2024 GMiS Luminaries

Education:  Master’s in Chemistry, Universidad Complutense of Madrid (Spain)

It’s a rare talent to be understood and appreciated by your tone of voice alone, but Victor Zapata seems to have it.  Despite working in a high-pressure business world, Victor invariably projects humanity and empathy in his interactions with others.

His approachable demeanor and positive attitude, combined with a flair for cutting tension with humor, is unusual in the context of his role as North America Commercial Vice President for Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics (P&SP). He’s also a member of the global business leadership team that develops regional strategy in alignment with global business strategy and profit-and-loss for P&SP’s North America region. 

As a leader, Victor must also deliver hard truths and feedback, yet he does so in a straightforward and constructive manner. He won’t hesitate to push people outside of their comfort zones when he sees talent and room for growth, yet always makes clear he has everyone’s best interests in mind. Early in his career in his native Spain, he served as sales director for Southern Europe.  In this role, he oversaw 10 direct reports and was aligned to approximately 20 second-level reports located across the region.  Today, eight of those direct reports are now in management positions at Dow, and Victor’s current team in North America numbers more than 100.

Over the course of his career, Victor has grown to fully appreciate the overarching Dow strategy and the value of each business. This has allowed him to dedicate his efforts to hydrocarbons and P&SP – two crucial components of the company’s success.  All the while, he’s personally grown into an inspirational and motivational leader, remembering always to remain humble.  He has elevated himself to a global leadership position while remaining showing genuine compassion for his colleagues and clients. He always maintains a supportive environment where his team members invariably feel comfortable sharing their ideas and opinions – an invaluable trait for a leader guiding an innovative team into the future. 

For many years, Victor has been a huge supporter of, and participant in, the Hispanic Leadership Network. In fact, he’s been one of the organization’s most reliable volunteers, participating in and sponsoring various events throughout the years.  He’s been particularly effective sharing stories of his career journey and highlighting how he met and overcame challenges along the way. 

 While working in Houston, he was instrumental in the network’s work with Junior Achievement, which helps widen young peoples’ views of potential career paths they might not be otherwise aware of. His wholehearted support of the network’s work – as well as that of other employee resource groups – sets an excellent example to others of the importance of outreach work.

Victor continues to set the tone for his team and circle of influence, tackling challenges head-on with a positive outlook and encouraging others to act with empathy and kindness. It is leaders precisely like Victor who help guide the world towards a brighter future.