Cheryl Hammond during her travels in China
 

Recently retired AT&T executive Cheryl Hammond joins the Board of the International Community Foundation bringing more than 22 years of experience working in Latin America.

She joined the giant telecom firm just as it was beginning an expansion effort all over the world. As the Mexican market evolved for AT&T, Hammond opened up the U.S-Mexico border market with its rapidly growing maquiladora manufacturing industry. Before leaving the company recently, she had moved into other markets as well, including Argentina and Brazil.

"One of the things I hope to help the International Community Foundation with is this international perspective and how business is done there," she said.

Hammond has a long relationship with foreign countries, and especially with Mexico and South America. At Washington University in St. Louis, she majored in Spanish and international relations. She lived in Spain and summered in Mexico. Hammond owns two condominiums in Playa del Carmen, beachfront property in Quintana Roo north of Chetumal, and, with her sister, a home in Oaxaca.

"I have a professional and personal affection for Latin America," she said. "Between the corporate experience and the personal experience, there are a lot of areas where I can help to expand ICF programs."

Along with introducing services geared at the cross-border needs of the mostly foreign-owned maquiladora manufacturing operations located in northern Mexico in her job at AT&T, Hammond helped devise a strategy that helped the company's joint venture develop in Mexico.

"I have a lot of contacts, knowledge and experience in interior Mexico and southern Mexico and the Yucatan, and I can probably help ICF there," Hammond said.

While she traveled frequently throughout Mexico and South America, she liked being based in San Diego, which is home to a binational, multi-cultural community. She served as board chair of the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce.

Now that she has retired, she was looking to make a further contribution improving the lives of people in that region. "The luxury of retiring is that I can choose what I want to do and who I want to do it with," Hammond said.

She and International Community Foundation's President & CEO Richard Kiy became friends long before he joined the organization, and his involvement with the International Community Foundation captured Hammond's interest.

"When Richard came on board, they started to develop a bigger presence in the cross-border market," Hammond said. "It's such a neat organization. It's versatile, flexible, and has a broad view of how it can help."

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