She has blended her operational experience with her nonprofit activities to drive engagement and growth. With expertise in commercial banking, lending, financial analysis and sales management, working with Wells Fargo and Bank of America, along with leading and operating the state-wide Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a volunteer-run membership based organization that represents the 54,000+ Hispanic businesses in the region- It has been a marriage of her spheres, becoming a cultural connector.
Veronica has travelled internationally on trade missions to foster economic growth and has spoken nationally in various conferences addressing topics such as Diverse Segment Marketing, Minority/WBE, Entrepreneurship, Women in Business and Leadership. Additionally, she has published several articles on similar topics; and is a columnist for Huffington Post, The Daily Record and Mundo Latino.
She’s received various awards including the Baltimore Sun’s 25 Women To Watch in 2016, Top 100 MBE, Daily Record’s MD Top 100 Women, inducting her into the Circle of Excellence and the US Hispanic Chamber Ultimate Latina Award in the Corporate Sector. First Lady Michelle Obama recognized Veronica for her commitment to mentoring youth at the National Mentoring Summit. Governor Larry Hogan appointed Cool to serve on the state-wide Governor’s Workforce Investment Board.
She is the founder of the Latino Innovators Pitch, an innovative program to showcase and empower Latino entrepreneurs to scale and grow their businesses profitably and sustainably. In 2016, she also co-founded the Alliance for Hispanic Commercial Contractors to bridge the gap and foster economic development through education, access and procurements. To continue to serve her community, Veronica founded the Facebook Groups Yo Quiero Trabajo and Emprendedores Exitosos, where she curates content, resources and opportunities for Latino jobseekers and entrepreneurs.
She holds a BS from Kutztown University in Business Administration, and a Master’s of Science in Finance from Loyola University of MD. A native of Dominican Republic, she is the Past Board Chairman of the MD Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and co-chair of Martin O’Malley’s gubernatorial transition steering committee focusing on MBE and Small Business. Cool currently serves on the boards of Open Society Institute, Baltimore AthenaPowerlink, Life Lens and is a proud member of the Hispanic Leaders Association, Latino Providers Network, Latinas Think Big and SHIFT Baltimore.
Living northwest of Baltimore, Maryland, she is married to Mr. Cool and is happily overwhelmed by her 15-year-old fashionista black-belt diva and 13-year-old athletic jokester.
Contact Veronica Cool for Keynotes, Interviews and Consults.
Nelson brings over 20 years of recruiting and staffing experience to Cool and Associates LLC. In 1994, he opened the first Latino-owned employment agency in Reading, Pennsylvania to connect the growing Latino labor force in the area to local employers. His expertise lies is the recruitment and placement of bilingual and bicultural professionals for positions in the US and Latin America.
Nelson joined WorleyParsons corporate recruiting team, at the request of the company, a former client to provide full cycle recruiting support to: Finance, Project Controls, Engineering, and Infrastructure & Environments and Quality Control Departments. Additionally, he had the distinction of being the sole and lead recruiter supporting the company’s project in Ecuador, Petro Ecuador Esmeraldas Refinery Revamping.
He has traveled extensively through Latin America and the Caribbean as well as eastern and western Europe. He’s fluent in English, Spanish and Russian.
Nelson is a highly sought expert in the field of recruitment and placement of bilingual/bicultural professionals. He has been recognized by the Governor of Pennsylvania as the first recipient of the Latino Pride Awards for Employment; he served on the Berks County Workforce Investment Board as well as being appointed Commissioner of the Reading Housing Authority. Additionally, he served on the Kutztown University Advisory board. He studied Civil Engineering at the Kiev Institute of Construction and Architecture in Kiev-Ukraine.
Sara Dickmyer is the Linguistic and Client Manager for C&A. She has a multi-faceted background in education and business, bringing a diverse perspective to the Team. She holds a Master’s Degree in Spanish Language, Literature and Culture from Middlebury College – School of Language, which included a year of study in Madrid, Spain; a Bachelor’s Degree with dual majors in International Business and Spanish, and dual minors in Political Science and World Religions from Virginia Tech; as well as an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration with a Certificate of Study in Computer Science from Catonsville Community College.
Sara began her professional career working for several international companies in sales and finance, traveling across the United States, as well as to Canada and Mexico, conducting business in Spanish and English before spending over 13 years in the commercial banking field for several local and national banks as a Credit Analyst and Junior Lender, working her way up to Vice President of Small Business Banking. After the banking crisis, Sara shifted her career back to her roots in the education sector, making full use of her university and business backgrounds as both a Spanish Teacher and a Computer Literacy Teacher at two private schools for grades K-12.
Sara is excited to have the opportunity to bring her education and work experiences full circle at Cool & Associates as she interacts with clients to bridge the gaps between the Hispanic and non-Hispanic worlds. She is thrilled to engage in both English and Spanish with clients and community liaison partners on a daily basis in the private and public sectors. Sara believes that communication and relationship building are the key to solid business growth and development for organizations of all sizes.
Sara has served on several Boards for community organizations and she is also an active volunteer. She lives in north-central Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and two cats. She is active in her youngest daughter’s high school serving on the Athletic Boosters Club and has been the Varsity Cheer Team Mom for several years. In addition, she is on the Parent Council for James Madison University where her older daughter is studying Finance. Her other interests include reading, cooking, and photography.
She graduated in 2018 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, specializing in Advertising and Public Relations with a minor in French Language and Literature from Loyola University Maryland.
Mariana launched her professional career in marketing and business development at NBC/Telemundo (Miami) and eThink Education (Baltimore), where she leveraged her Hispanic background to serve as a liaison between the organizations and the Hispanic community. She also interned for major advertising agencies in Puerto Rico, rendering a multi-dimensional skill set in the industry.
Experienced in audience outreach and business strategy development, Mariana focuses on content and language support, as well as market research to best reach and engage Hispanics based on the client’s needs.
As a Latina, Mariana has a tremendous passion for cultural exchanges in the business world and foreign languages. She has traveled through Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean, and is fluent in Spanish, English, and French.
She is excited to continue leveraging her Puerto Rican background, language skills and cultural knowledge in her work, to connect various worlds.
Mabel McGrath, a native of Lima, Peru, joined the C&A Team as a Bilingual Client Manager. She is an accomplished professional with over 35 years’ experience in business administration and human resource management.
Mabel started her business career in Lima where she managed a gift shop, when on a whim she came to the U.S. to improve her English language skills; here she found love, got married and decided to set roots in Maryland, never looking back. Throughout the years, she has worked in positions with progressively increasing responsibilities as administrative assistant, executive assistant and Director of Administration and Human Resources for the past 5 years prior to working for C&A.
She studied Business Administration and Accounting at the University of Lima, and after completing an accelerated English program, obtained a degree in Secretarial Word Processing at the Stratford Business School in Towson, Maryland.
Mabel is passionate about volunteering work and community service. She has been recognized with a Citation from Senator Barbara Mikulski and the Spirit of Voluntarism Award for her years of volunteering work lending administrative and planning support as well as coordinating events for the Baltimore Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Maryland Hispanic Business Conference. She is also proud to have served on the Board of the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland for 2 terms, 2007-2015, and volunteered for a cause dear and close to her heart.
Mabel is a cat lover and enjoys cooking, reading and traveling. She has 2 children, Sean and Jacklyn, and resides with her husband Francis in Carroll County.