Roberto CarmonaCEO, Crimson Leadership Group, Inc.Chicago, IllinoisRoberto Carmona has over 15 years of experience in management, human resources, strategic planning and leadership development in the federal government, the private sector and the non-profit sector. In 2002-2003 Roberto was awarded the National Council of La Raza’s Mid Career Fellowship to attend the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
After completing a Masters Degree in Public Administration at Harvard, he returned to Washington, D.C. as Director of Programs for the New America Alliance (NAA). Roberto was lead advocate for the NAA on Capitol Hill and to the White House; he coordinated the NAA's 2003 Wall Street Summit in New York, represented the NAA on the Congressional Hispanic Caucus' Task Force on Corporate America and served as Project Director for the publication of a study entitled "The Status of American Latinos in Financial Services."
In 2004, Roberto returned to Chicago and served as an environmental justice consultant for the Federal Aviation Administration's oversight of the O'Hare Airport Modernization Program. During this time, Roberto was a marketing and professional development consultant to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) in Washington, D.C. Roberto has also served as a consultant to the American Colleges of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and assisted in the launching of the National Forum of Latino Hospital Executives (NFLHE). Along with his masters from Harvard, Roberto holds a Master of Arts in Political Science from Northeastern Illinois University.
Voces Verdes Advisory Board
For general questions about Voces Verdes please write to vocesv@gmail.com
For media inquiries please contact: Adrianna Quintero, 415-875-6100
Copyright 2010 Voces Verdes
Santiago CuetoFounding Partner, Cueto Law Group, LLC Coral Gables, FloridaMr. Cueto is founding partner of the Cueto Law Group, where his practice focuses on international business law with an emphasis on class action and international commercial litigation, arbitration and transactions. Santiago has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business News, CNBC, Forbes, National Law Journal, PC World, Daily Business Review, Los Angeles Business Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Entrepreneur and many others.
The Cueto Law Group is the first law firm to accept carbon credits as a form of payment. Prior to founding Cueto Law Group, Santiago worked at one of the largest law firms in the country and for a Wall Street-based law firm. He has represented Fortune 100 companies and foreign governments in a variety of complex commercial litigation and transactions matters. His international education and experience has served to counsel companies operating throughout the world. He currently serves as executive counsel to companies in the global supply and communications industries.
Santiago volunteers his time assisting impoverished communities around the world. He recently traveled to New Delhi, India to help establish a literacy program for the city’s primary schools. Through his relationship with Kiva.org, he has worked to distribute microloans to struggling entrepreneurs in over 15 countries including Peru, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Cambodia, Indonesia, Samoa and Nepal.
Nicolas IbarguenPresident, ABC Green ForumMiami, FloridaNicolas Ibargüen is the Publisher of PODER International, representing Televisa, the largest Spanish media company in the world, and President of the Americas Business Council Planet Initiatives.
Nicolas is responsible for managing the day-to-day business operations of PODER’s publications and expanding the magazine’s presence around the world. Under Ibargüen’s tenure, PODER has grown from a 25,000 base circulation to over 400,000 and expanded from three editions--US, Mexico and Colombia--to eight editions including regional editions for Miami, Chile, Venezuela, Argentina and Peru. PODER Magazine has become a respected and reliable resource of information on news about Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic Marketplace as well as a bridge between the two communities.
Nicolas founded, organized and hosted the Green Forum in Miami, the first environmental Forum dedicated to the Hispanic community in the U.S., with the participation of Al Gore and in association with National Geographic, Natural Resources Defense Council and Environmental Defense. He is also the President of the Planet initiative of the Americas Business Council (ABC), an undertaking launched by ABC in 2009 with the Green Forum: Oceans.
Adrianna QuinteroDirector, La Onda Verde de NRDCSan Francisco, CaliforniaAdrianna Quintero is the founder and director of the Natural Resource Defense Council's Latino Advocacy program La Onda Verde and a senior attorney with NRDC. La Onda Verde is designed to provide Hispanics nationwide with bilingual access to environmental information and the tools with which to get involved.
NRDC’s Latino Outreach efforts were launched in 2004 and have since evolved into a program with global reach, supported by many Spanish-language eco-activists, celebrities and other prominent Latinos. La Onda Verde’s Web site, www.laondaverde.org, includes a blog, Pulso Verde (www.pulsoverde.nrdc.org), and e-newsletter, Notiverdes, and is widely recognized by Spanish language media as the go-to resource on environmental issues.
Elsa RamirezGlobal Warming Program Field Director,League of Conservation VotersMiami, FloridaElsa C. Ramirez is the Global Warming Program Field Director for the League of Conservation Voters in Washington, D.C., overseeing field activities for LCV’s “The Heat is On” campaign in the Southwest. Elsa is also the Latino Outreach coordinator for the Clean Energy Works campaign, a coalition campaign focused on passing federal comprehensive climate change legislation.
Elsa has a strong background in political campaigns and issues in the United States and United Kingdom. She has served as the Chief of Staff for State Representative Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio) in Austin. She has worked on former Vice President Al Gore’s Presidential campaign, former Congressman Richard Gephardt’s Presidential primary campaign and with several issue campaigns, including NARAL, Pro-Choice America, the Children’s Defense Fund and the American Constitution Society, during off-year cycles.
In the U.K., Elsa worked for Sarah McCarthy Fry and former Member of Parliament for Portsmouth North, and was a Regional Organizer for the Labour Party. Elsa holds a Master’s degree in Politics from London Metropolitan University and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from George Washington University. She is originally from South Texas.
Mildred RealDirector, Common Ground for ConservationMiami, FloridaMildred Real is the founder and director of Common for Ground Conservation (CGC) a 501(c)(3) located in Miami, Florida, dedicated to informing the Hispanic community on environmental issues. Mildred is an environmental lawyer who received her law degree from the University Santa Maria (Venezuela) and her Masters in Environmental Management from the UNEFA (Venezuela).
Born in Venezuela, Mildred came to the US with her family and founded CGC in order to further environmental education for the Hispanic community in the United States and Latin America, focusing on the premise that “knowledge is power.” Mildred is a strong believer that “communication is everything” and as such, authors a popular blog while also publishing Terra-Mater magazine (www.terra-mater.net).
She is a charter member of Vitalis and the Venezuelan Society of Environmental Law and is frequently featured on Spanish language television and radio. Mildred recently founded America Verde, an effort by CGC to involve artists in environmental communications. Find out more at www.americaverde.org
Photo coming soon.
Jorge MadridResearch Associate,Center for American ProgressWashington, D.C.Jorge Madrid is a research associate for the Energy Policy Team at the Center for American Progress, assisting Van Jones in spearheading the Green Opportunity Initiative. Prior to joining American Progress, Jorge worked as a legislative fellow in the office of Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), where he assisted with energy, technology, environmental, and transportation policy. While in the Senate, Jorge worked closely with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Task Force on Climate Change and the Green Economy, collaborating with legislators and stakeholder groups to develop national policy priorities and a strategic plan to include Latinos and underrepresented communities in the economic potential of the green economy.
As a graduate student, Jorge worked in the office of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, providing research assistance and policy recommendations for the creation of a clean technology business cluster for the city, as well as job creation and antipoverty measures. In addition, he served as a consultant for the Los Angeles Infrastructure Academy, a nonprofit organization focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, or STEM, education, and green jobs training for inner-city youth. Jorge also served on the board of advisors for East Los Angeles Community College, in their green pathways program.
Jorge completed a dual master’s degree program in urban planning and public administration at the University of Southern California. His research and core degree concentrations were urban economic development and environmental sustainability. While at USC, Jorge participated in an international consulting project through the U.N.-Habitat program, creating sustainable development recommendations for the Favela-Barrio project in Rio De Janiero, Brazil. Jorge received undergraduate degrees in history and Latin America studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
