Executive edge: Juana Bordas; Author implores others to embrace work, heritage.

• Author: Bronikowski, Lynn
• Position: Attitude at altitude

Juana Bordas literally stepped off a banana boat when she arrived in the United States five decades ago.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

She recalls vividly stepping off the ship from her native Nicaragua at the port in Tampa, Fla., with her mother, four brothers and sister following a voyage rocked by torrential rains and hurricanes.

"My father had arrived earlier to earn money to bring us here, and as an immigrant realizing the American dream he told us that day, 'You should always be thankful you are here,'" Bordas said.

She would later work her way through college at the University of Florida, march to integrate the school in 1963; found Denver's Mi Casa Women's Center in 1977; found the National Hispana Leadership Institute in 1987; start her own company, Denver-based Mestiza Leadership International; and recently publish a book, "Salsa, Soul, and Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age."

Along the way she remained mindful of the lesson imparted by her father when she was a little girl--to be thankful yet stay attuned to her cultural roots.

Bordas' book, which intersperses profiles of black, Native American and Hispanic leaders with lessons toward creating a diverse workplace and developing multicultural leadership, has earned critical acclaim from Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, former Mayor Federico Pena, Steven Covey, author of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," and Ken Blanchard, author of "The One Minute Manager," to name a few.

"I grew up in Florida 20 years before the U.S. Census even recognized Latinos as a group in 1980; I never met...