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 global marketing team tasked with developing the business marketing strategy across seven industries including consumer packaged goods, retail, gaming, and e-commerce. 

In 2020 she was named an “Advertising Woman of the Year” by the Chicago Advertising Federation. She spends her free time inspiring college students and has been keynote speaker for events at Northwestern University and Lincoln University.

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 provides individualized, community-based, state-licensed food, shelter, substance abuse treatment, healthcare, education, job training, placement, and phased-housing programs to those in need. ASH has moved more than 130,000 people and more than 25,000 military veterans from social and economic crisis to independent living and self-sufficiency. 

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 Chicago, she believes she has a responsibility to work with the community and government to achieve the kind of economic and educational growth that benefits all. This belief has inspired her to work with organizations that help the communities they serve. She is also the current president of the McDonald’s Hispanic Owner-Operators Association.

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 and growth throughout his tenure. In January 2021, the hospital completed a major rebranding initiative, becoming Humboldt Park Health to reflect the diverse and inclusive community it serves.

Sánchez holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the City College of New York and a master’s degree in social work from Adelphi University.

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 to college access, strengthening program quality, and enhancing student supports to create pathways to upward mobility. Previously, Salgado served as CEO of Instituto del Progreso Latino, where he worked to empower residents of Chicago’s Southwest Side through education, citizenship, and skill-building. Salgado was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2015.

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 at Drinker Biddle & Reath, he spent more than 20 years advising clients all over the world. He served as chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education and as vice president of the Chicago Board of Education. In 2015, he took on the volunteer role of interim CEO of the Chicago Public Schools.

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, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Puerto Rico.

In 1988, he was awarded a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship for his work in community development. He committed $100,000 of his fellowship award to establish the Teresa and Hipolito Roldan Community Development Scholarship Fund to attract Latinos into the community development field.  

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 approximately 2,000 disasters annually, most of which are house fires. The Illinois region has an annual budget of $19 million, covers 88 counties, has more than 3,500 volunteers.  

Prior to joining the Red Cross, Roldán served as executive director of Erie Neighborhood House, which was founded in 1870 to strengthen low?income, primarily Latino families.

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 author of two books, “Latino Talent: Effective Strategies to Recruit, Retain & Develop Hispanic Professionals,” and “Auténtico: The Definitive Guide to Latino Career Success” co-authored with Andrés Tapia. In January 2020, he spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as a member of the Hispanic delegation.

General Counsel

LGIM America

Rodriguez-Ayala is the general counsel, chief compliance officer and board secretary of LGIM America, the U.S. arm of LGIM, the fourth-largest institutional asset manager globally, managing more than $1.5 trillion. LGIM America focuses on pension stabilization, retirement income generation and sustainable investment solutions. 

Rodriguez-Ayala leads the legal, governance, risk and compliance functions and is an executive committee member. She also serves on Legal & General Group’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Council, helping set diversity priorities. She was previously an investment management partner at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, among other in-house and private practice experiences.  

Justice

Illinois Appellate Court

  Jesse G. Reyes is currently a justice on the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, and is a member of the executive committee. He previously served as the presiding justice of the Fifth Division and as the chair of the First District’s settlement conference committee. 

Reyes has been a member of the judiciary since December 1997, having previously served as both an associate judge and elected judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Before his election to the bench, Reyes was employed with the Law Department of the Chicago Board of Education.

Founder

The Resurrection Project

Raul I. Raymundo has long understood the challenges and strengths of working-class and immigrant families. After earning a bachelor’s degree from Carleton College, he returned to the neighborhood he grew up in and co-founded The Resurrection Project with seed capital of $30,000 from six Chicago-area parishes in 1990. 

Since its inception, TRP has leveraged this capital into more than $600 million in community investment and positively impacted more than 198,000 individuals in Latino Southwest Side city neighborhoods and western suburbs.  Under his leadership, TRP blends community development, community organizing, human service delivery, and advocacy to build healthier and engaged communities. 

President and CEO

Latino Policy Forum

Sylvia Puente is the president and CEO of the Latino Policy Forum, a nonprofit that works for equity, justice, and economic prosperity on behalf of Latinos in Chicago and Illinois through public-policy advocacy and analysis on issues including education, housing, and immigration. 

Over more than a decade at the helm, Puente has grown the organization into a central voice on Latino issues. In 2020, the forum has helped lead the response to COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on Latinos and communities of color.

Puente was selected by Gov. J.B. Pritzker to serve on his transition team and was recently appointed to the state housing task force.

Partner, Co-founder, President

Prado & Renteria CPAs

Maria de J. Prado co-founded her company when she was only 26. Today the firm is the largest Hispanic-woman-owned company in Illinois. 

As managing partner, Prado most enjoys the opportunity to innovate. She believes a leader is a person who follows her passion, and her passion is that people discover fulfillment in their lives. She is responsible for the firm’s strategic planning, marketing and business development, and general oversight of resources, people and finances.  

In 2015 the firm established an international leadership program, based on the ideas of Werner Erhard and Michael Jensen, to help people develop their talents.

Executive Advisor Partner

Wind Point Partners

Jose Luis Prado is executive advisor partner and investor with Wind Point Partners, based in Chicago. He is also chairman of Tropicale Foods, the leader in Hispanic frozen novelties in the United States, and vice chairman of Benestar/Evans Food Group, owned by Highlander Partners in Dallas, Texas. 

Prado is also former president of Quaker Oats North America, a $2.7 billion division of PepsiCo Inc. The first Mexican to lead a major PepsiCo business in North America, Prado retired from PepsiCo in 2014 after a 30-year career spanning six countries and two continents.

Executive Director

Hispanic American Construction Industry Association

Jorge Perez grew up in his family grocery and bakery stores where he developed a strong work ethic and great ability to work with people. His family lived in the apartment above this store, and as an undergraduate he managed the store, closing it in 1994 in order to pursue his MBA and start his career in economic development and business advocacy in Chicago and Illinois. 

For the past eight years, Perez has served as executive director of The Hispanic American Construction Industry Association. He previously worked at the Calumet Area Industrial Commission and in 2008 was appointed deputy commissioner for Chicago’s Department of Aviation. 

CEO

The Kraft Heinz Co.

Miguel Patricio is the chief executive officer of The Kraft Heinz Co. Prior to Kraft Heinz, Miguel spent more than 20 years at Anheuser-Busch InBev where he served as part of the executive leadership team in various positions, driving organic growth and industry-leading margins. He was the global chief marketing officer at AB InBev from 2012-2018, president of Asia Pacific from 2008 to 2012 and president of North America from 2006 to 2008. 

Before his career at AB InBev, Miguel held a variety of leadership positions at other global consumer packaged goods.

Credit Executive

BMO Financial Corp.

During a career of more than 25 years in asset management and finance, David Ortiz maintained a strong connection to the Latino community. In 2009, he founded Beacon Ridge Capital Management, a certified, minority-owned investment firm and registered investment advisor. As a minority entrepreneur, Ortiz understood firsthand the inequity in how credit is distributed in the economy and the difficulty minority groups face in accessing capital. 

Since 2014, he has been at BMO Financial Corp. In his current role as a credit executive for enterprise risk and portfolio management, he leads a team of credit officers for commercial credit transactions with a focus on smaller middle market borrowers. 

CEO

Group O

Turning Group O from a startup business into the $900 million diversified services firm it is today is due in large part to Gregg Ontiveros’ entrepreneurial spirit and can-do philosophy. As principal owner and CEO, he has provided the vision necessary to attract marquee clients that represent a veritable who’s who of America’s most respected brands including AT&T, Michelin, PepsiCo, Caterpillar, and Samsung. 

By creating innovative marketing, packaging, and supply-chain solutions, Ontiveros and Group O have helped these and many other Fortune 500 companies turn their most complex business challenges into centers of profitability and efficiency.

Managing Director

Accenture

David Olivencia is a global business strategy and information technology executive who has delivered significant business outcomes at Global 500 organizations and prominent international nonprofits.

He is a managing director at Accenture, leading the Accenture Cloud Program for the company’s health and public service customers. Prior to Accenture, Olivencia held various technology and business strategy leadership positions of increasing responsibility at Nippon Telegraph & Telephone (NTT), Ford Motor Co., Oracle, Verizon and Softtek.    

He is sought after as a speaker for his perspectives on business and technology issues and has presented in prominent forums including the U.S. Congress.

Presidente ejecutivo 

United Airlines Holdings Inc.

Muñoz se ha desempeñado como presidente ejecutivo de la junta directiva de United Airlines Holdings Inc. desde mayo de 2020. Anteriormente se desempeñó como director ejecutivo de la compañía y como presidente. Ha sido miembro de la junta directiva de United Airlines desde 2010 y ha sido miembro de la junta directiva de Continental Airlines Inc.

Antes de trabajar en United, Muñoz fue presidente y director de operaciones de CSX Corp., una empresa de servicios de transporte ferroviario e intermodal. También fue vicepresidente ejecutivo y director de operaciones de CSX, así como vicepresidente ejecutivo y director financiero.

President & CEO

Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement

Mota serves as the president and CEO for the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement, leading strategy, fundraising and development, professional leadership programs, and expanding organizational reach on a national scale. She increased the operating budget by 40% in less than two years of taking her new role, and by nearly 70% in fewer than 3 years, bringing in $2.5 million in new corporate partnerships and increasing membership from 35,000 to 77,000.

She expanded leadership programming to more than 10 cities in the U.S., including Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Washington, D.C.

She is Mexican-American, grew up in East Chicago, Indiana, and currently resides in Chicago. 

President

JGMA 

Juan Gabriel Moreno is an award-winning architect and president of JGMA (Juan Gabriel Moreno Architects). Moreno was born in Bogota, Colombia, studied architecture at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and also lived in Florence, Italy, where he studied under Christiano Toraldo di Francia.

In 2010 he launched JGMA with the sole purpose of positively impacting Chicago’s diverse communities. The firm’s award-winning works include the Northeastern Illinois University El Centro Campus.

Now in its 10th year, JGMA has become one of the largest Latino-owned architecture firms in Chicago with plans to expand to other locations. 

Comptroller

State of Illinois

Illinois Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza took office in December 2016 and was re-elected in 2018. She is the first Hispanic independently elected to statewide office in Illinois. 

Since becoming comptroller, Mendoza shifted priority to the funding of nursing homes, hospice centers, schools, and the state’s most vulnerable citizens during the state’s two-year budget impasse. Although the comptroller must pay the state’s bills as they arrive, the budget crisis forced the office to prioritize which bills would be paid first. Mendoza also worked with legislators of both parties on legislation that makes financial information more publicly available.

Director

Stout

Julieta LaMalfa is a director at Stout, a global advisory firm where she is part of the disputes, compliance and investigations practice. She has more than 17 years of experience providing financial and litigation consulting services to clients on a variety of assignments across multiple industries. 

In her work she has assisted clients with forensic and fraud investigations, accounting restatements, and disputes involving the quantification of damages in both national and international matters. In 2019, Gov. J.B. Pritzker appointed her to the Illinois Liquor Control Commission. She also serves on the board of Wintrust Bank and is the treasurer of Instituto del Progreso Latino and Teatro Vista. 

Chairman & CEO 

AbbVie 

Richard A. Gonzalez is chairman and CEO of AbbVie, a global biopharmaceutical company that employs approximately 47,000 people worldwide and markets medicines in more than 175 countries. 

Prior to AbbVie’s separation from Abbott in January 2013, Gonzalez was a 30-year Abbott veteran. He served as president and chief operating officer of Abbott before briefly retiring in 2007. He also held various senior leadership positions in Abbott’s medical products businesses, including president and chief operating officer of the medical products group.  

Gonzalez is also a member of the Business Roundtable, which is the only national organization representing CEOs of America’s leading companies.

President and CEO

El Valor

Rey B. Gonzalez has been the president and CEO of El Valor since 2013 after 32 years of serving as chairman of its board of directors. Prior to assuming his role at El Valor, he was vice president for legislative and community affairs at ComEd. He was responsible for stewarding relationships with state legislators and community organizations. 

Prior to this position, Gonzalez was the vice president of corporate diversity for Exelon Corp., parent company of ComEd. He was responsible for developing Exelon’s national external and internal initiatives. Before joining Exelon in 2002, he served as vice president of diversity for McDonald’s Corp. 

Founder

FGP Atelier 

Francisco Gonzalez Pulido was born in Mexico City in 1970. In 1991, he graduated from Monterrey Tec with a bachelor’s degree in architecture. In 1998, he was accepted to Harvard’s Graduate School of Design for a master’s degree. In 2000, he joined JAHN in Chicago. Eight years later he became Helmut Jahn’s first partner, and in 2012 he became president of the company.  

Since founding FGP Atelier in 2017 in Chicago, he has been awarded the Green Building Award for the Americas for his Orchid Educational Pavilion in Oaxaca by The Architects Newspaper.

Executive Director 

Cubs Charities

Gonzalez is from the Chicago Pilsen and Little Italy neighborhoods and is the executive director of Chicago Cubs Charities. She oversees Cubs Charities philanthropic and programmatic investments in Chicago communities and provides strategic direction for elevating the power of sport as a vehicle for improved health, academic success, and leadership development.  

She joined the Cubs in May 2018 after serving for 10 years as the founding executive director of Chicago Run, a local nonprofit that provides free sport-based youth development programs to more than 18,000 children in Chicago Public School and the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center.

Deputy State Treasurer

State of Illinois

Rodrigo Garcia is the deputy state treasurer and chief investment officer for Illinois State Treasurer Michael W. Frerichs. He directs the Illinois treasury’s combined $35 billion investment portfolio, $250 billion in related banking operations and financial services, and a $3.2 billion agency budget and financial services unit. 

In this leadership role, Garcia leverages financial innovation, investment stewardship, corporate governance, stakeholder capitalism and equity, diversity, and inclusion to maximize investment returns and bolster the Illinois economy. 

He was previously the director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs and has worked for Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. 

Representative

U.S. Congress

Rep. Jesús G. “Chuy” García proudly represents the Fourth Congressional District of Illinois. Throughout his career, García has been a progressive voice, both as an organizer and as a legislator, fighting to improve the lives of his working-class neighbors, many of whom are immigrants like him. 

He currently serves as a member of the Financial Services Committee, Natural Resources Committee, and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Congressional Equality Caucus, Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, and New Americans Caucus. He is also the founder of the Future of Transportation Caucus.

Deputy Governor

State of Illinois

Sol Flores serves as deputy governor in the Pritzker administration, overseeing health and human services. 

Flores is the founding executive director of La Casa Norte, a nonprofit organization established in 2002 that has served more than 30,000 youth and families confronting homelessness. She built La Casa Norte from two employees to an 80-plus employee, multi-million-dollar organization that delivers inspiration, hope and critical services to the lives of youth and families experiencing homelessness. She has served on numerous working groups, commissions and local nonprofit boards. Flores was raised by a single mother who came to Chicago from Puerto Rico.

President and CEO

Metropolitan Family Services

Ric Estrada is CEO of Metropolitan Family Services, one of Illinois’ largest human services agencies. Since joining Metropolitan in 2011, he has helped the agency more than double in revenue and families served. 

Estrada has three decades of human services leadership experience. Prior to joining Metropolitan, he served as first deputy commissioner of Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services. He previously served as executive director of Erie Neighborhood House in Chicago.

He serves on the board of trustees of the University of Illinois as well as on the board of directors of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

Commissioner

Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection 

As commissioner of the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, Escareño is a cabinet member of Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot’s administration.

Escareño has made public service her life’s work, and she has served under three Chicago mayors. 

She has managed day-to-day operations and implemented policy reforms across multiple city agencies, leading initiatives on public safety and helping to bring economic growth to low-income communities, residents and working families. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, Escareño has been on the forefront of Chicago’s business recovery efforts including reopening Chicago businesses, administering $120 million in business financial relief, and setting up protections for essential workers.  

President

HITEC

Omar Duque is president of HITEC, the premier global community of Hispanic technology professionals and executives. Duque is passionate about technology and entrepreneurship and how both help build community and help create a better world. 

His work is focused on helping develop the next generation of Hispanic technology leaders. He previously served as president and CEO of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which under his leadership developed initiatives to connect more Latinos to the innovation economy. IHCC partnered with 1871 Chicago to develop a first-of-its-kind incubator program for Latinx tech startups. Since launching in late 2016, 95 Latinx founders have completed the program. 

CEO

ComEd

Dominguez leads ComEd, an Exelon company, which powers the lives of more than 4 million residential and business customers, or 70 percent of Illinois’ population. 

He oversees the management of the electric grid for Chicago and most of northern Illinois, and oversees ComEd’s partnerships with the diverse communities it serves. He is also the 2021 chairperson for the Illinois Utilities Business Diversity Council. 

Before joining ComEd, Dominguez served as executive vice president of governmental and regulatory affairs and public policy for Exelon. Dominguez joined Exelon in 2002 as associate general counsel, responsible for litigation matters in the Mid-Atlantic region. 

President and CEO

Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Since January 2019, Jaime di Paulo has been president and CEO of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of  Commerce, the leading Hispanic business networking, advocacy, and development  organization in the Midwest.  

Under his leadership, the IHCC team intensified their commitment to assist the Latino business community, providing direct assistance and working closely in collaboration with all stakeholders. In 2020, IHCC created and helped retain 18,092 total jobs — a number that exceeded the 2019 figure by 42 times. Besides the team’s professionalism and willingness to help, this increase is mainly because of IHCC’s rapid response throughout its programs.

Director of Social Emergency Medicine, Associate Professor

University of Illinois at Chicago

Dr. Marina Del Rios is director of social emergency medicine and tenured associate professor in emergency medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. She has close to 10 years of experience conducting research in resuscitation science, population health, and health disparities. 

Outside of her clinical, research, and teaching responsibilities, she is a volunteer for multiple health and community service agencies. She is a founding member of the Illinois Heart Rescue Project, a statewide quality improvement project with the mission to ensure that every victim of cardiac arrest receives evidence-based care in the field and in the hospital. 

Executive advisor

ThoughtWorks

Marcelo De Santis is a technology leader and certified executive coach. He currently leads the digital transformation practice at ThoughtWorks, a global technology company providing software design and consulting services. Prior to joining ThoughtWorks, he was CIO of Fortune 500 companies such as Kraft Foods, Mondelez and Pirelli. 

De Santis is co-founder and president of Angeles Investors. He has twice been featured by HITEC as one of the top 100 most influential and notable Hispanic professionals in technology. In 2019 he was nominated by Crain’s as one of the top 50 CEOs, entrepreneurs and technologists.

Executive Vice President

Tampico Beverages Inc.

Pedro DeJesus is the head of international business and executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for Tampico Beverages Inc. He is a member of the company’s executive leadership team and serves on its board of directors.

Tampico Beverages is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and marketers of flavored drink concentrates. His areas of focus include executive leadership and management of the company’s global operations, and domestic and international commercial negotiations.

DeJesus is an independent, non-executive director at Lake Forest Bank & Trust, N.A., where he is chairman of the audit committee. 

President & Founder 

Metaphrasis Language and Cultural Solutions

Elizabeth Colón is the president and founder of Metaphrasis Language & Cultural Solutions LLC, an award-winning interpreting and translation services company. As an innovator in the language services profession, her passion and dedication for providing access to quality language offerings, as well as educational resources, have won her numerous awards and recognitions including Crain’s 2020 Business Notable Entrepreneur; Negocios Now: Latina In Business Award; and the National Association of Women Business Owners, Woman Business Owner of the Year Award.

She is the first Latina president of the National Association of Women Business Owners – Chicago, co-producer of the Latina Expo, and host of her own talk show, BoricuaTalks. 

Senior Managing Director

The Northern Trust

Ramón Cepeda serves as senior managing director and senior vice president at The Northern Trust Co., Chicago. He oversees the commercial real estate group and the professional services groups within wealth management, which have a combined portfolio in excess of $1.5 billion.  

Cepeda’s career has spanned about three decades across three companies within the banking and financial industry. He was appointed to serve on the board of trustees at the University of Illinois, where he is chair of the audit, budget, finance and facilities committee overseeing a $6.8 billion budget. 

Finance specialist

A finance specialist since 1980, Adela Cepeda advised municipalities and corporations on the structuring and execution of capital markets transactions exceeding $150 billion. In 2016, she sold her firm, A.C. Advisory Inc. to PFM, the top-ranked municipal advisor in the United States, and served as managing director of PFM until 2019. 

Cepeda is a director of BMO Financial Corp., the U.S. holding company for BMO Harris Bank, with more than 15,000 employees and 550 branches located principally in the Midwest. She is also a director of the UBS Funds, Pathway Mutual Funds and chairs the Mercer Mutual Funds. 

Litigator

Akerman

Rubén Castillo, a first-chair litigator, focuses his practice on corporate investigations, white collar criminal defense, private arbitration, and mediation work for litigants. In addition, he serves as chair of Akerman Bench, one of the nation’s largest panels of former judges, seasoned lawyers, and former law clerks who provide guidance on court presentations.

Prior to joining Akerman, Castillo served as chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the first Latino to hold this position. 

He has been regional counsel to the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and assistant United States attorney in the special criminal prosecutions division.

Director

Together We Rise

Gloria Castillo is director of Together We Rise, a multi-faceted initiative of The Chicago Community Trust to ensure the Chicago region’s equitable recovery from the impacts of COVID-19.

Until the spring of 2020, she had served for 16 years as president and CEO of Chicago United, a corporate membership organization dedicated to advancing multiracial leadership in business to achieve economic opportunity parity for people of color and minority business enterprises. She collaborated with business, philanthropic, and local community leaders and organizations across Chicago.

Before leading Chicago United, Castillo spent more than 20 years working in the for-profit sector as Monarch Marketing Group president. 

Founder & CEO

FARO Associates

Olga Camargo is the founder and CEO of FARO Associates LLC, a certified minority and women business enterprise providing key business consulting services to governments and businesses. She is also leading innovation in providing culturally-relevant financial education via technology. 

In addition, Camargo is a partner at TOROSO Investments and provides investment advisory and retirement plan advisory services to clients that include high-net-worth individuals, business owners, public and private corporations, public sector entities, and not-for-profit entities and foundations.  

She  serves as chair for Forbes Business Council’s financial services industry group, and Crain’s Chicago Business named her among Chicago’s Most Powerful Latinos in 2019. 

Founder & CEO

Cabrera Capital Partners, Cabrera Capital Markets

Martin Cabrera is the CEO and founder of Cabrera Capital Markets and Cabrera Capital Partners.  

Cabrera Capital Markets provides global investment banking and  

institutional brokerage services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes financial institutions, states and municipalities, corporations, unions, foundations and endowments.

Cabrera Capital Partners provides commercial and residential real estate development  expertise, investment, and consulting services to a full range of clients in the public, private, institutional and nonprofit sectors. CCP’s current real estate development focus is the transformation of a 36-acre vacant in-fill site on Chicago’s Southwest side into a $400 million-plus mixed income and mixed use community.  

President

United States Hispanic Leadership Institute

Juan Andrade Jr. is president of the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute, which has registered 2.3 million voters, published 425 studies on Latino demographics, trained more than 1 million present and future leaders, awarded more than $1.3 million in scholarships and internships, and has sponsored the largest Latino leadership conference in the nation annually since 1983. 

He received the Presidential Citizens Medal from then-President Bill Clinton for promoting civic participation and leadership development, and he received  the National Ohtli Award from the government of Mexico for distinguished service to the Mexican and Mexican American community in the United States. 

President and CEO

AAR Tech 

Arabel Alva Rosales is an entrepreneur who has been described in Chicago Magazine as a “Renaissance Woman” because of her ability to discuss concerns on Wall Street, global issues and what is happening in our communities. She is president and CEO of AAR Tech, a management and technology firm in business for more than 17 years. 

She is vice chairman of the CTA board of directors and serves on other boards, including the IHCC. Because of her daughter, it was important to Rosales to create Pivoting in Heels, a digital nonprofit dedicated to empowering women. She holds a doctorate in law from DePaul College of Law.

Chairman, President & CEO 

Baxter

Joe Almeida was named chairman, president and chief executive officer of Baxter in January 2016. He is now leading the company through a period of dynamic transformation powered by accelerated innovation, operational excellence and strategic execution.

Prior to joining Baxter, Almeida served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Covidien plc. from 2012 through 2015 and was named a director of the company in 2011. Almeida previously served as president of Covidien’s Medical Devices organization. He also served in several leadership roles at Covidien’s predecessor, Tyco Healthcare, including president of its worldwide medical device business and vice president of worldwide manufacturing.