Ms. Hernández was educated at Wellesley College and Columbia University. She was Director of Public Affairs at WPIX Television New York where she produced and hosted news programs and documentaries. President Carter appointed her Chief of Protocol of the United States. After her Government service, Ms. Hernández founded the Cultural Communications Group (CCG.), a Marketing firm in partnership with Ogilvy and Mather. Ms. Hernández created and served as President of Baker Nye International, an asset management firm in New York.

Ms. Hernández is Vice Chair of the Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership and is a founding member of the Vienna Philharmonic Society and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI.) Ms. Hernández is a Trustee of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, a Director of the Salzburg Festival Society and a Board Member of Opera Lafayette, a baroque opera company. She has served on the Boards of The Americas Society, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico, Long Island University, Marymount Manhattan College, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Symphony Orchestra, New York City’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, The Parsons School of Design, The Spanish Institute and the Women’s Forum.

Ms. Hernández was founding Chairman of the Mexican Cultural Institute. She has received Honorary Doctorates of Laws from Iona College and Long Island University, an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Marymount College and has been decorated by the Governments of Mexico and Austria for her contributions to the Arts and Society.