Being fully bilingual in Spanish and English, Gloria Tostado joined Weber Shandwick Worldwide/Axis in April, 2005 with the specific responsibility of serving the General Motors South Central Region account, as Community Relations Manager for the Hispanic market.  She is responsible for managing relationships and activities within the regional Hispanic markets, with community relations, media relations, and product publicity as focal disciplines.

Prior to joining the GM Public Relations team, Gloria was in commercial real estate as General Manager doing executive office leasing from 2004 through early 2005.

Previously, Gloria’s career had mostly been in the telecommunications industry where she was Sr. Director Public Relations at VarTec Telecom, a privately held telecom firm.  There, she created and lead the company’s first public relations division and was responsible for both national and international media relations. 
The immediate emphasis was gaining media exposure for a newly launched dial-around product and office facility in Germany.  The task involved tight deadlines, learning the nuances of both the foreign press and community, building a bilingual press conference, all of which required quick mobilization and planning for a successful launch.  Other projects included managing the communications for a partnership with weather stations across Texas, organizing and managing local television on-air news coverage for top executives, which was the first TV exposure for the firm.

From 1974 to 1998, Gloria held various management positions at AT&T, with last eight years being spent in public relations.  She began her career in Houston, and then relocated to Puerto Rico to open the first AT&T office on the island.  She returned to the firm’s headquarters in New Jersey, followed by an assignment in Los Angeles, Denver, and finally back to Texas in 1998.  She also served as the primary Spanish language spokesperson for all United States media and inquiries, including the launch of a long distance fraud awareness campaign, the rollout of a nation-wide grass roots CBS Spanish radio program that won top honors in Billboard Magazine, and the introduction of AT&T Local Service, which reached out to the Hispanic communities within the U.S.  Additionally, she designed and created the first bilingual marketing brochure serving the Hispanic community.

Gloria is a native of Houston, Texas and currently makes Dallas her home.  She received her B.A. degree from Stephen F. Austin University.  She rounds out her day by exercising and running on a regular basis, reading, and traveling.