ISSA VEO Conference Puts Hispanic Leadership Center Stage In Chicago

The ISSA VEO Conference—Visión, Empeño, Oportunidad—will debut in Chicago on Sept. 29 to 30 with a bilingual program built to turn representation into results. Designed as a movement as much as an event, VEO aims to equip Hispanic professionals across the cleaning and facility solutions industry with skills, networks, and visibility. The inaugural gathering takes place at the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park during Hispanic Heritage Month.

Learn more and register on the ISSA VEO Conference site.

Speaking ahead of the event, Karina Neff, founder of Spark Strategies Group and one of the conference organizers, framed VEO as “intentional, scalable, and built to move the needle.”

“From an association perspective, helping leaders grasp the magnitude of this community speaks directly to the mission of bringing value and resources,” Neff said. She noted the choice of Chicago—ISSA’s home base—and the bilingual format as purposeful signals that VEO is built for access, not optics.

Neff’s case is rooted in the numbers. ISSA highlights that Hispanic professionals represent nearly 70% of the cleaning industry’s workforce—yet ownership and executive roles lag behind. Nationally, Hispanic-owned employer businesses accounted for about 7.9% of all U.S. firms in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. VEO’s multi-year ambition, Neff said, is to help shift those metrics by pairing training and mentorship with real pathways to advancement and capital.

What VEO is solving

VEO is positioned as a unified platform, not a one-off conference. ISSA lists four pillars guiding the work: business advancement, workforce development, industry representation, and leadership career mobility. That translates into finance and operations training for owners, career mobility for frontline teams, and leadership pathways that put more Hispanic professionals at the table where standards, budgets, and contracts are set.

Neff emphasized that the programming was curated “with depth,” so attendees can act within 30 days. Session topics she previewed include budgets and P&L, marketing, leadership panels, and M&A basics—content aimed at contractors, managers, and office professionals who are already signaling readiness to step up. Her ask to employers is simple: send the people with potential and give them a clear path to apply what they learn.

How the conference works

Across two days, VEO will run bilingual education, networking, and recognition moments, including a Visionary Awards gala to celebrate frontline talent rising into supervision and management. The format is meant to create a loop—skills, mentorship, visibility—so attendees leave with both know-how and momentum.

ISSA’s event listing confirms the venue and dates, along with tracks built for owners, professionals, and frontline teams. Programming is optimized for a diverse audience, with Spanish and English delivery and practical sessions that blend classroom learning with peer exchange. The goal, Neff said, is a community that can learn together, hire from within, and negotiate with confidence.

Why it matters now

The cleaning industry’s workforce is increasingly Hispanic, yet the leadership pipeline is thinner than the talent pool. By codifying bilingual training and leadership mobility as core deliverables—not side projects—VEO tries to close the distance between contribution and influence. As ISSA describes it, VEO is a long-term commitment that includes a standing council, ongoing webinars, and awards—structures intended to sustain progress after the Chicago kickoff.

Event details: VEO Conference, Sept. 29 to 30, Fairmont Chicago, 200 N. Columbus Dr., Chicago.

Registration and agenda are available online. Use this link to register.