For the third year, the Latina Success Conference on May 14 will address specific concerns of the Latina businesswoman with a theme of “Our Culture, Our Future, Our Selves,” translated as “Nuestra cultura. Nuestro futuro. Somos nosotras.”

The event will be in the Manchester Executive Conference Center on the grounds of the University of San Diego. It is a partnership between the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and San Diego MANA. Sponsors still are being sought.

The keynote speaker will be Lt. Col. Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch (Ret.), the highest ranking Hispanic woman in the U.S. Army’s Combat Support Field and the founder of Educational Achievement Services.

Attendance at this year’s conference is expected to exceed 400. The inaugural meeting drew 170 participants, a number nearly doubled at last year’s event. This year’s gathering will be for a full day and will include morning and afternoon workshops, as well as a Latina Expo and lunch.

Although women of color own only 5 percent of the 22 million companies in the United States, the growth rate among that group was four times the national average between 1997 and 2002 and three times for the decade before that.

For information on attendance at the conference or on sponsorship opportunities, call the Hispanic Chamber at (619) 702-0790.