Conference Speakers

Professor of the Bachelor's degree in Social Communication at the National University of Entre Ríos.

Vice President and Treasurer, World Bank

Social communicator, radio journalist and professor at the Faculty of Social Communication of the Central University of Ecuador.

Director of the Chicago newspaper La Raza. He has a doctorate in journalism from the Complutense University of Madrid and a degree in communication from the Iberoamerican University of Mexico City.

Researcher, cultural manager and interdisciplinary writer in the area of ​​social sciences, humanities and arts.

Director de Distribución de las emisoras internacionales RFI y MCD para la región de Las Américas

Emmy-Award winning producer/director and executive member of the Directors Guild of America Midwest Council

50 years working in prisons, with gang and non-gang youth in urban and rural communities, among the unhoused, and in Indigenous reservations.

 Andrés Tijerina retired as Professor Emeritus of History at Austin Community College. Dr. Tijerina has received state and national book prizes for his books. 

Silvia Alvarez-Clare, PhD, is Director of Global Tree Conservation at The Morton Arboretum, leading a program focused on safeguarding threatened tree species through science-based conservation work conducted with stakeholders around the world.

Juan B. Solana is an Economist by training and has focused his professional career developing Marketing Analytics models to test the impact of Marketing strategies on the bottom line of a company. Recently Global Director, Advanced Analytics at General Motors. Prior to General Motors, he was the Director, Advanced Analytics at Walmart and Nielsen. 

 Actualmente trabajando en el área técnica de Radiodifusión, televisión y audio desde 1988 hasta la fecha. Egresado del Instituto Politécnico Nacional de su Escuela Superior de Ingeniería Mecánica y Eléctrica con la carrera de ingeniería en Comunicaciones y Electrónica.

 In 2003, Luisa founded Rayito de Sol Spanish Immersion Early Learning Centers with a vision aimed to prepare students to excel as young leaders of tomorrow by combining an exclusive curriculum together with elevated with first-class childcare services andSpanish Language Immersion. 

Es docente de Educomunicación, enfocada desde la educación y transversalización del eje de derechos humanos y género, comunicación para el cambio social, comunitaria y efectiva. 

 Joaquin Boker is the CEO and the Head of the Regional Platform North America responsible for Finance, HR, Legal and Compliance. Previously he was the CFO for North America and the global controller for the business area Material Services with over $10 billion in revenue.  

  Lou Sandoval is the President and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, a director on a corporate board, a board advisor to start-ups, a business founder, entrepreneur, and Author.

 Doctor en Derecho. Fundador y director de Radio Libre 1200AM en Paraguay y conductor del programa: “Contrapoder. Ha sido rector universitario y autor de más de 20 libros. Nieman Fellow en Harvard (2000) y Master en comunicación y ciencias políticas por las Universidades de Minnesota y Syracuse.

 Psicóloga y psicoterapeuta de parejas y de infanto juveniles con más de 20 años de práctica clínica con estudios de postgrado y en constante actualización. Docente de nivel universitario y postgrados en ITESM, UVAQ, UDEM. 

 Dr. Silvia Abel-Caines is a veterinarian, specialized in ruminant nutrition. She’s worked in the agriculture industry for over 30 years with conventional and organic farmers and is currently Organic Valley’s staff Ruminant Nutritionist 

 Braulio MORO hizo sus estudios en economía en La Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) y su doctorado en economía en la Universidad Jules Verne (Amiens, Francia), integró el equipo de la redacción en español de Radio France Internacional el año 2000.  

 El Maestro José Tapia es Consultor, Asesor, Mentor y Guía pero sobre todo promotor de emprendimientos sociales y empresas de Hispanos en Estados Unidos y México desde hace más de 30 años. 

 Psicóloga ,podcaster, escritora y activista social; graduada de la Fundación universitaria del AreaAndina en Colombia, desarrolladora de proyectos clínicos enfocados en depresión, ansiedad y trastornos alimenticios, así, como también en problemáticas sociales asociadas con grupos vulnerables. 

 Mateo Zapata, is a photojournalist and community advocate of Colombian & Chilean descent raised on Chicago’s south side. As a creative at the intersection of the arts, photojournalism, and community advocacy his work is dedicated to documenting inner city narratives. 

 Ramiro Rodriguez (he/him) was born in Bellflower, California and raised in the Humboldt Park Neighborhood of Chicago. Affected by gang life in the 1990s, Ramiro served a 13 ½ years prison sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Ramiro made his transformation by becoming a published poet, with a self-published chapbook titled Coming Home, and becoming a mentor to youth in many of the communities of Chicago, and in the Northeast San Fernando Valley community of California after his release from prison in 2010.