3.20.25 – Gloria Lara – Commission Chair, Michigan Civil Rights Commission

Speaker: Gloria Lara – Commission, Chair, Michigan Civil Rights Commission

Speaker Topic: Michigan Civil Rights Commission Update and the Impact on Businesses

Bio:

Commission Chair Gloria Lara is the former Executive Director of Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance, a Holland, MI-based non-profit organization, which works to build bridges between organizations and individuals throughout our communities and across the state, helping to educate and engage all of us in moving forward a vision of racial equity. Lara previously served as the chief executive officer of the Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Girl Scouts of Michigan Shore to Shore. She also held executive-level positions at Chrysler Corporation as well as at major automotive suppliers.

Additionally, Gloria has served on the Corewell Health System – West Board of Directors from 2022 to 2023, on the Spectrum Health System Board from 2017 to 2022, and on the Spectrum Health Hospital Group Board of Trustees from 2012 to 2017, chairing the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Committee from 2016 to 2017. A native of Los Angeles, CA, Lara earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting from California State University, Fullerton, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School, Boston, MA. Lara is an Independent, appointed to the Commission by Governor Whitmer for a term that began in December 2020.