Christy Haubegger: 1968—: Publisher

Latina's biggest challenge has been attracting advertising dollars. Haubegger has worked hard at convincing major companies to create ads targeting the female Hispanic population and she succeeded in persuading several high-end advertisers to do their first Hispanic advertising in Latina, including Chanel, Ann Taylor, Polo Jeans, Timex, Gap, and Liz Claiborne. Haubegger used basic demographics to sell her magazine to advertisers, arguing that Hispanic households were larger than the U.S. median and Latinos had more than $5 billion of purchasing power. In addition, since Hispanic women were younger than the U.S. average, they accounted for a larger percentage of cosmetics sales. Her argument has been persuasive since advertising grew from 17 pages in the first issue to 114 pages by the end of 2001. As Haubegger explained to Mediaweek, "Anybody who ignores the Hispanic market in this country at this point is downright foolish."

Haubegger's instincts about the focus of her magazine have proven to be correct. Published quarterly when it was launched in 1996, the magazine increased its frequency to monthly issues only a year later, in July of 1997. By 2000 the circulation figures were about 225,000 issues, 80 percent of which were subscriptions. In 1997 Haubegger served as the president and publisher of the New York based company. She over-saw a staff of 20 and focused on the business management of the magazine. Since then the staff has grown to over 50, many of whom are Hispanic women. In 2000 Latina was named Best Magazine by Advertising Age. And both in 2000 and 2001 it was featured on the Adweek Hot List. In 2002 the magazine was awarded the Society of Publication Designer's Merit Award in design for a feature story on coffee that ran in the July 2001 issue.

In 1998 Latina expanded to the web with Latina Online. Two years later Latina received a $20 million equity investment by Solera capital to create Latina Media Ventures, a parent company to the magazine that aimed to expand the publication to the internet, broadcast, and other print media. In October of 2000 Haubegger published the book Latina Beauty (Hyperion), the country's first comprehensive beauty and wellness guide for Hispanic women. In the same year Time Inc. bought a 49 percent stake in Essence, but it did not include Latina as part of the deal. In July of 2001 Haubegger was replaced as the publisher of the magazine and no longer oversaw the daily operations. A Latina spokesperson told the New York Post that Haubegger "has assumed the role of founder, where she remains on the company's board and continues to focus on strategic initiatives, advertising and brand development." She has also served on the board of Latina Media Adventures.

In addition to her work at Latina, Haubegger has done numerous speaking engagements promoting both the magazine and her vision of how Hispanics should be portrayed in the media in particular and in American culture in general. As Haubegger told Newsweek, "At the dawn of the new millenium, America knows Latinos as entertainers and athletes. But, someday very soon, all American children can dream of growing up to be writers like Sandra Cisneros, astronauts like Ellen Ochoa, or judges like Jose Cabranes of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals." Haubegger has received numerous awards and recognition for her achievements. In particular, she was named one of the Most Inspiring Women of 1996 by NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw; Crain's New York Business selected her as one of the 100 Most Influential Businesswomen of 1999; Newsweek named her one of the Women of the New Century; and the Ms. Foundation chose her as one of the Top 10 Role Models of the Year in 2001. In addition, Haubegger was one of the youngest women to be inducted into the Advertising Hall of Achievement.