Latina of Influence | Guadalupe Aguirre Onechanh
Human Resources Professional, Community Volunteer, Guadalupe Aguirre Onechanh is one of Hispanic Lifestyle’s 2013 Latinas of Influence.
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About our Latina of Influence – Guadalupe Aguirre Onechanh
Guadalupe Aguirre Onechanh has been on the Executive Board of the California Unemployment Insurance Council since 2005. As an officer of this non-profit organization she has helped upheld the purpose of the CUIC to assist and educate employers with technical and procedural information pertaining to all facets of employer-employee relations, including unemployment insurance, labor laws, workers’ compensation, and other people-related aspects of business. Besides organizing educational workshops and seminars on compliance, Ms. Onechanh shares the foundational values of the CUIC of doing what’s right.
Guadalupe Aguirre Onechanh
When she was 17 her family had unfortunate experience which is far too common for a non-English speaking Latino family. At the time her father had worked 25 years for a small American owned fabricating company. It was an exciting time for him and the 20 employees he supervised, the company was experiencing growth and was set to remodel. They all signed for their vacation checks and returned two weeks later to whole a new look. Upon their return they were informed that they had been laid off two weeks prior and what they had signed was their layoff notice. Regrettably the notice was in English which none of the employees, including her father, understood. They were offered applications to positions at minimum wage. That inopportune experience influenced her career path to Human Resources.
She began working in the Staffing and Recruiting industry where she spent five years helping find positions for hundreds of applicants that were primarily Spanish speakers in the San Gabriel Valley and Los Angeles area.
She secured a position in the Human Resources department in a Southern California based furniture importer/wholesaler. The proceeding 10 years she held several positions and became the Corporate Human Resources Manager for Coaster Company of America, Fine Furniture. In 2011, she was recruited by the largest furniture manufacturer in the world to head the Human Resources department in California. Today she is the Head of Human Resources for the West Coast Operations of Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc. (Distribution Centers & Manufacturing operations). She leads a team that handles all aspects of Human Resources for a 24/7 365 day operation.
In 2011, she was asked to join a Task Force organized by the Human Resources Certification Institute that included six Human Resources professionals to evaluate the bodies of knowledge required for the California certification. She also joined the Board of the Employer Round Table of Southern California which partners with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. In 2012, she was a Subject Matter Expert for the Society of Human Resources Management Learning System content for the 2013 materials.
Outside of professional interests, she travels widely, reads, and enjoys spending time with family. She is happily married to Ké Onechanh, has two sons Adrian, 17 and Andrew, 11.
