hinder potential candidates for leadership positions, including those from minority groups. At the EDC, for example, each member on the Board of Governors pays an annual $15,000 fee.
“Diversity (in the Katy area) has really only dramatically increased in the past four to five years,” said EDC President/ CEO Lance LaCour, who is white and has lived in the Katy area for 11 years. “There’s a lot of mobility in our area; so some people don’t get rooted here, aren’t ingrained in our community. We welcome more diversity … but there has to be a willingness. It’s going to be important for people who are interested in being a leader to step forward. It will take time.”
At the chamber, Hodge sees change coming through the Katy Young Professionals, which she said has more Hispanic and minority representation.
She believes the younger generation will lead changes that result in leadership becoming more reflective of the community’s diversity.
Hodge said the chamber is planning programs that will focus directly on the Hispanic and minority population.
“I think change is already underway,” Hodge said. “There is an opportunity to grow.”