For Lili Gil Valletta, it's simple: diversity and inclusion is good for business.

It's what she preaches as a loyal champion of cultural intelligence—a concept that focuses on the awareness, understanding, and application of cultural data into everyday business.

Too often corporations make short-sighted decisions as a means of chasing diversity metrics and quotas. Valletta, a proud Colombiana, has devoted 20 years of her career to educating the C-suite that an inclusive approach will allow their business to grow. If they want to remain relevant in an increasingly multicultural corporate world, they need to accept D&I as a mindset rather than an initiative.

As Valletta explains, we already know that our Latinoness is a competitive edge in any business. For others, though, it's about time they started doing their homework.