Thomas C. Nelson, PhD, former chief operating officer at AARP, is the President of Share Our Strength. Dr. Nelson oversees the day-to-day management of the organization, including working with the organization’s executive and senior teams to implement a strategic growth strategy. While at AARP, Dr. Nelson led the build-out of its state strategy in all 53 states and territories. He also led the reinvention of the AARP Foundation, which today serves those at risk of falling through our nation’s safety net as they struggle to meet their most basic needs. Dr. Nelson has a long history of service to civic organizations including the Board of ProInspire which is building the next generation of nonprofit leaders. Dr. Nelson also serves as Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, teaching in the MBA program about nonprofit leadership and management. He also serves on the Board of Counselors for the Davis Gerontology School at the University of Southern California. Dr. Nelson holds a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California and an M.A. from Columbia University.

 

Guarione M. Diaz is the President and Executive Director of the Cuban American National Council, Inc., (CNC), a private nonprofit organization founded in 1972.  CNC is engaged in research and in policy analysis, and conducts programs and services in the areas of leadership development, education, employment, housing and community development. Mr. Diaz’ responsibilities at the Council include the setting of operational policy, direction and administration of agency programs, and participation in national activities affecting Cubans, Hispanics and other minorities. Previously, Mr. Diaz held management positions at New York City’s Department of Employment and the Community Development Agency. Mr. Diaz has been actively involved in many community organizations in the Greater Miami area, including serving on the Board of Directors of Children Have All Rights: Legal, Educational, Emotional (CHARLEE); HACR; National Association for the Hispanic Elderly; National Council of La Raza; the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda and, the National Hispana Leadership Institute. In the last decade, Mr. Diaz has authored and/or edited two textbooks, over thirty research and policy papers, and written over fifty articles for newspapers and magazines.

 

Jorge Lambrinos is a founding director of the Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging at the University of Southern California (USC). Mr. Lambrinos has been actively involved in the field of aging for more than 30 years, developing programs and services that benefit the aging community. He spent several years in Washington, D.C. serving as the House Select Committee on Aging staff director, and as Congressman Edward R. Roybal’s chief of staff, helping the California congressman restore funding for low-cost health programs and expand public housing programs for seniors. After returning to California, Mr. Lambrinos was named director of the Roybal Institute for Applied Gerontology at California State University, Los Angeles, and stayed at the helm when it moved to USC in 2007. He is a member of the AARP California executive council and also was appointed to the California Commission on Aging. Mr. Lambrinos is also a veteran of the U.S. Army, having served in Operation Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Provide Comfort.

 

Dr. Octavio Martinez, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., F.A.P.A. is the fifth executive director and the first Hispanic to lead the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health since its creationin 1940. The foundation’s grants and programs support mental health services, research, policy analysis and public education projects in Texas. He currently serves on the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on the Mental Health Workforce for Geriatric Populations, and is also on the board of the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities Region VI Health Equity Board. Dr. Martinez is a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a member of the American College of Mental Health Administration, the National Hispanic Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, and the Texas Society for Psychiatric Physicians. From 2002 to 2006 he served as a Special Emphasis Panel Member for the National Institutes of Health, National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities. He is a recipient of the Adolph Meyer, M.D. Research Award in recognition of contributions in minority health and efforts to improve the mental health of allcitizens regardless of socioeconomic status. Dr.Martinez is also licensed to practice medicine in Texas and North Carolina and is a diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

 

Margaret O’Bryon is the President and CEO of the Consumer Health Foundation, the principal private, non-profit foundation concerned with health care access and health equity in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Ms. O’Bryon has led the foundation in spearheading major health equity and social justice initiatives, including significant work to advance safety-net primary care in the region and creating an innovative capacity-building program for grantees to provide training and consulting assistance in a variety of areas. A past fellow of the Kellogg National Leadership Program, Ms. O’Bryon has extensive experience in public health, grantmaking, and regional and urban planning. She has served as Past Chair of the Grantmakers in Health Board of Director, Chair of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leaders’ National Advisory Committee, and Executive Committee member and Past Chair of the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers Board of Directors.

 

Bernardo Ramirez is the Executive Director of the Hispanic Economic Development Corporation (HEDC) in Kansas City, Missouri. Established in 1993, HEDC is a non profit economic development corporation that exists to improve economic opportunities for the greater Kansas City area. Mr. Ramirez is responsible for the daily operations of the corporation including program planning that follows a strategic vision measured through accountability to various stakeholders. Prior, Mr. Ramirez was the Associate Director of Finance and Development for the Guadalupe Centers, Inc (GCI) responsible for the agency’s accounting and resource development. In addition, he was responsible for the agency’s operations including areas such as Information Technology, Human Resources, and Facilities Management. Bernardo was also responsible for the completion of the administrative building, a 24,000 square foot anchor in Kansas City’s historic Westside neighborhood. He has more than 20 years experience working with community-based organizations and advocating on behalf of Americans of Hispanic descent. From 1997 through 2001, Mr. Ramirez was the Deputy Vice President for the National Council of La Raza’s (NCLR), Office of Technical Assistance and Constituency Support in its Washington, DC headquarters. Mr. Ramirez managed and coordinated the programs of NCLR’s five regional offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Washington, DC. Prior to that he served as the Director of NCLR’s Midwest Regional Office in Chicago, IL providing various levels of assistance to more than 50 NCLR Midwest affiliates. In 1993, Mr. Ramirez left NCLR to obtain a master’s degree in business administration. He graduated from Rockhurst College in Kansas City, Missouri in 1996.

 

Bárbara Robles, PhD joined the College of Public Programs at Arizona State University as an Associate Professor in August 2005. She currently sits on the Board of Economic Advisors for the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and is a board member of United for a Fair Economy (UFE). She is the author of numerous books, including her most recent, The Color of Wealth: The Story Behind the U.S. Racial Wealth Divide (New Press, 2006). Formerly, Dr. Robles was a Revenue Estimator/Economist for the Joint Committee on Taxation. She is currently engaged in a five-year survey data collection effort with the Southwest border community-based agencies on financial behaviors and needs for low-resource working families. Dr. Robles teaches graduate courses in Latino Family Financial Fitness and Community Asset Building Policies and Community-University Collaborative Leadership at Arizona State University, and is a research fellow at the Filene Research Institute, the research arm for the Credit Union National Association (CUNA).

 

Eric Rodriguez, MPA, has been an advocate at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), where he helps to supervise and coordinate core operations of the Office of Research, Advocacy, and Legislation, for over twelve years. As part of his national-level policy and advocacy activities, Mr. Rodriguez has also written or contributed to many publications on economic issues and their impact on low-income Latinos. He also frequently testifies before Congress on Social Security reform, mortgage lending, welfare reform, and other major issues, and his work is regularly cited in both the English and Spanish media. Mr. Rodriguez, who holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from American University in Washington, DC, also serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of the Coalition on Human Needs (CHN).