Public Service: A Family Affair

Written by Jan Jaben-Eilon Wednesday, March 24 2010

Snapshot: Florence Acevedo
Florence Acevedo founded the Guatemalan American Chamber of Commerce in metropolitan Atlanta’s Gwinnett County in 2009. Previously she worked with an international importing firm for 20 years and later started her own business, importing jewelry. A native of Guatemala City, she moved to Los Angeles in 1968 with a degree in international business. She moved to the Atlanta area in 1998 with her husband and sold her business in 2005. A daughter lives in Atlanta, and a son attended Emory University in Atlanta. She has volunteered with Hispanic organizations the last few years. She is also an adviser to the Gwinnett Village Community Alliance and is on the board of The Impact Group.

The Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce exists under the umbrella of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Womenetics: Why did you decide to create the Guatemalan American Chamber of Commerce? How many Guatemalans are in the Atlanta area?
Acevedo: Because there was a need for the many Guatemalans here to network, especially in the construction industry. Many Guatemalans are in the import-export business and restaurants. They are very entrepreneurial. We have 75 members so far, but I don’t know exactly how many Guatemalans live in the area. Many are undocumented so I don’t want to talk about that.

Womenetics: : I understand that a relative of yours was president of Guatemala.
Acevedo: My first cousin Oscar Berger was president for six years ending in 2007, but he was not the first one in my family to be president. My father’s family came to Guatemala in the 1700s. Someone on my father’s side was a lawyer in service of the crown. My family has always been political. In the 1800s, one family member was president after our independence. My father was surgeon general and was the one who brought health care to the needy in the 1940s. He expanded the public hospitals into the poor areas.

Womenetics: : What do you think of Atlanta as an international city?
Acevedo: I came here in 1998 from California where I lived for 30 years. There’s been a lot of growth in Atlanta in the last five years as an international city. It’s more and more diverse, which I love. I do volunteer work for the Community Improvement District, and a study showed that in a 127-square-mile area in Norcross, 125 different languages are spoken.

Womenetics: : What should American women know about women in your country?
Acevedo: Most Americans think Guatemalan women are not professionals, but it’s changed a lot. All my nieces are all professionals; they’re all educated and own businesses. I have (female) lawyers, dentists, and architects in my own family. We have a lot of women in the government. This changed a lot from 50 to 100 years ago when the goal of women was to get a good husband. Of course, we also have a lot of poor people in Guatemala.

Womenetics: : What should Americans know about your country?
Acevedo: Guatemala has a lot of good tourist places, like volcanoes, hiking, biking, and scuba diving. It’s a beautiful country. It’s also a very integrated country. Guatemala was conquered by Spain, and the Spaniards mixed with Indians, then there was a huge group of immigrants from Germany after World War II. Then a huge group of Japanese, followed by Koreans, Middle Easterners, Turks, and we have a large Jewish community. It’s a melting pot like New York. It’s not just one tradition or one culture.

Womenetics: : Do you still travel a lot?
Acevedo: For 22 years I traveled a lot. We imported jewelry from the Far East, Poland, and the Czech Republic. But we sold the company, and now I no longer want to travel abroad. Except, I want to travel more in the United States. I want to travel to the large U.S. parks like Yellowstone.

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Jan Jaben-Eilon was a founding staff writer of the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Since then, she has been the international editor of Advertising Age magazine and has written for such publications as The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Washington Journalism Review, and Consumer Reports. She is the author of soon-to-be-published (There is) Life After Cancer. Jan and her husband have homes in Atlanta and Jerusalem.