Congratulations to IWEC Vice Chair Carmen Castillo, SDI International for Coverage in Authority Magazine

Human interactions are important both personally and professionally. In the business sector, we have to determine if our customers are simply clients or if their presence has a deeper meaning. Carmen Castillo believes the latter of the two: her clients are individually significant and they are at the core of her company. That is why strong human connections are critical to her. Carmen is the President and CEO of SDI International Corp. (SDI), one of the world’s largest Hispanic- and Woman-owned companies in the procurement industry, with a portfolio of managed spend of over $3B. Although business is her profession, interacting with others and providing a positive influence is her passion. Carmen is a staunch proponent of paying it forward and corporate social responsibility. As a business leader, she takes on 8–10 mentees per year, among them women entrepreneurs (many of them Hispanic). Carmen’s goal is to share her insights and experience, with special focus on hiring, retention, business development and international expansion. More importantly, she facilitates networking opportunities and introductions between her mentees and her extensive network of corporate contacts and peers. So while others may speak of their connections, Carmen shows it daily, demonstrating that she is truly connected to others. For her it is not business; it is personal.