Erwin Cruz
OCA National MAAP Facilitator
OCA Chicago – Executive Vice President
Executive Business Leader
The United States Marine Corps Veteran
Erwin Cruz serves as the Executive Vice President of OCA Chicago and is the OCA National MAAP (Mentoring for Asian American Professionals) Facilitator. His passion for philanthropy resulted in being recognized with OCA’s 2018 Unsung Hero Award. He has also participated in President Obama’s Whitehouse Initiative for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders from 2014 – 2016.
Erwin has over 30 years of maintenance, repair, and operations (industrial distribution) industry experience and has held a variety of leadership roles at W.W. Grainger, Inc.; information technology, e-commerce, business development, innovation, research & development, and intellectual property strategies & management. He is also an inventor of United States Patent and Trademark Office – granted patents. He is recognized as Intellectual Asset Management’s Global Top 300 – The World’s Leading Intellectual Property Strategist.
Erwin’s education includes graduate degrees in technology, business, and law. He is currently pursuing his PhD in instructional technologies with a research focus on emergent technologies; artificial intelligence, cognitive computing, machine learning, Internet of Things, augmented/virtual reality, etc.
Erwin is passionate about the rapid pace of technologies and the emergence of new business opportunities at the intersection of business, technology, and law, which is increasingly critical to an organization’s strategic advantage. His professional experience and educational background have given him the opportunity to lead many industry initiatives from conception to commercialization allowing him to effectively align emerging trends with organizational execution. He is often invited to share his insights and best practices as a speaker at industry conferences. He is also a guest lecturer on the subject of intellectual property and innovation at various Illinois universities.
Erwin’s philanthropic passion for “paying it forward” has allowed him to take his professional and educational experiences into our Asian American and Pacific Islanders communities teaching many of the key life skills needed in today’s society like; communication, presentation, public speaking, networking with a purpose, and developing a life roadmap.