Using deep experience Advocating for foster children Driving business forward

Age: 34

Title: Manager, HR Business

Partner

Organization: United Airlines

Juan Ortiz-Rivera was born and raised in Ciales, Puerto Rico. He majored in social sciences and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus. After graduating from college, Ortiz-Rivera completed a master’s degree in administration and cultural agency and supported different educational and cultural organizations before he joined the military.

At age 24, Ortiz-Rivera joined the U.S. Army Reserve as a human resources specialist and went to boot camp in Columbia, South Carolina. Back in Puerto Rico after his military training, Ortiz-Rivera was assigned to the 271st Postal Company. Illinois became home to Ortiz-Rivera in 2015. He fell in love with Chicago, and with support from his leaders was assigned to the Army Guard and Reserve in Chicagoland.

He transitioned to a civilian job with United Ground Express, a United Airlines subsidiary, in 2017 where Ortiz-Rivera developed his career as a human resources professional.

Ortiz-Rivera became the HR business partner for United Airlines at O’Hare International Airport in September 2021.

Age: 33

Title: National Schools

Account Manager

Organization: American Massage Therapy Association

Belem G. Paramo Vela is a passionate, energetic, warm-hearted, and extroverted queer Latina. She was born in Mexico, and her family moved to Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood when she was

1. In 2012, she received DACA status, and she became a U.S. citizen in 2019.

Paramo graduated with an associate’s degree from Richard J. Daley College in 2012 and completed a medical assistant certificate program from the Illinois School of Health Careers in 2008.

Paramo is currently the national schools account manager at the American Massage Therapy Association, the largest nonprofit association serving massage therapists, massage students, and massage schools across the country. She serves as a liaison to over 575 massage schools in the United States and Puerto Rico and leads a team of two who oversee student engagement and relationships with schools.

Paramo is one of two Latinas in leadership at AMTA. In 2015, she identified an opportunity to expand AMTA into Puerto Rico. In eight years, AMTA built a market of over 20 massage schools, over 700 students, and over 500 therapists in that market.