| Susan Avalos was one of a handful of Hispanic students out of 1,000 in high school, but involvement in class and community projects opened the door to attending college. Since graduation from Loyola University's dental hygiene program, she has worked with Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals, taught Dental Hygiene at UIC Dental School for the past 8 years, and served on the Board of Directors for College of Lake County. She has enjoyed a successful and diverse career as a RDH (registered dental hygienist) for 22 years. |
| Irma Bates was born in Chicago and studied in Mexico. She is now co-owner and Vice President of Montenegro Paper, a minority-owned wholesale paper distributor that sells paper to Fortune 500 companies such as AT&T, General Mills and Wells Fargo. |
| Deslyn Browne, M.D. is an OB/GYN physician at Dreyer Medical Clinic, specializing in adolescent care. She was born and raised in the Caribbean, graduated from St. John Hospital/Medical Center in Michigan in 2007 and now resides in Aurora. |
| Tiffany Michelle Bruessard, a first generation college graduate in her family, earned her BS in Broadcast Journalism and Masters in Communications and Training from Governors State University. Currently a GED Instructor at Prairie State College and Speech Coach for the Forensics Team at the College of DuPage, she teaches courses on career development, speech and group communications. |
| Yvonne Costa, D.V.M., born and raised in Puerto Rico, pursued her pre-veterinary studies at Kansas State University and graduated from Ohio State with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1987. She has practiced as a small animal clinician for 24 years. |
| Lourdes Duarte, keynote speaker for the 2009 Dare to Dream Conference, is co-anchor of WGN Evening News from 5-6 pm and host of Adelante Chicago, bi-weekly Saturdays from 6:30-7 am. Lourdes has won several awards and two Emmys for her journalistic work. |
| Rita Gonzalez founded the non-profit Hispanics United of DuPage, worked against gang activity, won the largest ever discrimination lawsuit against the government and propelled herself as a political activist into winning election to the DuPage County Board in 2008. |
| Saraliz Jimenez is the College of DuPage Latino Center Coordinator, a former Admissions Specialist. She received her Associates in Arts and Dental Assistant Certificate at Morton College, her Bachelor's degree at Dominican University, her MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Business. She is now working on a third degree, Master of Science in Education degree from National Louis University, while raising two children ages 2 and 4. |
| Rosie Kusch is a Project Electrical Engineer with Middough Company in Oak Brook, specializing in power and petrochemical plants. She is also in the Power Engineering Masters Degree Program at IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology). Rosie encourages engineering for girls, transforming ideas into reality, knowledge giving power and donates her time to Dare to Dream's Fall STEM Conference. |
| Laura Mitacek, J.D., a former DuPage County Assistant State's Attorney, is now a solo practitioner, concentrating in criminal defense. As a former chemist for two different crime labs, she testified in court as an expert witness in criminal cases, then learned to try cases. |
| Betsy Ortiz, a US General Services Administration Supervisor, volunteers her time for animal rescue efforts, homeless outreach, fundraising 5K and 8K runs, Marathon Kids and now Dare to Dream. She earned her BA from Elmhurst, MA from Lewis University. |
| Laura Piniero, M.D., is an OB/GYN physician at Dreyer Medical Clinic. She volunteers her services as the Medical Director of the Pregnancy Information Center, an outreach clinic that provides medical care and services to women who are in a crisis pregnancy. |
| Dora Praxedis is a scholarship graduate of DePaul University, employed as an accountant at SWC Technology Partners in Oak Brook, thanks to the support of Teen Parent Connection, which mentored her through her teen pregnancy. She is now the mother of two. |
| Ennedy Rivera, J.D. is an immigration, civil and federal litigation attorney. She received her BA from University of Illinois in Pre-Medicine and Spanish, but went to DePaul Law School when working at a rape crisis center sparked her interest in law and advocacy. |
| Argentina Leyva Rodriguez is a bi-lingual chemical engineer at Argonne National Labs, researching and developing separation of spent nuclear fuel. She is also a world-renowned portrait and wedding photographer. Visit her website at www.argentinaleyva.com. |
| Jackie Camacho-Ruiz is the Make-It-Happen Director of JJR Marketing Consultants and author of The Little Book of Business Secrets That Work! A successful entrepreneur in marketing, sales and business communications, Jackie is a newspaper columnist, regular radio host and TV guest. |
| Eva Sanchez, a native of Guatemala City, came to the US at age 17. Without forgetting her origin, she has overcome language and cultural barriers by educating herself and fully embracing the North American culture, first learning to speak English and then earning a B.S. from Elmhurst College. She is a mother of three and an accomplished Real Estate agent with Coldwell Banker Residential. |
| Juanita Silva took the Chicago Fire Department firefighting test her senior year in college, after changing her major from pre-medicine to psychology to P.E. teaching, but it took them ten years to contact her. She became a Chicago firefighter in 2006 and loves it! |
| Carmen Simon came to the USA from Mexico, worked in a factory, obtained a beautician's license, set up practice on her porch, became a US citizen, initiated citizenship drives for others, and became an entrepreneur, buying a restaurant and two beauty salons. |
| Sylvia Cadena Smith, founder and owner of Cadena Smith Enterprises, is an educator in instructional design, a consultant, presenter, writer of articles and developer of See-N-Read®, a tool for reading fluency and comprehension. |
| Vanessa Sierra Stanley is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist with the University of Chicago Hospitals. Prior to her residency, she did surgical intensive care, cardiac care, and volunteered with Healing, Health and Hope repairing cleft lips and palates and skin grafting of burns for infants and children in Honduras and Nicaragua. |
| Maria Vazquez grew up on Chicago's near-west-side, obtained a Associates Degree in Business, and at age 22 began an Audio/Visual business that grew from a small start-up into a fairly good-sized Direct Mail operation, MLS Mailing, Inc. where she is still President. She is a proud mom of two girls and is happily married for 28 years and counting. |
| Joan Velez is former Military and a Business Law graduate of DePaul University. She is employed as an Elmhurst Police Officer and is currently attending graduate school a TCSPP for a Master's degree in Forensic Psychology. Joan comes from a family of law enforcement and is very proud to be a part of an organization that can make a difference.
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