HLI Class III Bio Book

LATINO LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE CLASS OF 2013-2014 SPONSORED BY

LATINO LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE The Latino Leadership Institute is a skills-based leadership training program whose goal is to develop the next generation of Hispanic leaders for the St. Louis business community. The LLI consists of nine training sessions conducted once a month each focused on a particular skill set for the developing leader.

The Institute will train this group of young Hispanic professionals on for-profit and non-profit management skills and network development within the St. Louis business community. In addition to leadership training, participants will be encouraged to give back to the St. Louis region through community involvement.

The three essential competencies to be acquired in this Class are leading an organization, leading oneself and leading others in the organization.

The participants of Class III are as follows:

Diego Abente

Diego Abente currently serves as the Program Manager for the Microenterprise Development Program for the International Institute of St. Louis (IISTL). The Program assists immigrants and refugees through development services and lending to start and/or strengthen their businesses. As Program Manager, Diego oversees day-to-day operations of the lending programs. He is also responsible for portfolio management and risk analysis. Since arriving in his new position, Diego has worked with his team to increase lending, improve overall portfolio health and secure additional funding for the program.

Diego was born in Paraguay but came to the US when he was two years old.

After growing up in the Midwest he returned to Paraguay where he received a degree in Law. He then moved to the UK where he earned a Master’s degree in International Development. Diego has also held various management positions with government entities in Paraguay, non-profits in the US and Africa, and most recently was honored to serve as Counselor for Paraguay at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

New to the St. Louis region, Diego looks to increase his participation in community activities in the coming months. He is a member of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He is also the proud father of 3 month old Carolina.

Since her birth he has resigned himself to being the overwhelming minority in his household, as the ladies, Betsy (his wife), Abita (their dog) and Carolina out-vote him on most things. abented@iistl.org

314-773-9090

Daniel Alvarez

Daniel Alvarez is a Vice President in the Mortgage Default unit of Citi. His teams handle customer contact for borrowers in default who have escalated their account either internally with Citi or externally to various government or regulatory bodies.

Daniel was born and raised in the St. Louis area. He graduated from the University of Missouri – St. Louis in 2007, majoring in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance and a minor in History. He has worked for Citi for over 11 years, holding positions in various business lines. His most recent positions have been located in Citi’s Mortgage Default unit. These positions include graduation from Citi’s Talent Acceleration Program, a rotational leadership development program which placed him in multiple areas of Mortgage Default. He has recently lead teams of loan modification underwriters as well as customer facing agents handling escalations from the governing body of the Obama administration’s Making Home Affordable program. In December, 2012 he was promoted to Vice President to lead seven managers and over 80 staff.

Daniel was also awarded the 2012 Leaders in Excellence Award, given to the top one percent of leaders in Citi’s North American consumer businesses.

Daniel enjoys traveling with his wife of four years, and spending time with his Doberman/Weimaraner mix dog, Sally. He is an avid fan of barbecue and charcuterie, and hopes to open a small business combining the two someday.

Daniel also enjoys watching soccer and baseball, playing guitar, and working on his classic Datsun Z.

daniel.j.alvarez@citi.com

636-284-9779

Vianey Beltran

Vianey Beltran currently serves as the Assistant Director to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan St. Louis, (HCC). The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce strives to promote the economic development of Hispanic-owned business opportunities, promoting economic viability for all within the St. Louis region. As Assistant Director, Vianey coordinates all HCC and HCCSTL Foundation programs, is responsible for revenue expansion through grant writing, and is in charge of all social media. Since taking the position in January of 2013, Vianey has written two grants for the organization, successfully implemented a membership needs assessment survey, and has increased the social media presence of the organization.

Vianey is a first generation Latina; her parents immigrated to the United States from Chihuahua Mexico in the mid 80’s. Vianey grew up in Kansas City Mo. She recently earned her Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Missouri Columbia, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Truman State University.

Vianey is a member of the Hispanic Leaders Group, serves on the East-West Gateway Public Involvement Committee and is looking for more opportunities to connect with the St. Louis community.

vbeltran@hccstl.com

314-664-4432

Monica Castorela

Monica Castorela has over fifteen years of experience in developing and implementing Marketing and Public Relations strategies. Monica was born and raised in Mexico City. In 1996, she completed a Double Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and German Studies at Principia College in Illinois. In 2000, she received her Master in Business Leadership from Duxx, Graduate School of Business Leadership in Monterrey, Mexico.

Monica is the owner of Mint Travel, a travel agency that operates in the St Louis area.

She oversees the daily activities for the business, develops sales and marketing communication strategies, provides personalized attention to customers to ensure satisfaction with their travel experiences, and she actively participates in various certification programs in the industry.

Monica’s career has developed in various ways. In 1996 she held the Marketing & Public Relations Manager position for the Dept. Community & Economic Development of Pennsylvania. In 2000, Monica acted as the Marketing and Sales Manager for Latin America Domestic and Travel retail Markets for Paton’s Macadamias at Melbourne, Australia. In 2002, Monica held a similar position for Art Marketing Solutions in Mexico City. In 2005, Monica relocated to Playa del Carmen, Mexico where she held the position of Marketing and Public Relations Director for Mayakoba.

By 2010, Monica decided to join her husband in the United States. Therefore, she takes on the Spanish Teacher and Community Service Coordinator position for The Principia School in St Louis, MO. She currently lives in Town & Country, Missouri with her husband, two children, two dogs, and two cats.

monica@myminttravel.com

314-703-5061

Alejandro Cornejo

Alejandro is an HR Service Specialist at Monsanto. He supports the Foundations teams of Finance, IT, Corporate Affairs, Strategy, HR, and Law. He is also currently involved in a diversity project focused on recruiting Hispanic/Latino college students for the company’s IT co-op program. As part of this diversity team, he has been a key contributor to the IT department’s strategy for increasing Hispanic/Latino co-ops. Prior to Monsanto Alejandro worked as an HR Policy and Payroll Specialist with Pfizer Inc. and as a Service Representative with the Illinois Dept. of Employment Security.

Originally from El Salvador, Alejandro immigrated to the United States with his family as a young child. He credits his mother’s work ethic and her relentless stance on education as the core values that helped him to succeed in this country. Alejandro obtained his bachelor’s degree in Biology from Xavier University of Louisiana. He recently obtained his Masters degree in Human Resource Management from Webster University.

Alejandro resides in South City with his wife and two young children. He is very active with his church and currently serves as a teacher in the children’s ministry. He is also very involved in the Monsanto Latin Network employee diversity group.

alejandro.e.cornejo@monsanto.com

314-303-3407

Alfredo Lozano

Alfredo Lozano has over six years of experience in the Information Technology field with focus on Web development and databases analysis. Alfredo was born and raised in Mexico City. In 2010, he completed a Double Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science and Business Administration at Principia College in Illinois. Currently, he is pursuing his Master of Science in IT at Carnegie Mellon University.

Alfredo is currently working as a Data Systems Analyst for The Principia, an educational institution in the St Louis area. He is in charge of all the data systems for the Advancement Department such as the Banner database, Argos reporting tool, MS Access reports, processes automation, among others. Also, he makes sure key people have their equipment up and running with the latest technology and with the newest gadgets.

Alfredo’s career has developed in various ways. He has worked for Nintendo of Mexico as a sales representative. He also worked for IXE bank in Mexico City as an account executive in mutual funds area. And later on, Alfredo worked for a promotions agency as an account executive for Palm One and Brother. In 2002, Alfredo acted as the Operations Manager for Art Marketing Solutions in Mexico City.

From 2004 to 2005, Alfredo was invited to participate as a Brand Manager for Sony, specifically for the PlayStation division in Mexico City.

In 2006, Alfredo, with the support of her wife, decided to finish off his studies in the United States. Three years later, he forms a small web development business in order to provide support in various ways to small businesses, such as web design, structure, SEO, SEM, and browser compatibility, among others.

He currently lives in Town & Country, Missouri with her wife, two children, two dogs, and two cats. alfredo.lozano@principia.edu

314-330-8113

Alba Luz

Alba Luz is Missouri’s first certified Jivamukti yoga instructor, a designation granted to her after having studied with Jivamukti Co-founders, Sharon Gannon and David Life as well as co-facilitator, Ruth Lauer-Manenti in May of 2013.

Yoga has awoken Alba to the silent teacher present in all aspects of our lives.

She is humbled by the gift of awareness that continues to reveal itself through Asana practice and Sadhana.

Humbly drawing from the ancient teachings of yoga, her classes are rigorous, unpretentious and devotional as she encourages students to honor themselves and reach their greatest potential by working hard on the outside to calm things down on the inside.

Leaving her career in public education behind, Alba is committed to serving the St. Louis community where she can contribute a yoga community deeply rooted in tradition.

albaluzyoga@gmail.com

314-435-3737

Daniel Martinez

As an undergraduate student desperately seeking real world experience, Daniel Martinez got his break into the financial services industry by offering to intern-unpaid. That gamble paid off. Daniel was hired as a paid intern and was able to quickly earn a job as a stockbroker upon graduation from the University of Missouri at St. Louis. Through hard work and determination (and a bit of luck) Daniel has remained passionate and engaged in Financial Services for 15 years fulfilling several leadership roles along the way, including Branch Manager, Regional Manager, and Project & Program Manager. In his current role at Wells Fargo Advisors as a Project Management Manager, Daniel manages the Compliance department’s technology systems and supports the business technology infrastructure. The increase in recent regulations and Wall Street Reform requirements has significantly increased Daniel’s responsibilities and impact on the overall firm.

After almost flunking kindergarten as a child (true story), Daniel went on to receive his undergraduate degrees in Accounting and Finance from the UMSL. He is entering his last semester at Webster University and will graduate with a Masters in Business Administration. In addition to his educational degrees, Daniel has earned multiple securities licenses and project management professional certificates.

When not at work, Daniel enjoys spending time with his wife and children.

Daniel is also actively involved in his local community and church. daniel.martinez@wellsfargoadv

832-647-0850

Edward Poyo

After growing up in Miami and the mountains of North Carolina, Edward Poyo attended the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, a public, residential high school. Edward then moved to St. Louis to study at Washington University in St. Louis and received his degree in Biomedical Engineering in May of 2012.

As an undergraduate student, Edward was involved extensively in the Latino community on campus through the Association of Latin American Students and Latino Link, a university forum for faculty, staff, and students interested in Latin American and Latino issues. He spent three years running Carnaval, the on-campus Latin American cultural show, and was involved in creating the first Washington University Latino Graduation Ceremony.

Edward is currently working in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at Washington University in St. Louis as an Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions. He joined the office in the summer of 2012 and is responsible for overseeing the University's undergraduate recruitment mission for North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Brazil.

Whenever he has free time, Edward enjoys making empanadas, dancing Brazilian samba, or planning travel. In the future, Edward plans on pursuing a graduate degree in either business or engineering.

epoyo@wustl.edu

305-979-1098

Leslie Reyna

My name is Leslie Reyna. I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri and I am the fifth child of first-generation Mexican-American parents. Growing up my mother would often tell us stories about how her parents came to this country during the Mexican Revolution. My grandmother Jesus Alvarez was born in 1899 in Guanajuato, the eldest of three daughters. When she was a young girl she witnessed her mother fatally shot by a stray bullet during the war. Around the same time her father fell ill and also passed away. This left her the sole caretaker of two sisters who also ended up being casualties of the war. Alone, without any immediate family, she decided to enter the convent, but to her dismay she could not afford this vocation. As she walked away, she noticed a man looking her way.

She smiled but did not talk to him which was the etiquette of that time.

Sometime later, the two were married. Fleeing from the revolution they decided to make a future together in the United States.

Once in the United States, they searched for a place to prosper. Moving from Texas to Chicago they finally settled in St. Louis because my grandfather thought it was a good place to raise a family. They raised nine children, one of which is my mother Martha Reyna ( Zuniga).

I have heard stories like this all of my life which piqued my interest in learning about my heritage. After I graduated from high school, I moved to Mexico City for a year to learn Spanish and immerse myself in the culture. I fell in love with Mexico and gained a new appreciation for my heritage.

As a Project Manager for Wells Fargo Advisors, I continue to pursue opportunities to share my background with others.

leslie.reyna@wellsfargoadvisors.com

314-795-0646

Betsaida Santiago

With over sixteen years of managed health care experience, Betsaida Santiago is a Business-Contract Implementation Analyst in the Claims Configuration Department at Centene Corporation. Her primary function is to conduct analysis to capture claims that will either overpay or underpay providers of service during check runs. Other of Betsaida’s duties are to train new hires, assist existing staff, and perform user acceptance testing on configuration to ensure the system is set up correctly.

Formerly from Chicago, Betsaida started her career in managed health care at One Health Plan of Illinois as the Pre-Pricing Team Supervisor of the Physician and Hospital Claims Pre-Pricing Department. In the role of Supervisor, Betsaida trained all of the new hires, and mentored and coached existing staff. One Health Plan was acquired by Great-West Healthcare. Betsaida led the implementation of the new systems. GreatWest Healthcare acquired General American in St. Louis. Betsaida played an intricate role after the acquisition. She led all of the training in St. Louis for the claims examiners, platinum relationship managers, and contracting. She went on to be the Lead Provider Operations Trainer and Team Lead for the Provider Information Management Department before leaving Great-West Healthcare.

Betsaida received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management from University of Missouri St. Louis. Business was not Betsaida’s first choice of education.

In 1997, she applied to Northeastern University in Chicago. At the time, the focus of studies was to become a K-12 teacher. “I started off wanting to be a school teacher because of the impact my teachers had on me. Life does not always turn out the way we think it will. The irony of it all is that I am teaching by training, just not children.”

Betsaida and her husband relocated to Missouri in 2001. They have four daughters and a grandson. Outside of work, Betsaida enjoys spending time with her family and friends. Betsaida is excited to be a part of the Latino Leadership Institute and becoming more involved with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Besa2970@yahoo.com

314-732-2970

Susan Urrutia

Susan Urrutia graduated with her MBA from the Universidad de Alcala in Alcala de Henares, near Madrid, Spain. The MBA program included students from Spain, France, the Netherlands and several different countries in Latin America, such as Colombia, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. Susan was awarded the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship to Spain for the MBA program.

Susan served as an ambassador to further Rotary’s mission to increase international understanding. Susan also earned her Bachelor of Journalism in Advertising and Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Mizzou, the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Susan was born in Florida, grew up in St. Louis and first developed her passion for the Spanish language and international cultures in high school. That passion continued throughout her time at Mizzou as she pursued study abroad opportunities at the University of Alicante in Spain and began practicing her Spanish language skills with guests during an internship at Walt Disney World. During her time at Mizzou, Susan participated in an Alternative Spring Break trip to McAllen, Texas, and then led a trip to Espanola, New Mexico, to volunteer with organizations such as Hands Across Cultures. Susan’s professional experience includes work with organizations such as the International Institute, Siemens, Walt Disney World and the MU Career Center.

Susan has also recently become involved as an Ambassador for the St. Louis Mosaic Project.

Susan met her husband, Carlos, in Spain, and he is from Nicaragua. They are raising their 14-month old daughter, Alina, to be bilingual. They enjoy sightseeing, traveling and meeting new people. They also have two dogs named Bella and Canela.

susan_urrutia_1118@yahoo.com

407-870-3490

Program Dates: October 11, 2013 November 8, 2013

February 14, 2014 March 14, 2014

December 13, 2013 January 10, 2014

April 11, 2014 May 9, 2014

June 13, 2014 * Graduation

Program Sponsors: Title Sponsor

Session Sponsors