In honor of Latinx at Expedia & Allies for Development (LEAD) and L500inc hosting the Latina Leadership Summit on November 19th, get to know Aline Rodrigues de Almeida – a member of the Latina Leadership Summit host committee and the North American Vice President of LEAD.

Tell us about background, and your journey to Expedia Group?

I was born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, and I’ve always had a passion for travel. My family instilled in me a love for exploring different cultures and languages. We would plan family trips as often as possible, and my parents would always reiterate the importance of getting to know other parts of the world.

During my university studies in Hospitality & Business Management, I wanted to enhance my English skills and build on my international experience. A semester in Vancouver led to a decision to stay and complete my degree. This experience eventually opened doors to various roles in global tourism and hospitality.

In 2015, I joined Expedia Group’s market management team, drawn to the company’s innovative approach, commitment to diversity, and mission to power global travel to everyone, everywhere. My role involved growing Expedia Group’s Canadian business by acquiring new lodging partners and expanding market share. Since joining, I’ve worked in three divisions, earned an MBA, and worked in four different cities, and it has been an incredible journey so far.

Passionate about Latinx representation and belonging, I’ve been heavily involved with our LEAD (Latinx at Expedia and Allies for Development) Inclusion Business Group. I’m proud to have previously launched and served as president in our EMEA chapter, and am currently the North American Vice President. LEAD focuses on inclusive culture creation, community nurturing, and career development. Our work continues to help Latinx Expedians engage in safe spaces that allows them to have their voices heard.  

What do you focus on in your current role at EG, and what makes it exciting?

In my current role as Manager of Content Strategy for our Traveler & Partner Service Platform division, my team and I focus on ensuring that our customer service agents have access to the right information, at the right time, enabling them to provide the best service experience to our travelers and supply partners. This in turn supports the company’s objectives in two ways – we help improve our agent’s KPIs and drive potential cost savings, and we empower agents to provide world-class service and therefore unlock potential customer loyalty, repeat business, and revenue generation.

We are often exploring process improvement opportunities and work closely with many other teams in the business – including our product team, which we work with to enhance our tools, technical capabilities, and unlock AI potential. It’s a very exciting time to be part of a team that is driving an innovative, data-driven, and AI-enabled approach to employee enablement.

Tell us more about this year’s Latina Leadership Summit?

We are very proud to be hosting our 3^rd Annual Latina Leadership Summit in Miami this year, in partnership with L500, a non-profit organization for Latinas in executive roles.

What we know today is that Latinas make up only 2% of STEM jobs and 1.6% of senior executive roles in large companies. We also know that Latinx in the United States have a significant impact on the economy, with a purchasing power of over $3 trillion, and for companies to be able to tap into that potential, they must have Latinx leaders making decisions, being an active voice in the right conversations and advocating for their communities. Inclusion is not just essential for all of us as individuals, but also a crucial part of companies’ success.

The Latina Leadership Summit explores this topic and many more by creating an immersive experience that brings together Latinx leaders and allies from across multiple industries to share their wisdom, insights, and business strategy to help inspire, engage, and develop Latinas everywhere.

The Summit is also available virtually, providing a chance for anyone to join in and participate! Registration is available here. 

What are you hoping attendees gain from attending the summit?

The Latina Leadership Summit is a unique opportunity for attendees to engage in purposeful conversations, learn from leaders in different industries, gain invaluable insights from real-life stories, and expand their professional and personal network by creating meaningful connections. We hope all that attend, either in-person or virtually, leave feeling inspired and empowered!

What makes EG a great place to work for URI (underrepresented identities)?

Expedia Group is truly committed to creating and nurturing a diverse and inclusive environment as it strives to not only protect all different identities, orientations and statuses but celebrate them. We see this in practice through the many different benefits the company offers, as well as its open and transparent approach to things like hiring goals and gender pay parity.

We also see it from our Inclusion & Diversity team and the incredible Inclusion Business Groups. These groups are made up of employees that volunteer their times to engage with colleagues in meaningful ways by creating development opportunities, advocating for representation, supporting inclusive marketing efforts, giving back to the community through impactful corporate partnerships, and fostering safe spaces that create a sense of community and belonging.

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