For Maria Gabriela Hoch, her success in communications and public relations is not a final destination. Living in a country with a history of turbulent politics and rampant inequities, Maria has used her position as founder and director of MGH Communication Management as a platform to identify and strengthen future generations of women leaders in Argentina.

Motivated by the power of mentorship, which she experienced firsthand as a mentee of Deborah Fine, president of iVillage, NBC Universal, through the 2007 FORTUNE/U.S. State Department Mentoring Program, Maria returned to her country determined to empower and strengthen Argentinean women.

2009 proved to be an incredible year for Maria’s efforts. With her guidance, over 600 women worked on a year-long launch for the November kick-off of a Vital Voices chapter in Argentina. Members formed partnerships with magazines, businesses and financial institutions on events to highlight, mentor and train emerging women leaders.

Maria and the members of Vital Voices Argentina hope to train 1,000 emerging leaders, and to mentor over 100 young women in the next three years.

Business, Communication, Women, influential, Influential Women, Advertising,