Marty Castro served as Chairman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights (“USCCR”), by appointment of President Barack Obama, from 2011 until December 2016. Mr. Castro was the first Latino Chairperson in the history of the USCCR. He is currently Interim CEO, Casa Central & President, Castro Synergies.
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A native of East Chicago, Indiana, Ms. Bombela-Tobias began her career as a reporter and joined former Illinois Governor James Thompson’s staff in 1978, as Assistant Press Secretary to the Governor. Rosemary was appointed Director of the Illinois Department of Human Rights by Governor Jim Edgar in 1991, making her the first Hispanic in Illinois history to serve as the Director in a cabinet level position.
She also co-authored the book “The Complete Job Search Guide for Latinos” published by Barron’s Educational Series.
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Carlos Tortolero is the Founder and President of the National Museum of Mexican Art. The Museum was founded in 1982 and opened its doors in 1987 with a collection of 800 pieces of art. Today, with a budget of approximately $5 million and a Permanent Collection of 10,000 pieces, the Museum is the largest Latino arts institution in the nation.
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Co-Founder & Late Executive Director.
A native of Puerto Rico and raised in Chicago, Myrna Salazar began her career as an Economic Development Specialist at the West Town Economic Development Corporation. In that capacity, she generated over $10 million in procurement housing and business development from both the private and public sectors. During that time, she completed a two-year fellowship with the National Economic Development Council and was appointed by the then Mayor of Chicago, Jane Byrne, to the Chicago Board of Education where she served for five years.
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Antonio also serves as the President of the Hispanic Bankers Association (HBA), and serves on several other Boards including Little Village Chamber of Commerce (LVCC), Eighteenth Street Development Corporation (ESDC), Latino Professionals for a Cause (LPC), Puerto Rican Arts Alliance (PRAA), and is a member of the Latino Advisory Council (LAC) for Catholic Charities.
Antonio is a Chicago native, married with 5 children; he joined Wintrust in July of 2010.
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Presently, Carlos directs all cultural programming, office operations, fundraising, board development and volunteer recruitment for the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance. Most recently, Carlos completed PRAA’s $2.5 million capital campaign drive and established an expanded Puerto Rican/Latino cultural center in the Logan Square/Avondale community of Chicago.
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Pepe Vargas grew up in a small town in Colombia. Under the direction of Mr. Vargas, the Chicago Latino Film Festival has evolved into the largest and best Latino film festival in the U.S. and is now Chicago’s biggest International Latino cultural event.
Building on the success of the Film Festival, Mr. Vargas created the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago to showcase the boundless multinational talent of Latino artists. The Center prides itself for its outstanding multidisciplinary and international cultural programming that includes a wide variety of art forms from Latin America, Spain, Portugal and the United States.
Mr. Vargas received his degree in Law & Social Sciences from the National University of Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1976. He studied at Columbia College Chicago and earned a degree in Broadcast Journalism & Television/Film production in 1985.
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