50 Most Influential Latinos

Juanita Velez

Lead Manager International Social Media

Delta Airlines



An originally born Paisa, Juanita Velez, earned her bachelor’s degree from Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia. She began her business career as a Latina entrepreneur, co-founding a distribution and exporting company in Florida for medical and dental refurbished products and equipment for Latin American products. She left Miami to advance her studies where she pursued and became a part of the first Master’s in International Business cohort at Georgia State University in 2013. As she became more involved in the Atlanta community by interning at the Atlanta Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, she gained a passion for the commercial internationalization of Atlanta. Human connectivity, communication, and globalization became Juanita’s main passion points, eventually landing her a career with UPS, the global logistics monster. Juanita joined UPS in 2013 as Global Brand and Sponsorships Specialist and was responsible for customer hospitality activation programs for Ferrari Formula 1, The Masters and other international and domestic sponsorships. She was promoted as the International Digital Integrated Communications Supervisor on the UPS International Communications Team. She effectively managed the coordination, development and execution of integrated communication programs that support UPS’s international marketing and business plans across all regions: APAC, Europe, Americas, Canada and ISMEA. After a great career with UPS, Juanita took a growing opportunity with Delta as International Social Media Strategist where she developed the company’s global social media strategy and presence in priority markets across all regions. Today, Juanita is the Lead Program Manager of International Social Media at Delta. Prior to leaving UPS, she served as Co-chair for Crecer, the UPS Hispanic Business Resource Group focusing on making UPS the employer of choice for Latinos and identifying opportunities within the Hispanic market for the organization to help drive. She also served as Chair of the Georgia Diversity Council connecting with other organizations in Atlanta valuing D&I in the workplace. Juanita is has been heavily involved with the Latin American Association both as board member of the LAA Fundraising Committee and also as mentor of Hispanic students at local tier 1 high schools. The value of mentorship is near to her heart, she dedicates a lot of her time to the mentoring community in Atlanta participating as a mentor in the Women Lead Program through Georgia State’s Robinson College of Business. Juanita also serves on the board of CIBER, Center for International Business Education & Research at Georgia State University where she provides insight and engages in conversations to advance academic programs within the international business segment of both undergraduate and graduate programs. She is also a Founding Member of the Business School Mentoring Program for Georgia State University and serves on the Goizueta Foundation Gift Advisory Board for the Emory Goizueta Business School. She has been highlighted as 2016 Latino Leader of Atlanta by the Latino Leaders Magazine, 2015 UPS Latino Millennial of the Year and 2016 Young Professional of the Year by the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Juanita is also a graduate of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Cultivating Hispanic Leadership Program, where HYPE, Hispanic Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs was born creating a space for the development and cultivation of young Hispanics in the business community occurs. She currently leads a team of 14 dedicated to making impactful and relevant change and elevation of the Hispanic business community. Juanita’s passion is focused on the development of the immigrant youth; her goal is to leave a legacy of a streamlined and structured process for all students to use as a resource for their road to success. After all, she is one of them