Ed Vargas has been active throughout his career with Diversity & Inclusion, ERGs, Strategic Planning, Marketing, and Leadership with community groups that make a difference. After 10+ years of Digital Program Management at AT&T, Ed’s passionate about the Ethical and Human Use of Tech for Social Good impacts. He is the Head of the Latinx and Employee Resource Group Practice at CTR Factor, Inc., a Leadership, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion minority, and women owned consulting firm. He is a Mentor with the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University.
Ed is an Ambassador for the We Are All Human Foundation’s Hispanic Star program in the San Francisco Bay Area. Hubs across the country provide resources to essential workers, entrepreneurs who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. He is one of 90 Hispanic Star contributing authors in the new book, Hispanic Stars Rising, the Emerging Face of Power.
Ed was born in San Jose, CA, first in his family to attend college. Ed received his B.S.C. in Marketing & Business Administration and his Juris Doctor from Santa Clara University. He completed Executive Management Publishing Programs at Cornell and the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern.
Ed started in Packaging Sales at a Fortune 200 firm. He left to lead Product Development at another packaging company and became VP of Sales & Marketing at the age of 30. He’s held roles as a Strategic Corporate Planner, Product Marketing Manager in the Packaging field.
He was recruited to become Publisher, Editor & Conference Director for a start-up International B2B publishing firm about nonwovens technology. He expanded a North American conference presence to Japan partnering with C-Suite leaders. His non-profit experience includes Director Communications, Media Relations, World Affairs Council/N. CA., Chairperson, Community Advisory Panel to Board of Directors at KQED, President of Latinos in Communication and President of the Hispanic Community Foundation, now the Latino Community Foundation.
Ed managed his own strategic planning, marketing & communications consulting group, Vargas & Associates, in the 90’s and partnered with other consulting firms. He’s been a featured speaker at international conferences. With a diversity focus, Ed was invited to participate in a diversity workplace roundtable at Harvard University. That discussion led to an article in the Harvard Business Review. He was an Organizational Development Adjunct Professor at the National Hispanic University in San Jose.
Ed joined Pacific Bell as the Diversity Marketing Manager, Hispanic Market. Ed had many Pac Bell, SBC, AT&T roles including Sales Operations, Product Development, Mobility, IT Program Management, Metric Analytics and Digital Experience. He received AT&T’s IT Service Excellence Award and the POTUS Volunteer Service Award each year, 2013-2017. He was voted “ERG Star for March 2015” as a role model for all AT&T ERGs. He helped start the HACEMOS High Tech Day, STEM workshops for local high school students, now the annual HACEMOS flagship national event. As HACEMOS ERG National EVP- Community Outreach he launched HACEMOS Latino Diversity Stories on YouTube to generate awareness of members’ success stories focusing on what we have in common vs negative stereotypes.
Ed is also a life-long musician, plays guitar and lives with his wife, Christine in Contra Costa County.