A 1955 graduate of Detroit’s Holy Redeemer High School, Muñoz went to work as a bookkeeper for a Detroit manufacturer that made precision machine parts for the automotive industry. She spent 27 years absorbing as much as she could about purchasing, production control, estimating, and labor negotiations. “I learned the jobs that my boss didn’t like to do himself, those he found too tedious,” she said.

Ms. Muñoz founded her first business with 25 years experience in the precision machine manufacturing industry. After buying out her partners, Ms. Muñoz’s company continued to excel by earning numerous prestigious supplier quality awards from Ford Motor Company and General Motors. Muñoz Machine Products, along with three other Hispanic companies, formed the Hispanic Manufacturing Center (HMC) in an old GM building in Southwest Detroit. Since 1996, she has taken her wealth of business and community leadership experiences and focused her energies on making a difference and opening up more opportunities for the disadvantaged and minority youth. When other women are ready for retirement, Ms. Muñoz’s passion and concern for minority equity have kept her working. Employed for a time with the Michigan Minority Business Development Council, she has helped countless other business owners and co-workers hone their entrepreneurial skills while building solid business practices. Muñoz founded the GRACE program (Gang Retirement and Continued Education/Employment), a program that offered an opportunity of rehabilitation and training to gang members who wanted to leave gang life and become contributing members of the community. She is a lifelong-community advocate and mentor to emerging business leaders; she continues to help others to see the value of their work ethic, education, and training.

For Ms. Muñoz’s work as an entrepreneur, non-profit leadership, community advocacy also with the positive impact she has made in the Hispanic community, the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council is proud to induct Carmen Muñoz into the Michigan Minority Business Hall of Fame.