Bio Ramiro Cavazos

Ramiro Cavazos
President & CEO
United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Ramiro A. Cavazos is President and Chief Executive Officer of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), America’s largest business advocacy organization for Hispanics. He is a trusted economic development expert and champion for bipartisan solutions that generate wealth to advance economic opportunity for the Hispanic community. Prior to his role at the USHCC, Ramiro was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (SAHCC), the nation’s first Hispanic Chamber of Commerce founded in 1929. During his time at the SAHCC, he fought for the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), was recognized as a 5 Star Accredited chamber, and also led numerous annual trade missions to Spain, Israel, Mexico, Canada, Cuba and Italy.

Ramiro previously served as the Director of Research and Economic Development at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, where he advanced public-private projects promoting entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation. He was also the past Director of Economic Development for the City of San Antonio, where he oversaw projects that focused on business expansion, retention and trade that led to the creation of more than 20,000 higher paying jobs for the seventh largest city in America. Cavazos also taught Economic Development at the Institute of Law and Public Affairs for The University of Texas at San Antonio.

His global perspective was honed by his experience working in the private sector for the Levi Strauss Company and Levi Strauss Foundation as Manager of Global Public Affairs & Contributions, where he was responsible for the Texas, Mexico, and Latin American regions. Additionally, he spent 15 years as a Bank Director at InterContinental Bank Shares Corporation (InterCon). His passion for small business is also fueled by his experience running his own public affairs business for 3 years serving clients such as AT&T, Valero Energy and H-E-B. Ramiro began his career in public service, where he worked in city management for the cities of San Antonio and Helotes, served as a Special Assistant to former U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas and as a legislative researcher for State Representative Irma Rangel, the first Hispanic woman elected to the Texas Legislature.

Today, Ramiro proudly serves as the Chairman of the Board for the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR), based in Washington, D.C., that advocates for Fortune 500 companies to invest in more equity and fair representation for Hispanics on corporate boards and publicly traded companies. In March 2023, the board of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) appointed Ramiro as a member due to his extensive background in international trade. The CFR is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank dedicated to being a resource for foreign policy facing the United States and other countries. Ramiro is also a member of Bank of America’s National Community Advisory Council (NCAC) providing guidance on the bank’s community development lending, investment activities, consumer policy issues, environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and performance.

Ramiro has shared his views on Latino entrepreneurship, small business growth, trade, and commerce on: Fortune, Forbes, Time, Newsweek, CNN, the Associated Press, The Economist, The Washington Post, El País, El Heraldo, and many other media outlets. He has also been recognized by Latino Leaders Magazine as one of America’s “101 Most Influential Latinos” for the last six years. In 2015, the Kingdom of Spain named Ramiro the Honorary Consul of Spain for San Antonio and South Texas. His efforts brought His Majesty King Felipe VI and Her Majesty Queen Letizia of Spain to San Antonio’s Tricentennial events celebrating its founding by Canary Islanders in 1718. The King of Spain bestowed upon Ramiro the Order of Isabel the Catholic (Orden de Isabel la Católica), its highest honor given to a non-Spanish citizen for his service as a business advocate to expand the binational economic relationship between the United States and Spain.

Ramiro earned his master’s degree in public administration from St. Mary’s University, where he received the honor of Distinguished Alumnus, and served as a member of the Board of Trustees. He completed his bachelor’s degree in government from The University of Texas at Austin in three years. A native of Weslaco in the Rio Grande Valley, he is a 7th generation Texan. He and his wife Christa are the proud parents of two boys.