Staff

Luis Gutierrez

Executive Director

Luis founded Latinos Progresando in January 1998 at the age of 24 to address the lack of high-quality, accessible, culturally- and linguistically-sensitive community resources in his home neighborhood, Little Village. Before founding the organization, Luis worked as a restaurant manager, and then as a Citizenship Coordinator for Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, a Chicago-based organization offering assistance to immigrants seeking to become United States citizens. Since founding the organization, he has lead Latinos Progresando as its Executive Director and as a member of its Board of Directors.

Luis was born and raised in the Chicago neighborhood of Little Village (a.k.a. South Lawndale), where Latinos Progresando is based and located. He currently resides in Pilsen, the other Chicago neighborhood that is home to a significant portion of LP’s client base and activities. Luis’s unique personal proximity to the communities that LP serves gives him invaluable insight into the needs of those communities and has enabled him to cultivate the organization’s trademark model of constituent-led and constituent–informed programming.

In 2005, Luis was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation by the City of Chicago in recognition of his service to the local community as a nonprofit leader. In 2006, he was nominated for the Immigrant and Refugee Contributions Award, and in 2007, was awarded a 35 under 35 Leadership Award by the Chicago-based Community Renewal Society. Currently, Luis sits on the Board of Directors for the Latino Policy Forum, where he is the Chair of the Sub-Committee on Immigration Policy. Additionally, he sits on an Associate Board of Directors for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) and for the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Foundation. Finally, Luis also sits on the Illinois Steering Committee of the National Alliance for Latin American and Caribbean Communities

E-mail Luis: luis@latinospro.org

Marcy Gonzalez

Legal Services Program Supervisor

Marcy Joined Latinos Progresando in 2006. Marcy manages the day-to-day operations of the Legal Immigration Services Program and assists clients in filing for immigration benefits. Marcy is responsible for connecting the Legal Services and Community Education Programs, and she often represents the agency at workshops organized by Latinos Progresando or other community organizations. Marcy has 15 years of management experience with Burger King/Heartland Foods, where she specialized in customer service training and management.  Marcy has recently attained certification from the Board of Immigration Appeals and is currently studying to be certified as a Microsoft specialist.

E-mail Marcy: marcy@latinospro.org

Adrienne Lange

Director of Development

bio coming soon.
bio coming soon.
bio coming soon.

E-mail Adrienne: adrienne@latinospro.org

Edgar Pineda

Marketing Director

Edgar began volunteering for Latinos Progresando in August of 2009, offering pro bono graphic design work. He then moved on to be the head graphic designer and to help organize the annual Holiday Party fundraiser, all as a volunteer. In January of 2010, Edgar was hired as LP’s Marketing Director. Edgar’s goal is to revamp the organization’s image and to work with LP’s directors to develop strategies and initiatives to reach the maximum amount of individuals who can benefit from and support the organization’s services.

E-mail Edgar: edgar@latinospro.org

Araceli Dominguez

Receptionist

Araceli Dominguez joined Latinos Progresando in 2010, after graduating from World Language High School located in Little Village. Araceli’s mom attained residency as a client of Legal Services Program Director Marcy Gonzalez, and during the process, Araceli learned that LP was looking for a receptionist. She is grateful for the opportunity to learn new things and feels happy and empowered to be helping others with their immigration cases. Araceli is working toward becoming an LP caseworker this spring.

E-mail Araceli: araceli@latinospro.org

Emmanuel Gutierrez

Co-Artistic Director

At age 13, Emmanuel began volunteering for Latinos Progresando.  While Emmanuel was ostensibly volunteering to help out Luis and Deyanira Gutierrez, his older siblings, on a deeper level, his work was motivated by the goal of helping his community.  As he continued to volunteer, Emmanuel grew interested in theater and performing arts. He got involved with Teatro Americano and began to cultivate and express his artistic abilities.  Then, after years of balancing his time between Teatro Americano and Harold Washington College, Emmanuel was promoted to Co-Artistic Director of Teatro Americano.  Working with Teatro has motivated Emmanuel to be more aware of his future and his priorities.  Now, Emmanuel is involved in the After School Matters Program (ASMP) where he teaches youth how to act, write, and manage theater companies.  As part of that work, he also helps youth get involved with proactive organizations, like LP, that can help them prepare for future education and goals.  Recently, Emmanuel directed the play I Am, and he just finished teaching his 3rd year of the SALUD Project, sponsored by After School Matters, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Benton Foundation.  Emmanuel enjoys working with children and youth, and admires people that bond like a family to achieve common goals, as they do at LP.

E-mail Emmanuel: emmanuel@latinospro.org

Mary Carmen Rincón

Internal Controls

Mary Carmen originally came to LP as a newlywed client seeking residency from a petition submitted by her husband, Rene Rincón. She successfully applied for her residency and thereafter applied to work as an accountant for Latinos Progresando. Mary Carmen received her Public Accountant title from la Universidad de Autónoma de Aguascalientes (UAA) in Mexico where she graduated ranking number three in the entire state of Aguascalientes. At LP, Mary Carmen is in charge of the Accounting Department where she administers all of the staff’s internal controls, including direct deposits, checking, schedules, supplies, and budgets.

E-mail Mary Carmen: marycarmen@latinospro.org

Deyanira Gutierrez

Accredited Representative

Deyanira is LP’s Board of Immigration Appeals accredited representative. She has been with Latinos Progresando since February 2001. Her previous work experience includes: Citibank Corporation, where she worked as a teller, customer service representative, and administered the safety deposits. She also worked for Public Allies, an Americorps Program dedicated to training young leaders by placing them in nonprofit organizations for 10 months of service.

E-mail Deyanira: deyanira@latinospro.org

Cristina Tabares

Accredited Representative

In 2007, Cristy walked through Latinos Progresando’s doors as a client seeking residency through her husband. After receiving permanent residency, she asked if there were any job opportunities for her. She simply loved the way the legal services program managed everything in a timely and orderly fashion. In 2008, LP called Cristy to apply for the position of a part-time receptionist. After being hired, she performed these responsibilities while undergoing training to become a Legal Services Caseworker. In 2009, Cristy officially became an Immigration Caseworker. She helps clients receive their green cards, work permits, residency, and other status adjustments. Cristy absolutely loves working with her clients because seeing them receive their desired paperwork is incredibly rewarding. In April 2011, she received accreditation from the Board of Immigration Appeals and, for further professional development, she also regularly attends workshops held at DePaul University that are designed by private lawyers and helps to educate other caseworkers. Cristy admires the environment in the LP building and loves what LP stands for.

E-mail Cristy: cristy@latinospro.org

Jennifer Rubio

Immigration Caseworker

Jennifer received her bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Anthropology from Augustana College in 2009. Informed by her past anthropological research in both the U.S. and Latin America, Jennifer wanted to work closely with the undocumented community of Chicago after she graduated. In search of an internship, Jennifer came across Latinos Progresando, a non-profit organization which described exactly what she longed to do. In January 2010, Jennifer began as a Legal Services intern, where she assisted Director Marselina Gonzalez with a variety of cases. In May 2011, Jennifer was hired and she joined the LP staff as a caseworker.  She is very grateful for the opportunities that LP has bestowed upon her.

E-mail Jennifer: rubio@latinospro.org