MAKING A DIFFERENCE – Dr. Laura Murillo

Dr. Laura Murillo was named as one of the Most Influential and Powerful Women in Texas. Under her leadership and with the support of the board and staff, the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has set unprecedented records in membership and revenue, becoming one of the most influential Chambers in the nation, a clear testament to her exceptional leadership.

The youngest of nine children, Laura Murillo was born to Mexican immigrant parents and was raised in Houston’s East End/Magnolia, where she began working at age ten at her family’s restaurant.

Dr. Laura G. Murillo – https://drlauramurillo.com/

She is the Founding President & CEO of the Chamber’s Foundation. During her tenure the Emerging Leaders Institute was established and has over 200 graduates. Murillo is the Founding Executive Producer/Host for the Chamber’s Radio and Television Programs on CBS, Entercom, Univision, and the KUBE57 (with a cumulative audience reach of 3.3 million). She is also a commentator on national media outlets.

She holds a B.A., Master’s Degree, and Doctorate from the University of Houston where she served as an Executive for 15 years and became the youngest Director in UH history. The University of Houston bestowed its highest honor, the President’s Medallion, to the Chamber and Dr. Murillo. 

She was named Texas CEO Magazine’s Top 30 Texas CEOs during COVID-19 for exceptional leadership in 2020 and was featured in Global Influence Magazine (Championing the Success of Women in the Workplace). In 2018, she was named Houston Business Journal’s “Most Admired CEO”, “Distinguished Alumni Award” by the University of Houston, and Houston Latin American Philharmonic named her “Mother of the Year”.

The “Ohtli Award” – the highest honor bestowed by the Mexican government to a Mexican American was awarded to Dr. Murillo for her advocacy and civic leadership in 2016.

Dr. Murillo is the author of the book LEAD IN LIFE:  Succeed in the New Era of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, an Amazon #1 International Bestseller in FIFTEEN categories in THREE Countries, including US, CA, and AU.

In her book, Dr. Murillo guides readers through the incredible, sometimes devastating, and victorious experiences that comprise her success—from earning a doctorate while pregnant, parenting a toddler, managing a parent’s illness, and working full time, to hosting multiple TV and radio shows in English and Spanish concurrently, and being appointed to the Washington, DC Federal Reserve Board’s Community Advisory Council, and more. 

She uses her lived experiences as the daughter of immigrants, a woman, an executive, a media producer and host to inform her perspectives and insights as an authority on DEI, guiding corporations, organizations, and institutions to adopt a genuine culture of DEI. In this new era of DEI, corporations must make a solid, lasting commitment to full representation, fairness, and inclusion of all voices in every decision, at every level of a corporation, all the time.

Lead in Life illustrates why everyone in a corporation has value and a voice that must be heard.