Staff

 

Araceli Dominguez

Legal Services Caseworker

E-mail Araceli: araceli@latinospro.org

Araceli joined LP in 2010, shortly after her own mother attained residency as a client of LP’s Legal Services program. She graduated in 2010 from Little Village’s World Language High School and is now working toward becoming an LP caseworker. Araceli feels happy and empowered to be helping others with their immigration cases.

 

Marcy Gonzalez

Legal Services Program Director

E-mail Marcy: marcy@latinospro.org

Marcy joined LP in 2006, and she manages the daily operations of the Legal Services Program and assists clients in filing for immigration benefits. Marcy ensures that LP’s Legal Services team regularly offers education workshops to communities across Chicago, and she often represents the agency at those workshops. Marcy also prioritizes continuing education for her staff, and ensures that Legal Services stay up-to-date about the latest developments in immigration law. Marcy has fifteen years of managient experience with Burger King/Heartland Foods, where she specialized in customer service training and managient. She has attained certification from the Board of Immigration Appeals.

 

Deyanira Gutierrez

Legal Services Accredited Representative

E-mail Deyanira: deyanira@latinospro.org

Deyanira has been part of the LP family since 2001. She currently serves as a caseworker in the Legal Services program, assisting clients in filing for immigration benefits. She is accredited by the Board of Immigration Appeals. She previously worked for Public Allies, an Americorps Program dedicated to training young leaders by placing thi in nonprofit organizations for ten months of service. She has also held several roles at Citibank Corporation including teller, customer service representative, and safety deposit administrator.

 

Luis Gutierrez

Executive Director

E-mail Luis: luis@latinospro.org

Luis founded Latinos Progresando at the age of 24, to serve Chicago’s Pilsen and Little Village communities where he was born and raised, and continues to live today. Beginning in a small office on 18th Street, Luis has built and leads a now 14-year-old organization that reaches more than 3,000 families every year.

In 2010, Luis was also responsible for founding the Marshall Square Resource Network (MSRN), a collaborative of 13 nonprofit organizations in the Little Village community that meets monthly to share best practices, develop programmatic partnerships, and host presentations from foundations and industry experts. In 2011, Luis traveled to Cuba, where he led a session on mission and vision development for leaders in the Cuban social justice community.

Currently, Luis is participating in the 2012 cohort of Donors Forum’s “Communities of Practice,” a year-long program that brings together leaders from both the nonprofit and funding communities to discuss true costs of running nonprofit organizations. Luis also chairs the Immigration Acuerdo of the Latino Policy Forum, where he serves on the Board of Directors. He is a miber of the Illinois Steering Committee of the National Alliance for Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC), and serves on the board of the Mexican Civic Society of Illinois.

Luis received a Certificate of Appreciation from the City of Chicago in 2005, a “35 Under 35” Leadership Award from the Community Renewal Society in 2007, the Community Partner Award from the University of Chicago, and the Excellence in Community Service Award from MALDEF in 2011.

 

Cecilie Keenan

Director of Arts Programming and Outreach

E-mail Cecilie: cecilie@latinospro.org

Cecilie D. Keenan most recently collaborated with the Goodman on El Nogalar during the 2010/2011 Season. Ms. Keenan is a freelance director and producer who has been active in the Chicago theater community for more than 20 years. She has directed Teatro Vista productions for almost 11 years, and her credits include The Messenger (an adaptation of the novel for the Goodman’s Latino Theatre Festival), Dreamlandia, Another Part of the House and Living Out. Recently, Ms. Keenan directed the Jeff Award-winning Tobacco Road at American Blues Theater and Joel Drake Johnson’s End of the Tour at 16th Street Theater in Berwyn. Along with business partner Edward Torres, Ms. Keenan has been instrumental in the growth of Teatro Vista, where her recent productions include The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity and Our Lady of the Underpass. She has been a frequent director and sometimes artistic and/or managing director at many Chicago theaters, including American Blues Theater, Apple Tree Theatre, American Theater Company, Bailiwick Chicago, Northlight Theatre and Collaboraction, where she directed the highly acclaimed The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow.

 

Adrienne Lange

Director of Development

E-mail Adrienne: adrienne@latinospro.org

Adrienne joined the staff of Latinos Progresando as the Director of Development in August 2011 after working for several months as a volunteer. Prior to her work at LP, Ms. Lange worked for three years as the Assistant Director of Development & Communications for Erie Neighborhood House, and one year as the Development Assistant at Smart Love Family Services, two Chicago-based nonprofit organizations. Adrienne holds a bachelors degree in Fine Art from DePaul University and a graduate certificate in Nonprofit Managient from North Park University.

 

Edgar Pineda

Marketing Director

E-mail Edgar: edgar@latinospro.org

Edgar began volunteering for LP in 2009, offering pro bono graphic design work. He then transitioned to the head graphic designer role and helped organize the annual Holiday Party fundraiser, all as a volunteer. In 2010, Edgar became LP’s Marketing Director. His goal is to revamp the organization’s image and to work with LP’s directors to develop strategies and initiatives to best reach individuals who can benefit from LP’s services.

 

Mary Carmen Rincón

Internal Controls

E-mail Mary Carmen: marycarmen@latinospro.org

Mary Carmen originally came to LP as a newlywed who was seeking residency. She successfully applied for her residency with LP, and then successfully applied to work as an accountant for LP. Mary Carmen earned her Public Accountant title from la Universidad de Autónoma de Aguascalientes in Mexico where she graduated third in the entire state of Aguascalientes. At LP, Mary Carmen leads the Accounting Department.

 

Jennifer Rubio

Legal Services Caseworker

E-mail Jennifer: rubio@latinospro.org

Jennifer earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Anthropology from Augustana College in 2009. Jennifer’s anthropological research in the U.S. and Latin America motivated her to work with the Chicago’s undocumented community. After she graduated, she began working as LP’s Legal Services intern in 2010. In 2011, Jennifer joined the LP staff as a full-time caseworker. She is grateful for the opportunities that LP has bestowed upon her.

 

Cristina Tabares

Legal Services Accredited Representative

E-mail Cristy: cristy@latinospro.org

Cristy first walked through LP’s doors when she was a client seeking residency. LP helped Cristy receive her permanent residency and, because she admired the way the Legal Services program managed her case, Cristy pursued iployment with LP. In 2008, Cristy became LP’s part-time receptionist. Later that year, she became a Legal Services caseworker, and now she specializes in helping clients receive their green cards, work permits, residency, and other status adjustments. In 2011, she received accreditation from the Board of Immigration Appeals. Cristy admires the environment at LP and loves what LP signifies.

 

Nohemi Viramontes

Receptionist

E-mail Nohemi: nohemi@latinospro.org

Nohemi first came to Latinos Progresando as a client seeking citizenship for herself and permanent residency for her father. As of August 2012, she joined LP as our new receptionist. Nohemi said she had to take the opportunity, because that is how she will “be able to climb the ladder in life to do better.” With this one open door, she hopes to do her best as a receptionist and eventually work toward becoming an LP caseworker. She is excited to make the most of this opportunity and to help others with their own immigration cases so that they too can have an open door to start climbing the ladder to a better life in America.