INDIANA LATINO LEADERSHIP CIRCLE Cultivating a New Generation of Latino Leadership
Class of
2020
Our mission is to improve health and advance education for the Indiana Latino community through statewide advocacy, research, and culturally responsive programs.
INDIANA LATINO INSTITUTE Our vision is to be the source of authority and catalyst for change on all aspects of health and education that affect the Indiana Latino Community. The Indiana Latino Institute, Inc. (ILI), a 501(c)3 non-profit agency, is a statewide organization committed to serving Latino Hoosiers. Our mission is to improve health and advance education for the Indiana Latino community through statewide advocacy, research, and culturally responsive programs.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Rafael Sanchez, President, Private Banking, Old National Bank, Board Chair Seth Morales, President & CEO, Morales Group, Board Vice Chair Dr. Virginia Caine, Director, Marion County Health Department, Board Secretary Oscar Gutierrez, President, Bondry Management Consultants, Board Treasurer Moira Carlstedt, President & CEO, INHP Carole Casto, Vice President of Marketing & Corporate Communications, Cummins Inc. Rebecca Espinoza Kubacki, Former State Legislator Charlie Garcia, President and Owner, C Garcia Associates Ricardo Garcia De Alba, Global Portfolio Leader, Enlist & Core Herbicides, Corteva Agriscience Rosemily Geyer, President & CEO, Geyer Fire Protection Jadira Hoptry, Director, Community Lending and Development, First Merchants Corporation Ryan Marques, Attorney, Lewis & Kappes James McBryant, Hendricks County Mike Merkel, Owner, La Rosa & Co. Mario Rodriguez, Executive Director, Indianapolis Airport Authority Matzine Sanchez-Gutierrez, Director of Account Management, Circle Logistics Art Vasquez, COO, IU Health Suburban Area Alfonso Vidal, President & CEO, Vidal Plastics
INDIANA LATINO LEADERSHIP CIRCLE The Leadership Circle is an annual, two year-long commitment that incorporates a multi-pronged approach to bringing Latino professionals front and center, both within the Latino community as well as within the larger community. Through individualized mentoring, networking leadership development opportunities, and think tank sessions based on issues of importance, these talented rising leaders will have a unique opportunity to learn from established community members as well as gain valuable skills that will focus on their own empowerment. MISSION: The purpose of The Leadership Circle is to identify and mentor emerging Latino leaders by connecting them with respected, influential community leaders and strategic empowerment opportunities. VISION: Our vision is to increase the pool of Latino leaders within Indiana to further the development of communities throughout the state. By nurturing young men and women statewide and connecting them with opportunities that make a significant community impact, we are directly raising the profile, well-being and economic impact of the community while building a solid foundation of bright, qualified Latino leaders as impactful citizens and role models for our youth.
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KEY COMPONENTS High Profile Mentoring Empowerment Opportunities Focused Leadership Training Civic Engagement Strategic Networking Think Tank Breakout Sessions Community Service Opportunities 3-Day Trip to Washington, D.C.
PROGRAM FOUNDERS
Steven Alonso, Former President, 5/3 Bank Enrique Conterno, Former Senior VP, Eli Lilly & Co., President - Lilly Diabetes, President- Lilly USA Marlene Dotson, President & CEO, Indiana Latino Institute Charlie Garcia, President & CEO, C Garcia Associates Rosemily Geyer, President & CEO, Geyer Fire Juan Gonzalez, President & CEO, Key Bank Seth Morales, President & COO, Morales Group Mario Rodriguez, Executive Director, Indianapolis Airport Authority Rafael Sanchez, President Private Banking, Old National Bank
CLASS OF 2020
Welcome Reception February 18, 2020
Program Sessions Leaders emerge responding to crisis. While 2020 was a tough year, it was rich with opportunities to learn. The Leadership Circle cohort witnessed firsthand how public and private sector leaders—invited as program speakers— were responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, the social unrest after George Floyd’s murder, and more. Precluded from holding most of the seminars in person, program participants had five sessions covering such topics as: Community Understanding, Civic Engagement, Understanding the Local Political Landscape, Corporate & Nonprofit Leadership, and Demographic Characteristics. They also learned about and discussed leadership styles, completed public-speaking training, and built their networks. Continuing into the program’s second year, the participants will be paired with high profile mentors, and, as a capstone experience, the cohort will travel in the fall to Washington, DC, to meet with national policy and community leaders. With gratitude to the employers who invested in their Latino talent, the 2020 Leadership Circle’s training, experiences, and reflective discussions have strengthened their capacity to lead, especially during the toughest of times.
Amanda Bonilla Executive Director for Student Diversity, Equity, and Belonging
Ivy Tech Community College Amanda Bonilla is an equity-minded professional rooted in community building and cross-cultural understanding and has worked the past 10 years in higher education settings. Currently, she is the Executive Director for Student Diversity, Equity, and Belonging at Ivy Tech Community College. Until recently, Amanda served as Assistant Director for the Social Justice Education program and initiatives at IUPUI and serves as the Latino Faculty Staff Council Chair. In addition to her work on campus, Amanda is the co-founder and lead education developer for the Inclusion Consultant Network (ICN). Amanda serves as a facilitator, trainer, keynote speaker and has traveled all across the country and worked with everyone from student athletes to corporate executives regarding issues of diversity and inclusion.
She received her Bachelors of Arts in Sociology from IUPUI in 2008 and her Masters of Science in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Indiana University Bloomington in 2011. Amanda is a proud chapter founder of Gamma Phi Omega Mentorship passes on knowledge, International Sorority Incorporated and skills, and experiences of seasoned professionals to newer ones in board member of Project Stepping order to develop both personally Stone; an Indiana-Latino College Prep and professionally program.
Victoria Garcia-Wilburn "The Leadership Circle created an affinity for shared experiences, lifelong friends and collaborators and exposure to change-makers in our state and beyond. The Circle has been instrumental in empowering me to stretch my leadership reach."
Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy
IUPUI
Victoria Garcia Wilburn, DHSc., OTR, CLT is Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy in the School of Health and Human Sciences at IUPUI. Garcia-Wilburn is a community engaged scholar practitioner specializing in implementing occupational therapy services for populations, organizations, and communities in under-served practice settings. Garcia-Wilburn’s research has been supported by the Indiana Clinical and Translational Science Institute, Overdose Lifeline, Inc, and Mental Health America of Indiana amongst others. Garcia-Wilburn graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy in 2005, and earned her Masters (2012) and Doctorate of Health Science in (2014) at the University of Indianapolis. She also aaaaaaaaaaaa holds a certificate in Change Leadership. Garcia-Wilburn is the immediate past president of the Indiana Occupational Therapy Association and is current Chair of the Affiliated State Association of Presidents for the American Occupational Therapy Association. She was awarded Occupational Therapist of the Year by the Indiana Occupational Therapy Association for 2018 and named to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Connection Cohort of 2019.
Sheryl Gonzalez is a Puerto Rico native and graduated from the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras Campus in 1999. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and has spent the majority of her career in the Pharmaceutical Industry supporting manufacturing as a strong individual contributor in a number of laboratory and quality assurance roles. Sheryl relocated to Indianapolis in 2012 and has worked since with Eli Lilly and Company. She held a series of jobs at Eli Lilly most recently as a recruiter for the Global Recruiting and Staffing organization.
In addition to her main role Sheryl has lead other initiatives at Lilly centered around philanthropy and diversity and inclusion including Diversity and Inclusion Chair for the Central Quality organization, executive board member of the Organization for Latinos and was a United Way lead ambassador for 2 years. In her free time Sheryl enjoys volunteering in the community in outreach efforts targeted to students from underrepresented backgrounds, traveling and spending time with her daughter Mariela and fiancĂŠ Aaron.
Sheryl Gonzalez Assistant Consultant Recruiter
Eli Lilly and Company
Cristian Guandique Data Engineer
KSM Consulting Cristian Guandique was born in San Francisco and raised in Pittsburg, California. His parents immigrated to the United States in the 1980s with a 6th-grade education after leaving El Salvador during the civil war. He is the first person in his family to obtain a college and graduate degree. At KSM Consulting, Cristian is a Data Engineer responsible for providing advanced data analytics consulting services. Cristian’s background is in data science and data architecture, but part of his maturation over the past year has involved engaging executive level stakeholders at the “business” level. With his depth of expertise in healthcare data, Cristian was uniquely qualified to orchestrate the challenging task of distilling an immense ocean of data into a tenable, relevant, and applicable subset of information that could be used to shed new light on the root causes of infant and maternal mortality. The result of Cristian’s work was the release of over 40 new publicly available datasets, an unprecedented amount of information on the subject that instantly made Indiana a national leader for the availability of infant and maternal health data. Cristian’s growth path will continue to include building solid technical and Leadership is being a fearless business relationships within FSSA to problem solver and connecting ensure their continued success as an with people to achieve a organization, and for the ultimate benefit common goal. of improving the health of Hoosiers.
Programs like the Leadership Circle provide a new generation of leaders access to opportunities for leadership development. Also, it creates a pipeline of future leaders who represent the community in which they live and work. Raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, Tracy graduated from Purdue University with a Master of Science in Aviation and Aerospace Management. Tracy began her career at the Indianapolis Airport Authority (IAA) as an Executive Intern during the summer of 2016, in which she was responsible for researching and assisting in updating the IAA Rules and Regulations of the Airport Use Plan. After graduating from Purdue, Tracy accepted a position at the IAA as Operations Assistant. This role included assisting the Senior Director of Operations and Public Safety and the Operations Team. In January 2020, Tracy transitioned to a role in the IAA’s Planning and Development Department as a project manager.
Tracy currently serves on the American Association of Airport Executives Young Professional’s Steering Committee and the Purdue School of Aviation and Transportation Technology Industry Advisory Committee. Tracy is also a member of the Purdue University Alumni Association and Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority, Inc. Tracy enjoys spending time with her family, reading in her free time and exploring museums.
Tracy Guerrero
Project Manager
Indianapolis Airport Authority
Manuela Higgins Executive Director of Latin@ Leadership
Programs like the Leadership Circle are important because it helps us to develop relationships, find our leadership skills, and take action!
Marian University
Born and raised in Colombia, Manuela earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism and social communication from the University of Manizales in Colombia. She also holds a master’s degree in leadership development from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in Terre Haute, Indiana. She began her career in Bogota as a journalist, reporter and TV Anchor at the international news channel NTN24. After that, she worked for the government as Digital Editor at the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chief communication Officer for the Security Advisor of the President of Colombia. In 2014 Manuela moved to Indianapolis where she worked at the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana as a Manager of the Hispanic Initiative and Director of a Community Engagement.
Currently, Manuela works at Marian University as the Executive Director of Latin@ Leadership where she continues doing what she is passionate about, supporting Latino youth. In this position, she is forming strategic community partnerships, creating intercultural engagement, recruiting students and promoting Latin@ student success.
Sales Operations Manager
Carrier Corporation
Aitziber Jimenez Esparza Aitzi (pronounced eye-chee) works as a Sales Operations Manager at Carrier Corporation where she leads the discovery of high-level, notable, data centric findings and guides their transformation into significant strategies that helps the sales organization hit their targets. She recently completed her MBA at Butler University, with concentrations in entrepreneurship and innovation, in May 2020. Aitzi also holds a double degree in Business Administration and Law from the Public University of Navarre in Pamplona, Spain. After having graduated from school, she was fortunate to have had several personal and professional experiences abroad in Bangladesh, Germany, Denmark and Singapore. While living in Bangladesh, she worked at the Spanish Embassy supporting daily operations and representing Spain at European Union and United Nations council meetings discussing financial aid and human rights issues. Motivated by this work, she continued her interest in women coniinued empowerment in Singapore by volunteering Mentors are meant to at an NGO that focused on providing a voice provide advice and feedback so they can be critical guardrails to the significant issues that women during your career, beyond (especially women of minority communities) simply providing key were facing in this country. connections along the way.
Crystal Neumann Assistant Provost, Business Professions
American College of Education Dr. Crystal Neumann, D.B.A., is the Assistant Provost for Business Professions for American College of Education. She previously worked in marketing and market research before she transitioned to higher education to work with and motivate adult learners. She has taught marketing and public relations in Germany and has worked as an administrator and instructor within higher education. Her work has been published in several journals, and she has presented at several national and international conferences.
Dr. Neumann continues to study leadership, marketing, and higher education. Her commitment and efforts toward making education affordable and accessible were recognized, in which she was selected as an honoree of Reverend Jesse L. Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Excel 2017.
Leadership is about being inquisitive and having the courage to be disruptive. What works today, does not always work for tomorrow. This program was crucial in helping me reflect upon the untapped interests I had and awakening the will to take action.
I see a mentor as a trusted friend and advisor who breathes life into your dream while also providing thoughtful guidance and opportunities for growth.
As The Mind Trust’s Senior Director of Talent, Sara Marshall leads the organization’s talent initiatives and strategies focused on recruiting and retaining high-quality educators in Indianapolis. In her work, Sara is driven to ensure equity and transparency drive all talent decisions and selections. At The Mind Trust, Sara also co-leads the organizations Diversity, Equity, and the Inclusion committee. Prior to The Mind Trust, Sara spent the past thirteen years dedicated to the community and students of Indianapolis.
A graduate of Butler University’s College of Education, Sara served seven years as a high school mathematics teacher in Pike Township. She then joined The New Teacher Project (TNTP) as an effectiveness coach, site manager, and as Director, spending the majority of her time with the Indianapolis Teaching Fellows (ITF) program. Sara is also received the TNTP Community Engagement Ambassador Award for 2018. Sara is a Council Advisor for Teachers Treasures, an advisor for Anda Spanish, and a KIPP Leadership Fellow. Sara is a third generation Mexican-American and a native of Sonoma, CA. She and her husband, Michael, have three sons, Jordan (23), Ezekiel (10), and Elijah (6).
Sara Marshall Senior Director of Talent
The Mind Trust
Andrew Peñalva
Registrar – Central Indiana Region
Ivy Tech Community College Born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Andrew is married and the father of four children. His hobbies include anything related to soccer and traveling. He is the Registrar for the Central Indiana region at Ivy Tech Community College. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from IUPUI, and his master’s degree in Inclusive Education from Nyack College in New York. Education has always been a passion of his as he taught ESL classes at the elementary level for seven years, was a high school political science teacher for four years, and currently works in higher education.
Being able to promote higher education in the Latino community and help those he meets navigate the enrollment process is what he loves to do. Education is a vital tool for the Latino community, but oftentimes there are many barriers and obstacles that aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa need to be overcome. Andrew thoroughly enjoys working with the Latino community Leadership is getting people to move to action towards a goal and helping individuals navigate their way and looking beyond technical through the ins and outs of higher solutions to challenging issues. education.
Paola Santana
Strategy Officer for State Policy
Lumina Foundation Paola Santana serves as Strategy Officer for State Policy at Lumina Foundation where she supports state efforts to increase postsecondary attainment and address racial disparities. Prior to joining Lumina, Santana led UNITE-LA’s, an affiliate of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. She was responsible for the implementation of direct service programming, the development of the Chamber’s higher education policy advocacy agenda and providing strategic support to the local Talent Hub. Santana began her career working for the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education where she advised board members on complex policy issues and worked to improve educational opportunities. She is a proud graduate of the Riordan Leadership Institute, the Pahara NextGen Network, and the California Education Policy Fellowship Program. Santana currently serves on the board of directors of the Foundation for the Los Angeles Community Colleges and the Ivy Tech Community College Statewide Diversity, Equity and Belonging Advisory Council. A first generation and community college transfer student, Santana earned Leadership is about using your her B.A. at the University of privilege to benefit others. Whether California, Berkeley and went on it’s your neighborhood, city, state, or to complete her Master’s in Higher your community, it’s ensuring that Education at the Harvard their voices are heard and that they Graduate School of Education. have a seat at the table.
I am a firm believer in the "iron sharpens iron" mentality. Programs that nurture leadership skills play a key role in building and sustaining a culture in which we are always working to better ourselves and each other. Kelvin Solares is a first-generation American Latino of Guatemalan heritage born and raised in California and moved to Indiana in 2005. Kelvin worked relentlessly and conscientiously to set the example for his younger siblings by becoming the first in the family to earn a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology at IUPUI. Throughout his undergraduate, Kelvin was able to confirm his passion working with people with developmental and cognitive disabilities that came from personal experiences with his youngest brother, who was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
His first career-based job in this field was with Noble Inc. a non-profit organization that creates opportunities for all disabilities to live meaningful and impactful lives. He started as a Direct Support Professional and is now the Program Manager. Since his first year of eligibility, Kelvin has been nominated for Employee of The Year for three consecutive years. This will mark Kelvin’s fifth year in the organization. Kelvin and his wife have recently welcomed a baby girl.
Kelvin Solares
Manager of Community Integration
Noble, Inc.
INDIANA LATINO LEADERSHIP CIRCLE Thank you for investing in your Latino talent!
INDIANA LATINO LEADERSHIP CIRCLE Thank you for investing in your Latino talent!