Carlos R. Charneco-y(DES)

Carlos Charneco has been a member of the Illinois Association of Hispanic State Employees for the last 15 years serving as a board member for the last two years.

JOSE M. PRADO. I WAS BORN IN MEXICO CITY, MEXICO. I BEGAN MY CAREER IN LAW ENFORCEMENT IN 1988, WHEN I GRADUATED FROM THE PROFESSIONAL CAREER CENTER WITH A DIPLOMA IN PRIVATE SECURITY AND INVESTIGATIONS. I GRADUATED WITH HONORS AND BECAME THE CLASS VALEDICTORIAN. I WORKED IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR FOR ABOUT 10 YEARS, WHILE WORKING AS A VOLUNTEER FOR THE CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT. I SERVED AS AN ADULT ADVISOR FOR THE LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPLORER PROGRAM.  IN 1998, I JOINED THE ILLINOIS DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS AND WAS ASSIGNED TO THE JOLIET CORRECTIONAL CENTER AS A CORRECTIONAL OFFICER.  IN 1999, I JOINED THE ILLINOIS ASSOCIATION OF HISPANIC STATE EMPLOYEES (IAHSE). WHEN JOLIET C.C. WAS CLOSED, I WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE STATEVILLE CORRECTIONAL CENTER AND STILL THERE.

I HAVE JOINED SEVERAL COMMUNITY AND PROFFESIONAL ORGANIZATIONS. IM A TEAM LEADER OF THE STATEVILLE TACTICAL UNIT, INSTITUTIONAL TRUSTEE FOR THE I.D.O.C. FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE LODGE #263, AND JUNIOR WARDEN FOR ASHBY B. CARTER MASONIC LODGE # 138. I THINK THAT I COULD BE AN ASSET FOR IAHSE BECAUSE OF MY EXPERIENCE AND WILLINGNESS TO MOVE FORWARD AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Sylvia C. Fonseca obtained her Masters of Social Work from George Williams College of Aurora of University in May 1998. She has been employed with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services for over 23 years.  Prior to coming to the Department she worked at Association House of Chicago.  She has worked as a Childcare Worker, Therapist, Child Protection Investigator, Case Manager, Emergency Resource Worker, E.E.O. Specialist/Recruiter, an Adoption Worker, as the Assistant to the Statewide Immigration Coordinator and currently Adminstrative Assistant staff to the Guardian.

Sylvia has been a youth minister for seven years and taught Sunday school for three years at Maternity B.V.M. in the Humboldt Park area. She currently is Parish Council at Saint Viators Catholic Church.

Sylvia has been an active member of the Latino Advisory Committee to the Director for over seventeen years and has served as Vice-Chair and Chairwoman of the Committee. She has been an active member of the Latino Family Conference Planning Committee for over nineteen years. She also has served for three years on the Conference Coordinating Committee.

Gloria Rios Richard has been with the Illinois Department of Employment Security since in 1980. She is currently the local office manager at the IDES Kankakee office.  A daughter to parents who were migrant seasonal farm workers, her work at IDES included advocating for the migrant seasonal farm workers, their families and the Hispanic community.  A resident of Kankakee, she continues to assist those within the Hispanic community. 

Veronica Aguirre is a native of Chicago and throughout her professional career has always worked serving the public in a variety of capacities with non-profit organizations and state government. She has worked for the 18th Street Development Corporation, National Council of La Raza and Latino Youth servicing the Latino communities. Currently, she is employed as a Claims Analyst in the Crime Victims Division with the Illinois Attorney General's Office and has been with the office since 1993. She has been an active union member of the Illinois Federation of Public Employees Local 4408 and was recently re-elected as Area Vice-President.

Richard Echevarria, a Child Protective Advance Specialist, for I.D.C.F.S has 12 years experience in working with Spanish Speaking/Latino families for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.  He develops and presents workshops for the Latino Social Worker Organization of Illinois as well as a presenter for workshops for DCFS, Illinois Board of Education, LSWO, and local schools regarding cultural competencies and child maltreatment issues. He is a Certified Union Steward for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal employee local 2081.  He has worked with the Hotel and Employee Restaurant Employee Union Local 1 with fundraising and gathering national support for undocumented worker rights. Richard is a long time member of the Illinois Association of Hispanic State Employees. He has B.A. from Northern Illinois University and a M.A. from the University of Chicago.

Carmen Medina is an attorney with the Department of Human Rights receiving her law degree from DePaul University. She has been a long time IAHSE member and currently serves on the Illinois Hispanic Scholarship Foundation. Previously she was employed as an attorney for Child and Family Services.

Naomi Velazquez Greene is a Principal Consultant with Illinois State Board of Education where she has been for three years. In her role at ISBE she works with downstate school districts advocating for bilingual services to students and working with districts to apply for state and federal funds. Prior to working for ISBE, Naomi established herself as a journalist and public relations professional. In her 25 year career in the media she worked for print, radio and television, including WGN- TV and UPI in Chicago. As a public relations professional, she worked for the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora and for St. John's Hospital in Springfield.

She first came to IAHSE the 1980s and attended some of the organization's first planning meetings. She also helped format, write and publish IAHSE's first newsletters. As a graduate student intern, she was a recipient of an IAHSE scholarship which helped her earn her Master's degree in communications.

Among her other organizations, Naomi has served on the National Board of the Association for Women in Communication. She has been on the board for IMAGE, Inc. in Springfield and the Sister Cities Association of Springfield. She is currently active with the newly formed Latino Coalition for Prevention, a statewide network of non-profit groups serving the Latino community.

Salvador Garza

Salvador is employed by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity as part of the State's Economic Development Opportunity Returns Team for the West Central Region. Salvador is a dedicated community leader currently serving as the Fire and Police Commissioner for the City of Galesburg, a past President and Co-founder of the Hispanic Latino Resource Group, Inc and past Community Pillar & Leadership Chair of the United Way. Salvador has volunteered in a number of community organizations including District Chairman for the Boy Scouts and the Census Commission. Salvador served in the Marines for eight years and received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering. Salvador had previously worked for the Maytag Corporation as a Senior Engineer for 20 years.

Rosario Guerrero

Rosario has been employed with the state for 27 years working in various areas in state government including the Department of Human Services (Alcohol & Substance Abuse) the Industrial Commission and currently with Central Management Services Business Enterprise Program. She is currently an IAHSE board member.  She served as Treasurer on a couple of occasions.