Remembering Alejandra Aranda
Alejandra Aranda, a core member of Cornerstone International Group, died peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday October 26, 2021
Cornerstone International Group is a global executive search organization, a tightly knit network of member professionals in 40 countries. Last week, we lost one of those core members unexpectedly.
Alejandra Aranda founded Humanitas Executive Search (Cornerstone Santiago) 16 years ago. For the last 10 years she was a member of the Cornerstone leadership team as Chair for the Latin America Region. She was a director of AmCham, cited three times as one of the 100 Women Leaders of Chile, founder of the international organization Women Corporate Directors and a member for six years of the Americas Council of the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC).
The AESC is the body defining executive search and leadership consulting worldwide. On Friday President & CEO Karen Greenbaum, announced a unanimous decision to confer on Alejandra posthumously its most prestigious award honoring career-long achievement. (Read more)
“Alejandra and I met many times both in Chile and in New York,” said Greenbaum. “She made a lasting impact on AESC and on our profession. We at AESC will remember her—her enthusiasm and passion were infectious”
Alejandra was equally noted for her involvement in community and civic affairs, particularly the need to enhance human capital in employment and to further gender equality. Four years ago she was approached by the Gender Parity Initiative of the World Economic Forum to participate in a Code of Good Practice.
She went a big step further. She persuaded all eight of her top competitors in Chile to participate in signing a 10-point Code of Good Practice on Gender Diversity Management for executive search firms.
“Alejandra was not only a very accomplished search professional,” says Simon Wan, Chairman and CEO of Cornerstone International Group. “She understood how important a role our industry can play in improving the value and benefit of talented workers, especially minorities.”
Perhaps one of the persons outside of Santiago who knew her best is Cornerstone President Larry Shoemaker of Atlanta.
“We worked together over many years, during which I developed a great respect for what she did and who she was,” he says. “Alejandra’s dedication and professionalism taught us all how to be the best possible.
“I know she will be always present in our hearts.”
Read previous articles by and about Alejandra Aranda