Joe Zubizarreta: Guides United Way to reskill workers to boost salaries

As interim president and CEO of United Way Miami since November, Joe Zubizarreta is overseeing a staff of over 250 and the day-to-day operations of the projects the non-profit runs and supports, and keeps good relationships with stakeholders to ensure financial and volunteer support.

But his desire to give back to the community is not as new as his position. His late mother, Tere Zubizarreta, a self-made entrepreneur and business owners of one of the nation’s largest advertising agencies specializing in Hispanic markets in Spanish and English, was a long-time supporter of United Way. 

She instilled in Mr. Zubizarreta a team-style leadership he uses up to this day. “My mother used to say to our staff, you don’t work for me, you work with me; and that’s the way that I’ve learned how to manage,” he said. Mr. Zubizarreta’s door is always open for people to reach out to him. 

“My management style is to allow people to fail and not be afraid of it, and then learn from it,” he said. “So, take challenges, push yourself and if you fail, it’s okay, we’ll deal with it. But don’t be afraid to fail.” 

Prior to becoming interim president and CEO, Mr. Zubizarreta was a United Way Miami board member; he chaired the marketing committee and was a member of the volunteer engagement committee. 

But Mr. Zubizarreta not only is an active member of the community, he also has over 30 years in marketing and advertising. In 1990 he joined his mother at Zubi Advertising, and over the years, with his mother and sister, they grew the company from a small business to a company with national accounts that included Ford Motor Co., Chase Bank, Walgreens, Dunkin Donuts and American Airlines. 

The company did advertising for television, radio and print across the nation, and Mr. Zubizarreta recognizes one of his biggest achievements in 1996 when they won the Ford national business. “When Ford gave us their account, it expanded our services, we opened offices in LA, Texas, and that really was the step-off point to become known as a nationally recognized Hispanic agency,” he said. 

After years of effort and being able to change stereotypes toward the Hispanic community across the country, the family sold the company five years ago when it had $160 million in billings and Mr. Zubizarreta began another chapter of his professional life as senior vice president of communications of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Zubizarreta has also been working with Florida International University’s CasaCuba project, the state-of-the-art Cuban cultural center being built on FIU’s main campus, as a campaign advisor on the communication and strategic plan.

In November, Mr. Zubizarreta received a call from United Way Chairman Robert Sanchez letting him know that Maria Alonso had resigned as president and CEO and asked him to join the leadership in an interim capacity, and he did. 

“My mother was the first Hispanic woman on the United Way board of America, so she was very involved in the United Way as well,” he said. “It’s sort of a family thing and we all believe in what we do here at the organization. And here I am; we’ll see what happens in June when a new president is named.” 

Mr. Zubizarreta spoke with Miami Today reporter Gabriela Henriquez Stoikow.

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