Notes from the Boardroom: vol. 13
Editor’s note: “Notes from the Boardroom” is a series of blog posts from ISACA board directors providing transparency, context and perspective on how the ISACA board is carrying out its governance responsibilities. In this installment, ISACA Board Director Gabriela Hernández-Cardoso shares her perspective on ISACA’s presence in Latin America.
When you think of Latin America, you need to be prepared to think big. It is a region composed of 33 independent countries (22 million km2), a population of almost 680 million people, more than five languages and dozens of dialects, $US7.5 billion in GDP (7.3% of world GDP) and, best of all, is growing and has a lot of talent. This can only mean a success story for ISACA.
The challenges for us in the region are not new and in summary (at the risk of oversimplifying), they can be classified in three categories: localization (pricing, language, invoicing), member engagement (events, training, volunteers, chapters), and promoting ISACA at the enterprise level and with governments (advocacy).
All of these were topics about which I recently engaged with the chapter leaders of the region. I came out of the calls convinced of the high caliber of people leading our chapters and the enthusiasm to do more. Our conversations had depth and breadth as we work toward increasing our member base in the region and bringing all the benefits of ISACA to LATAM. Our regional meeting was in Bogotá on 9 September and proved to be a success with over 600 participants and a deep-dive discussion on AI. The LATAM conference 2026 will be held next September in Quito, Ecuador – stay tuned for more information.
I’m committed to working closely with our LATAM chapter leaders and ISACA Global staff to address the issues that are inhibiting growth in the region. A new accredited training program for chapters will provide increased resources to chapters, allowing them to deliver more certification and exam-prep sessions while attracting new members to our community. To learn more about the program, contact atp@isaca.org. We have several ISACA chapters that have joined the pilot so far, including some in LATAM, and this is an amazing imitative to get all our chapters ahead of the game.
The promotion at the enterprise and government (advocacy) levels should come as a natural step when the other categories are under way. Our advocacy strategy is targeted at helping governments around the world to innovate through digital technology in a safe manner, by adopting the right frameworks and by creating a robust cybersecurity, assurance, governance and privacy workforce. It is also targeted at supporting our members through the elevation of the ISACA voice, advocating for the professions that we serve and enabling their efforts to contribute further to the communities that they serve.
ISACA has been recognized at an international level with the incorporation of our credentials in audit (CISA), cybersecurity (CISM, CCOA), risk (CRISC), governance (CGEIT) and privacy (CDPSE), as well as our newest credentials in auditing AI (AAIA) and AI information security management (AAISM), governmental cybersecurity skills frameworks, governmental guidance for complying with regulations, and governmental programs for workforce development. This applies to ISACA frameworks as well, such as COBIT, CMMI and DTEF. This work has proven results in other parts of the world.
The challenges outlined above, localization, member engagement and advocacy, are all aimed to enhance our presence in the region and to bring the benefits of our organization to more members. Meeting these challenges will require a lot of work, and especially teamwork, among chapters and through coordination with ISACA Global.
I am very excited to be part of the amazing ISACA team and a Global Board of Directors willing to collaborate to enhance ISACA’s performance in the region. ¡¡VAMOS LATIONAMERICA!!!
