Influential

Global marketing head Facebook Lizette Williams is a leading marketing and advertising executive with expertise at driving the convergence of brand, culture and tech. She has worked in Fortune 50 companies on consumer-centric growth strategies focused on cultural relevance.  Williams serves as the global head of vertical solutions marketing at Facebook, where she leads a … Read more

Co-founder A Safe Haven Neli Vazquez Rowland and her husband Brian left their successful 13-year careers in finance 26 years ago and co-founded A Safe Haven. Today they are recognized as the architects of one of the most lauded models in the world to help break the cycle of homelessness.  Her organization’s comprehensive, vertically-integrated approach … Read more

Owner-operator McDonald’s Carmen Solano-De Carrier is the proud owner-operator of 15 McDonald’s restaurants in Chicagoland. She started her career as a crew member, working behind the counter at McDonald’s, and progressed to working at the corporate office where she met her husband and then became an independent owner-operator.  Having grown up and attended school in … Read more

President & CEO Humboldt Park Health José R. Sánchez, president and CEO of Humboldt Park Health, is a senior health care executive with more than 40 years of experience in operational, strategic and fiscal management of multi-faceted healthcare systems. Currently he is Chicago’s only Latino hospital CEO.  Under his leadership, HPH has maintained financial stability … Read more

Chancellor City Colleges of Chicago Juan Salgado, chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago, has focused his career on improving education and economic opportunities for residents in low-income communities. As chancellor he oversees Chicago’s community college system, serving nearly 70,000 students in seven colleges. Under his leadership, City Colleges of Chicago focused on removing barriers … Read more

Deputy Governor State of Illinois The son of Mexican immigrants, Ruiz was born and raised in the Roseland neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. He paid his way through college, worked for four years in the steel industry after earning a degree in economics, then entered law school at the University of Chicago.  As an attorney … Read more

CEO Hispanic Housing Development Corp. As CEO of Hispanic Housing Development Corp., Roldan has developed more than 4,500 affordable apartments and townhomes in 56 developments for families and elderly residents of several Hispanic communities in Chicago.  He directed the formation of a property management division, which currently manages more than 3,900 residential units in Illinois, … Read more

CEO American Red Cross of Chicago & Northern Illinois  Celena Roldán joined the American Red Cross of Chicago & Northern Illinois as CEO in March 2016. In April 2020, she became CEO of the new Illinois region of the Red Cross. This is the second-largest region of the Red Cross, which in Illinois responds to … Read more

President DRR Advisors Robert Rodriguez is the president of DRR Advisors LLC, a diversity consulting firm. He has worked with more than 200 corporations on their diversity initiatives.  He holds a doctorate in organization development and currently teaches executive ed courses at the University of Southern California, Stanford University, and DePaul University. He is the … Read more