Gilberto S. Ocañas has spent over thirty years working to build a network of political and business relationships with community leaders, operatives, entrepreneurs and elected officials. His coalition-building skills include gathering local intelligence, performing political outreach and crafting communications strategies that work for his clients. This unique combination of experience has led to Gilberto providing quality business management consulting services to clients in both the public and private sectors, domestically and internationally.
Gilberto’s experience in turning a start-up business in 1992 into a successful security printing and fulfillment company has given him insights into key business issues. The success of his business enterprise, coupled with his commitment to maintain a strong civic presence, garnered him local recognition as the “Hispanic Businessman of the Year” as well as “Volunteer of the Year” by the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Hispanic magazine recognized Gilberto as a “Rising Entrepreneur.”
A veteran of four presidential campaigns, Gilberto served as a senior director in field operations, director of the office national voter participation and national campaign manager for the Latino programs. Gilberto was one of the first Latinos to run statewide campaigns in Texas. He also worked under the late Willie Velasquez as Director of Communications for the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, as part of one of the most successful voter registration and education groups in the Southwest.
Gilberto serves the boards of the Texas Advisory board for the Environmental Defense Fund and Mi Familia Vota, a national non -partisan civic engagement organization. He has also has served on the National Advisory Boards of the Resolution Trust Corporation, the US Small Business Administration, the US Secretary of Energy Advisory Council and the Smithsonian Task Force on Latino Affairs.