Diversified Search Group Fills Board Position for Jack in the Box

September 21, 2022 – Recruiting for board of directors roles, considered by many to be the very backbones of organizations, has grown markedly more challenging in recent years, say recruiters who conduct searches in that area. As a result, companies continue to turn to executive search firms to help find new board members. Diversified Search Group (DSG), a leading search firm backed by private equity firm ShoreView Industries, has assisted in the recruitment of Guillermo Diaz as a new member of the board of directors at Jack in the Box. Victor Arias, managing partner of the firm’s Dallas office, led the assignment.
“We are very pleased to have partnered with Diversified Search in identifying Guillermo as a new board member, and we’re delighted to leverage his breadth of technology experience and a strong track record for accelerating culture through people, process, and technology, as it adds a unique perspective to our board,” said David L. Goebel, chairman of the board at Jack in the Box. “We believe the expertise Guillermo brings to our board will enhance our ongoing efforts to drive growth, accelerate our digital transformation, and create shareholder value.”
“We are delighted to welcome Guillermo to our board and look forward to leveraging his experience for the Jack in the Box and Del Taco brands as we execute our long-term strategic plan,” said Darin Harris, CEO at Jack in the Box. “In addition to Guillermo’s IT leadership experience, he is also a diversity, equity, and inclusion advocate as evidenced by his leadership of the Cisco diversity council and his executive sponsorship of Cisco’s Hispanic/Latino and veteran employee resource organizations. As we identify how we will further our DEI efforts at the company, Guillermo will be a key partner in guiding how best to achieve our goals, while amplifying the voices of our diverse workforce in our restaurants.”
Mr. Diaz now serves as the chairman of the Hispanic Technology Executive Council (HITEC), a global executive leadership organization of senior business and technology executives building careers in technology. He is also founder and CEO of Conectado Inc., a Web 3 digital platform with the mission to accelerate access to opportunities for underrepresented minorities, and currently serves on the board of directors for Blue Shield of California.
Mr. Diaz joins the Jack in the Box board with more than three decades of experience in telecommunications and information technology. Prior to his current roles, he served as CEO at Kloudspot Inc., a predictive AI and IoT analytics platform provider, and as global chief information officer at Cisco Systems. He also led Cisco’s customer digital transformation program, where he and his team leveraged the company’s digital journey and thought leadership to partner with customers to develop their own digital transformation programs.
Changing the Fabric of Corporate Boards
The events of last summer may have been a tipping point for the large array of factors that brought to the forefront already existing needs for change in boardroom composition. A new report by the Alliance for Board Diversity (ABD), in collaboration with Deloitte, concludes that that while stakeholders and shareholders increase demands for gender, racial and ethnic diversity in the boardrooms of America’s companies, many forward-thinking boards have come to recognize the benefits of such change. That’s progress.
Jack in the Box, headquartered in San Diego, CA, is a restaurant company that operates and franchises Jack in the Box, one of the nation’s largest hamburger chains with more than 2,200 restaurants across 21 states, and Del Taco, the second largest Mexican-American QSR chain by units in the U.S. with approximately 600 restaurants across 16 states.
Diversity Experts
Diversified Search Group is a family of recruiting firms serving specialized sectors. The firm was founded almost five decades ago by Judith M. von Seldeneck for the express purpose of placing diverse candidates in client organizations. It is today the largest U.S. female-owned and founded firm in the executive recruitment industry.
Mr. Arias is a managing director and practice leader, consumer, and retail at Diversified Search Group, working primarily in the firm’s board of directors practice. He is also leader of the firm’s Dallas-Fort Worth office. Mr. Arias joined in 2019 from RSR Partners, where he had been a managing director in the board of directors practice.
Related: 10 Key Findings That Impact Board Performance
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media