Full Name
Yvette Peña
Job Title
Vice President, Multicultural Leadership
Company
AARP
Bio
Yvette Peña is an accomplished, award-winning marketer and community advocate with over 20 years of experience specializing in multicultural initiatives. Named Vice President for Latino Audience Strategy at AARP in 2016, she has led the strategic development of AARP’s brand campaigns targeting the Spanish-preferred and bilingual segments, resulting in significant brand awareness increases. Yvette champions innovation by leveraging digital, social and mobile platforms to drive engagements with the 50+ Latinos and their families. She builds partnerships with advocacy organizations to drive AARP’s social impact agenda, with a focus on the black and brown communities. She develops and manages relevant offerings and programs for AARP's members in the U.S. and Puerto Rico with the goal of increasing brand affinity to better serving the Latino community.
Yvette serves as AARP’s national voice on nationwide efforts, inclusive of Spanish language media channels, communications, media briefings and satellite media tours, and has been the national Latina voice and face of AARP during Covid-19 pandemic.
Previously, Yvette worked as Director of Multicultural Marketing at Sports Authority and Walgreens as the first Director of Multicultural Marketing and has a long history of building successful brands in Multicultural markets, including her time at Sears and Y&R/The Bravo Group.
She is a lifelong advocate for ethnic communities and takes pride in giving back and providing opportunities to develop communities in meaningful ways. Yvette has made a priority of public service, mentoring, and championing diversity efforts in the community. In 2002, she was elected Chair of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations Latino Advisory Council and given the title of Commissioner for the Human Relations board. She was also elected to the Sears Chairman’s Diversity Council, reporting directly to Alan Lacy, Chairman and CEO. In early 2018, Yvette was named to the Board of Directors for the Friends of the National Museum of the American Latino, and in 2021 was elected to Vice Chair.
Yvette is a native New Yorker, an Afro-Latina with proud Dominican roots who cherishes her time with her family, and lived in Chicago for over 20 years. This has enabled her to work passionately for and with many diverse communities. She currently resides between Washington, D.C. and Chicago, IL with her husband, Lazaro.
Yvette serves as AARP’s national voice on nationwide efforts, inclusive of Spanish language media channels, communications, media briefings and satellite media tours, and has been the national Latina voice and face of AARP during Covid-19 pandemic.
Previously, Yvette worked as Director of Multicultural Marketing at Sports Authority and Walgreens as the first Director of Multicultural Marketing and has a long history of building successful brands in Multicultural markets, including her time at Sears and Y&R/The Bravo Group.
She is a lifelong advocate for ethnic communities and takes pride in giving back and providing opportunities to develop communities in meaningful ways. Yvette has made a priority of public service, mentoring, and championing diversity efforts in the community. In 2002, she was elected Chair of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations Latino Advisory Council and given the title of Commissioner for the Human Relations board. She was also elected to the Sears Chairman’s Diversity Council, reporting directly to Alan Lacy, Chairman and CEO. In early 2018, Yvette was named to the Board of Directors for the Friends of the National Museum of the American Latino, and in 2021 was elected to Vice Chair.
Yvette is a native New Yorker, an Afro-Latina with proud Dominican roots who cherishes her time with her family, and lived in Chicago for over 20 years. This has enabled her to work passionately for and with many diverse communities. She currently resides between Washington, D.C. and Chicago, IL with her husband, Lazaro.