Past MSC SCOLA Keynote Speakers

MSC SCOLA 2023 Keynote Speakers

Dr. JUANA BORDAS is President of Mestiza Leadership International, a company that focuses on leadership, diversity, and organizational change. Dr. Juana Bordas is recognized as an elder and icon in the world of leadership, diversity, and the advancement of Latinos and communities of color.  The first Latina faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) she taught in the Leadership Development Program – the most highly utilized executive program in the world. As a leader, teacher, activist, and author Dr. Bordas continues sharing her wisdom and insights with people across the globe. Juana received an honorary doctorate from Union University and received the 2019 Life-Time Achievement Award from The International Leadership Association. She is the first Latina honored with this prestigious award which has been received by Warren Bennis, Robert Greenleaf, Peter Drucker, James McGregor Burns, and Margaret Wheatley.

CHRISTINA HERNANDEZ is a Payload Systems Engineer. After getting an offer at JPL, Christina started working right away as a micrometeoroid and orbital debris specialist in the Natural Space Environments group. Her job was to not only define the space environment for JPL’s flight projects, but also to ensure spacecraft would be safe from orbital debris, micrometeoroids, and even radiation, by performing various analyses and assessments. In parallel, Christina also worked as the mission assurance manager on STABLE, Subarcsecond Telescope and BaLloon Experiment, which was an early career personnel-led flight project to advance technology of sub-arcsecond pointing stability for a high-altitude balloon observatory mission She was introduced to the Mars world with one of her first projects, Comet Siding Spring, where Christina and her mentor performed impact assessments in order to keep Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Odyssey, and MAVEN safe during the comet event. In the end, risk was averted and opportunistic science was completed. After that, she joined the Mars team, and worked on the Mars Perseverance rover’s infamous payload development and delivery team since preliminary design review. Serving as one of Perseverance’s payload systems engineers, she has worked on three out of the seven science instruments: MEDA (weather station), RIMFAX (radar) and PIXL (spectrometer). She was able to strategically guide three instrument teams (MEDA, RIMFAX, and PIXL) through various phases of hardware development and integration and test, including preliminary and critical design review. through hardware and software readiness certification milestones. This led to the delivery of 13 pieces of instrument hardware and three instrument software packages on the rover. She also had the opportunity to wear different hats throughout her time, including tinkerer, troubleshooter, and “troublemaker.”

Dr. IVETT A. LAYVA became the head of the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University in September 2021. Previously, she was the program officer for Hypersonic Aerodynamics at the Air Force Office of Scientific Research where she created two basic research flight programs. Her research expertise is in hypersonic aerodynamics. Leyva holds a bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree from Caltech. She has six patents and has authored numerous papers and two book chapters. She is a fellow of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Air Force Research Laboratory, a National Associate of the National Research Council of the National Academies, and a recipient of a Civilian Achievement Medal and two meritorious Civilian Service Awards and Medals from the Air Force.  

ANNIE MCGOWAN currently serves as the Vice President and Associate Provost for Diversity and is the holder of the Bill and Gina Flores Professorship in Business. Dr. McGowan works collaboratively with the faculty, staff, and students across Texas A&M’s 16 colleges and schools, two branch campuses, Health Science Center, and University Libraries to promote practices and measures that further diversity and inclusion efforts at Texas A&M University. Reporting to the President and Provost, she leads Texas A&M’s efforts in accountability, campus climate, and equity as outlined in the University Diversity Plan. Prior to her current appointment, Dr. McGowan served as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs at Mays Business School where she provided strategic oversight for assessment of learning and operational leadership for curriculum innovations designed to improve the quality of undergraduate education. Dr. McGowan created and provided strategic oversight for the Mays Office of Diversity and Inclusion while serving as the Assistant Dean for Diversity and Inclusion. She was also the Director of the Professional Program in Accounting at Mays for eight years. She received a B.S. from Alcorn State University, a M.S. from Jackson State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of North Texas.  Dr. McGowan’s research focusing on the technical and behavioral implications of cost management system design and implementation has been published in journals including The Journal of Management Accounting Research, The Accounting Horizons, The Journal of Accounting and Finance Research, The Journal of Cost Management, The Journal of Accounting and Public Policy and The Accounting Review. Dr. McGowan teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in managerial accounting. She has been recognized for her accomplishments in many ways including being named a Montague Center for Teaching Excellence Scholar and University Honors Teacher/Scholar. She is also the recipient of the Association of Former Students College-level Distinguished Achievement Award, the University Distinguished Achievement Award in teaching and the American Accounting Association Diversity Award.

SHAYLA RIVERA is an Aerospace Engineer and former Rocket Scientist with NASA turned salesperson, corporate trainer, and now International Keynote Speaker, TEDx Speaker, TV & Radio host, Emcee/Host, Comedian, Actor, Writer, Producer, Seminar Facilitator, Panel Moderator.  As of 2017, she is also the Director of the ENGR[x] program and Professor of Practice with the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University.

MSC SCOLA 2022 Keynote Speakers

VIOLA CANALES writing during her time as a scholarship student at boarding school as a way to stay connected to her roots, became a full-time author. Her first novel, The Tequila Worm, published by Random House, was designated a Notable Book by the American Library Association, and won its Pura Belpré Medal for Narrative, as well as a PEN Center USA Award. El Gusano de Tequila—her Spanish translation of the novel—was awarded the 2014 International Latino Book Award for translation. Her other work includes a book of short stories (Orange Candy Slices and Other Secret Tales); a bilingual book of poems (The Little Devil and The Rose / El Diablito y la Rosa), and a second novel (Cecilia’s Magical Mission). She is currently working on a second book of stories—this time for adults. Viola is also a Lecturer in Law at Stanford Law School, where she teaches a seminar that explores the law and creative writing.

Dr. JOHN E. HURTADO is interim vice chancellor and dean of the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University and interim agency director of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station. He is also a professor of aerospace engineering and previously served as deputy director and chief technology officer for the Bush Combat Development Complex. His research areas include theoretical dynamics with extensions to higher-dimensional settings, efficient analytical dynamic formulations for rigid, pseudo-rigid, flexible and variable-mass systems, and game theory in uncertain situations. His patented algorithms for swarm robotics were developed for unique miniature robots that the Smithsonian Institution obtained from Sandia National Laboratories for its permanent collection at the National Museum of American History.

CARLOS ANDRES COMEZ is a Colombian American poet, speaker, actor, and equity and inclusion strategist from New York City. He is the author of Fractures, winner of the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry, Hijito, winner of the Broken River Prize and a #1 SPD bestseller, and the memoir Man Up: Reimagining Modern Manhood, released by Penguin Random House. A star of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, TV One’s Verses and Flow, and Spike Lee’s #1 box office movie Inside Man with Denzel Washington, Carlos’ honors include the Sandy Crimmins National Prize for Poetry, Atlanta Review International Poetry Prize, Foreword INDIES Gold Medal, and the International Book Award. A genre-transcending multi-hyphenate, he partnered with John Legend on Senior Orientation, a program to counteract bullying and champion inclusive masculinity among high school students. Carlos is a proud father of two

FELIPE HINOJOSA was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, Felipe Hinojosa is Associate Professor of History at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. He serves as Director for the Carlos H. Cantu Hispanic Education & Opportunity Endowment at Texas A&M, and is editor for the interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed, and online moderated forum Latinx Talk. His work has appeared in Zócalo Public Square, Western Historical Quarterly, American Catholic Studies, and in multiple edited collections on Latinx Studies. His new book, Apostles of Change: Latino Radical Politics, Church Occupations, and the Fight to Save the Barrio (University of Texas Press, 2021) is set in four major cities (Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Houston) where in 1969 and 1970 Latina/o radicals clashed with religious leaders as they occupied churches to protest urban renewal, poverty, police brutality, and racism.

CARLOS MORTON has over one hundred theatrical productions, both in the U.S. and abroad. His professional credits include the San Francisco Mime Troupe, the New York Shakespeare Festival, the Denver Center Theatre, La Companía Nacional de México, the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, and the Arizona Theatre Company. He is the author of “The Many Deaths of Danny Rosales and Other Plays” (1983), “Johnny Tenorio and Other Plays” (1992), “The Fickle Finger of Lady Death” (1996), “Rancho Hollywood y otras obras del teatro chicano” (1999), “Dreaming on a Sunday in the Alameda” (2004), and “Children of the Sun: Scenes for Latino Youth” (2008). A former Mina Shaughnessy Scholar and Fulbright Lecturer to Mexico and Poland, Morton holds an M.F.A. in Drama from the University of California, San Diego, and a Ph.D. in Theatre from the University of Texas at Austin.

MSC SCOLA 2021 Keynote Speakers

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RAY SUAREZ holds a BA in African History, from New York University, where he won the Parke Honor in History and the K.Y. Daaku Prize in African Studies. He began his studies at the University of Chicago after winning a Benton Fellowship there in 1991, and later completed an MA in the Social Sciences. In 2005 NYU named Suarez a Distinguished Alumnus of the College of Arts and Sciences. He holds 14 honorary doctorates from colleges and universities across America. The New York Times called Suarez the “thinking man’s talk show host,” and “a national resource.” The magazine Utne Reader called him a “visionary.” Talk of the Nation made history, broadcasting live coast to coast across South Africa and across the United States, connecting these two audiences to talk about the post-apartheid future during the first elections after liberation. 

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DR. MARISSA MUNOZ is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She draws from her experience as a middle-school teacher, museum educator, and curriculum developer to inform her ongoing research in the area of culturally-centric science education.  Her current research focuses on documenting the Indigenous ways of knowing, as well as the land- and water-based traditional ecological knowledege of the frontera communities of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo.

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OSCAR J. MUNOZ has provided successful implementation and direction of diverse programs strongly encouraging educational pursuits and humanitarian causes for over 25 years. As Director of the Texas A&M Colonias Program, he leads its continuing efforts in the development and expansion along the Texas-Mexico border with three regional offices, a central office and more than forty community resource centers.  Under Mr. Munoz’s direction the Colonias Program has helped residents in colonias to have improvements from their most basic needs as well as continuing education to help secure a brighter future for themselves, their families and their communities. Mr. Muñoz leads the Texas A&M Water Filter Project that emerged from an interdisciplinary collaboration. The TAMU Water Filter Project is dedicated to the production, distribution, education and research of appropriate technology and use of ceramic water filters. Currently, this project serves primarily colonia residents, rural communities and international communities such as Ecuador, Bolivia, Mexico, and Guatemala. The education and humanitarian efforts have helped many communities to learn how to filter non-potable water into clean water. 

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CHRISTINE NIEVES is the co-founder and executive director of Emerge Puerto Rico, a social enterprise designing decolonized climate change leadership resources and experiences to bolster the collective impact. She has an interest in Native and African wisdom and in how the invisible infrastructure of so-called marginalized communities can be activated when disasters happen. Christine’s attention is focused on human consciousness, cognition, evolution, and adaptation to extreme environmental disruptions. She became a 2019 Bridge Fellow at TNTP to learn how the education field can be a game-changer to systemically nurture human compassion, ingenuity, and adaptability. Previously, she co-founded Proyecto Apoyo Mutuo Mariana, a mutual-aid disaster relief effort in which those directly impacted were the same people serving. PAM’s mission was to transform the community of Mariana into a transgenerational catalytic sustainable village by developing and practicing community-level hurricane preparedness plans and building social and physical infrastructure to withstand uncertainty and future natural disasters. Christine was named a 2019 Grist Fixer and an SBA Phoenix Humanitarian Award recipient (alongside her husband, Luis), and was invited to speak at TEDMED. Christine is one of the authors of All We Can Save; Truth, Courage and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, a 2020 Echoing Green Climate Fellow and a Rachel’s Network Catalyst Award Recipient. 

YEHEMI CAMBRON is an artist, activist, and public speaker born in Michoacán, México and raised in Atlanta. Cambrón’s artwork focuses on celebrating the humanity, resilience, and contributions of immigrants. Her series Family Portrait was displayed at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art and at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia. In June of 2020, she completed her tallest mural to date, titled We Give Each Other the World, a community-responsive mural co-funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the City of Hapeville. In August of 2020, Cambrón completed her mural Monuments: Atlanta’s Immigrants at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s The Home Depot Backyard. Cambrón was one of eleven nationally-selected artists for Off the Wall: Atlanta’s Civil Rights and Social Justice Journey, a public art project leading up to Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta. Her murals around Atlanta elevate social justice issues through the lenses of immigration narratives.

IMAGE OF LUIS RODRIGUEZ

LUIS RODRIGUEZ is a co-founder alongside Christine Nieves of a program entitled “Proyecto de Apoyo Mutuo Mariana”, a mutual aid disaster relief effort based in Puerto Rico after the effects of Hurricane Maria. He is also a professor at the University of Puerto Rico teaching classes such as “Theory and Sight Reading” and “Composition”. Rodriguez continues to pursue community unity in Puerto Rico through creativity and the arts after Hurricane Maria by creating works such as “En la Brecha”, “13 songs”, and so much more! Luis Rodriguez has also been accompanied by Christine Nieves when they were speakers for MSC L.T. Jordan’s “Soul of an Island: A Response to Hurricane Maria,” program at Texas A&M University on March 1, 2019. He is also the producer and executive director of CEPES (Centro de produccion y experimentacion sonora), Gema and Pavel’s concerts, and Iyawo (which is a song consisting of guitar, voice, bata, and chorus).

SCOLA 2019 Keynote Speakers

DOLORES HUERTA is a civil rights activist and community organizer. She has worked for labor rights and social justice for over 50 years. In 1962, she and Cesar Chavez founded the United Farm Workers union. She served as Vice President and played a critical role in many of the union’s accomplishments for four decades. In 2002, she received the Puffin/Nation $100,000 prize for Creative Citizenship which she used to establish the Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF). DHF is connecting groundbreaking community-based organizing to state and national movements to register and educate voters; advocate for education reform; bring about infrastructure improvements in low-income communities; advocate for greater equality for the LGBT community, and create strong leadership development. She has received numerous awards: among them The Eleanor Roosevelt Humans Rights Award from President Clinton in 1998. In 2012 President Obama bestowed Dolores with The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.

ADRIANA ALEJANDRE is the host of Latinx Therapy Podcast. Her podcast is dedicated to all things relating to mental health within Latinx communities. Her mission is to rewrite the Latinx Narrative surrounding mental health. She has been featured on the Apple Podcast homepage next to stars like Oprah, setting her mark in both the Latinx community and podcast industry.

CARLOS OJEDA JR. has been called one of the most dynamic youth empowerment speakers in America today. A former university administrator, professor and small business development center director, he now focuses his energy on empowering students to succeed by teaching them that their voice is their power. Combining his entrepreneurial spirit with his passion for changing the lives of youth across the country, he started CoolSpeak: The Youth Engagement Company. CoolSpeak provides youth motivational speakers, programs, and events designed to engage, educate and empower youth. CoolSpeak represents over 25 of the top youth speakers in the country, and has certified and licensed over 50 facilitators and practitioners nationwide. Over a million lives have been inspired to date.

MAXIMO ANGUIANO is an actor, activist, athlete, creative, entrepreneur, public intellectual, personality, organizer, and thought-leader out of San Antonio, Texas. He has emerged as one of the most talented and dynamic individuals of his generation. As a critical, intellectual voice on the intersection of culture, sociopolitics, and racial justice, Maximo is a champion of the Latinx/a/o community and a true cross-pollinator of innovation. He is the former Executive Director of the ¡Adelante! U.S. Education Leadership Fund and brainchild behind the #WeLiveHeritage Webseries. As a Master’s of Science candidate at Grand Valley State University, Maximo studied at Macquarie University in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia where he completed an ethnographic case study on the colonialism of the Indigenous Australian population—the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. He was a member of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s Alexander Briseño Leadership Development Program Class of 2016 and Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity Incorporated’s Board of Directors; he’s currently the Vice President of the P.E.A.C.E. Initiative’s Board of Directors. Through various community, artistic, and educational works, Maximo’s passion & charisma have electrified crowds; bringing a fresh, progressive and driven approach to changing the world. His recent film & theatre credits include, “La Llorona,” “Jotos del Barrio,” and “Dos Chicanos, Un Camino.” He has also recently been featured with various organizations such as Voto Latino, Latino Justice PRLDEF, My Brother’s Keeper San Antonio, BeVisible Latinx, NPR Latino USA, Univision News, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the Texas Organizing Project, the Council for Latino Workplace Equity, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Somerset Junior High School, Theatre for Change, RAW:natural born artists, and many more. Finally, Maximo credits his ambition and motivation to his number one fan: his mother.


SCOLA 2018 Keynote Speakers

DIANE GUERRERO is a Boston native and has, from an early age, had an affinity for the arts. She attended the Boston Arts Academy where she studied vocal music. After attending college, she realized her passion lay in performance art, and moved to New York to pursue her dreams. Diane has subsequently appeared on numerous Television series and is best known for her roles as “Maritza Ramos” on the award winning, Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated Netflix series Orange Is the New Black (for which she received three Screen Actors Guild awards) and as “Lina” in CW’s break-out hit, Jane the VirginDiane’s memoir, In the Country We Love, published by Henry Holt, details her life as a citizen daughter of undocumented parents, and her years-long struggle to deal with the consequences of the broken immigration system. In 2015, Diane was named a White House Ambassador for Citizenship and Naturalization. She is an outspoken advocate for commonsense, comprehensive immigration reform and has worked with Immigrant Legal Resource Center; Mi Familia Vota, a nonpartisan Latino civic engagement organization to promote immigration reform and citizenship and voter registration; and New American Leaders Project.

TONY PIEDRA in a previous chapter of his life was a Sets Technical Director at Pixar Animation Studios.  For nine years, he collaborated with some of the most talented artists and storytellers in the world to help realize the environments in films, such as, UpCars 2The Good DinosaurInside Out, and Coco, as well as several of Pixar’s short films, including The Blue Umbrella. Now, he is taking the skills and experiences from his time working in the film industry and putting them to use as an author and illustrator of children’s books. His debut picture book, The Greatest Adventure, will be released Fall 2018 through Arthur A. Levine Books an Imprint of Scholastic Inc.

FELIX CONTRERAS is the host of Alt.Latino, a program about Latin Alternative music and Latino culture. Contreras was a producer and reporter for NPR’s Arts Desk and covered a series reported from Mexico introducing the then-new musical movement called Latin Alternative; a series of stories on the financial challenges facing aging jazz musicians; and helped produce NPR’s award-winning series 50 Great VoicesHe once stood on the stage of the legendary jazz club The Village Vanguard after interviewing the club’s owner and swears he felt the spirits of Coltrane and Monk walking through the room. Contreras is a recovering television journalist who has worked for both NBC and Univision. He’s also a part-time musician who plays Afro-Cuban percussion with various jazz and Latin bands.

ALICIA ZERTUCHE, a Rio Grande Valley native joined SXSW Music in 1997 as a music festival coordinator.  She’s considered one of the leading advocates to bringing Spanish Rock, Pop, Alternative, and  Hip Hop music to the Austin airwaves in the 90’s producing weekly specialty shows and live music events to later becoming the program director and operations director of the radio station group. She is the visionary behind SXAméricas programming, which expanded until 2016 involving Music, Film and Interactive. Each year, she shares the responsibility of selecting approximately 2,000 bands who will perform at SXSW from an estimated 8,000 acts that apply. Her expertise is in acts from Latin America, Spain, the Caribbean and US  but she is also integral in gaining industry participation from Latin America and the Caribbean. SXSW will mark its 32nd annual event in March 2018.

ESTEBAN CASTILLO is a Queer Chicano living in Southern California with his life partner and two dogs. He is an alumnus from Humboldt State University, where he received a Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and is currently a communications professional and graphic designer by day, and avid home cook by night. Castillo is also the author of the award-winning food blog, “Chicano Eats” where he gives Mexican food a minimalist and colorful treatment and explores his identity as a Chicano through stories and food.


 

SCOLA 2017 Keynote Speakers

ARACELY GARCIA-GRANADOS serves as the Executive Director for Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together (MATT), a bi-national non-profit organization with offices in Washington, DC, San Antonio, Texas and Mexico City. Prior to joining MATT, Ms. Garcia-Granados worked for 14 years with Altos Hornos de Mexico S.A. de C.V (AHMSA), a major integrated steel mill in Mexico. At AHMSA she served as the Assistant to the Chairman of the Board in charge of the New Project Development division. Ms. Garcia-Granados is an active member of the Free Trade Alliance (FTA) and was named Member of the Year by the FTA in 2007. She is a Board Member of the Earn-A-Bike Co-op in San Antonio, a volunteer-driven initiative with a mission to create equitable access to cycling by providing affordable bicycle maintenance, services, and education. Ms. Garcia-Granados is also a member of SA100, a unique group of women leaders in San Antonio, Texas. She has participated in various panels in Mexico, U.S and Guatemala sharing her work experience in various fields including return migration and the integration of these migrants in the United States to support their families and excel in their communities. Ms. Garcia-Granados was born in Guatemala and she holds a degree in Hotel Management from Ecole Hoteliere Les Roches, Switzerland.

BARABARA MARTINEZ JITNER Filmmaker and Human Rights Activist, Barbara Martinez Jitner, gives a moving and personal look at the crippling poverty and gender discrimination that has made this “expendable workforce” – expendable human beings. Working with Amnesty International and superstar Jennifer Lopez, Martinez Jitner will outline steps that will empower listeners so they too can help stop the femicide that is occurring less than 50 feet from our borders. The bordertown of Juarez, Mexico has been nicknamed “The City of Murdered Women” because over 400 women have been found raped and murdered there. Yet not one of their killers has been brought to justice. Almost all of these women have worked in American-owned factories that have been built along the U.S./Mexico border.

 

 

ARTURO CASTAÑEDA left Mercedes, Texas and his journey brought him to New York City. His fashion sense and creativity were discovered, eventually landing him a job as a concept designer for Ralph Lauren. Arturo went on to co-found Cielo Brands a personal styling and clothing company where he works with professional athletes and entertainers. He frequently visits the Rio Grande Valley to share his journey and inspire others to dream big.

 

FELIPE HINOJOSA Born and raised in Brownsville, Texas, Felipe Hinojosa is Associate Professor of History at Texas A&M University. He received his PhD in History from the University of Houston in 2009. His teaching and research interests include Latina/o and Mexican American Studies, American Religion, Social Movements, Gender, and Comparative Race and Ethnicity. He serves as Director of Undergraduate Studies in the History Department and is the co-founder and co-coordinator for the Latina/o Studies Working Group, which is sponsored by the Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research at Texas A&M University. Professor Hinojosa has published articles on Latina/o Religion, the Chicano movement, and the War on Poverty in Texas in the Western Historical Quarterly and Mennonite Quarterly Review. Professor Hinojosa’s book, Latino Mennonites: Civil Rights, Faith, and Evangelical Culture, was published in 2014 by Johns Hopkins University Press. The book was awarded the 2015 Américo Paredes Book Award for the best book in Mexican American and Latina/o Studies given every year by the Center for Mexican American Studies at South Texas College.

ALFREDO GARCIA received a B.A. in Psychology and a B.S. in Economics from Texas A&M University in 2015, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude, as a member of Phi Beta Kappa Society – the nation’s oldest academic honor society – and as an Undergraduate Research Scholar. As the president of the group, Alfredo recruited leaders from different TAMU Latino organizations, and led them to advocate for the creation of a Latina/o Mexican American Studies (LMAS) minor at the university. Alfredo is currently pursuing a Master of Theological Studies at Harvard Divinity School (HDS). He is the recipient of the HDS Dean’s Fellowship. His scholarship at HDS has focused on the understanding faith as a mechanism of agency and resilience for undocumented immigrants. Alfredo’s Journey as an undocumented student was recently featured in the Harvard Gazette – the official news website of Harvard University. The article called “Stuck Between Two Lives” highlights “his journey from Mexico to Harvard, and the summer labor that feeds his drive.”


 

SCOLA 2016 Keynote Speakers

DR. ELSA MURANO A Cuban refugee, Murano and her family traveled around Latin America before settling in Florida where Dr. Murano eventually attended Miami International University and Received a B.S. in Biological Sciences. Followed by a Masters in Anaerobic Microbiology and PhD in Food Science & Technology (both from Virginia Tech). She began her career as a professor in Iowa University, and soon afterwards moved to Texas A&M University. In 2001 George W. Bush appointed her Under Secretary of Food Safety, the highest position of food safety in the United States.
After serving in that position, Murano returned to Texas A&M in 2008 to become the first female and the first Hispanic President of the University. Her accomplishments in the position include increasing the registration of minority students through programs such as Aggie Assurance and Do You Wonder? She oversaw the $100 million renovations of the MSC as well as Military Walk. Additionally, she increased A&M’s International presence by establishing the Office of Global Initiatives, which increases students’ access to study/research abroad often while benefiting those countries.
Currently Dr. Murano is the director of the Norman Borlaug Institute (Texas A&M), which employs agricultural science to feed the world’s hungry and to support equity, quality of life and mutual respect among peoples.


GRACIELA TISCAREÑO-SATO
 is a highly decorated military veteran: In 2014 she was honored by the White House’s Champions of Change for exemplary leadership in her community. She has combined her military experience, her background, and her education from the University of California at Berkeley, School of Environmental Design, to become a popular leader and speaker on topics of sustainability, leadership, education and branding. At SCOLA 2016 she will be presenting the Professional Institute. The institute is a highly interactive workshop, the delegates will explore personal branding and professional development led by Ms. Graciela Tiscoreño-Sato. The workshop is specific for young professional and for college students. Additionally, each conference delegate will be receiving a copy of “Latinnovating: Green American Jobs and the Latinos Creating Them,” by Ms. Graciela Tiscoreño-Sato. The book details and profiles Latino’s emergence and contributions in innovation and entrepreneurship.

LIONEL SOSA  grew up to an immigrant family in San Antonio Texas. As a young boy he sold newspapers for 1$ an hour, and laterowned a struggling ad and sign-making agency. He took his own leap of faith when senatorial Republican candidate John Tower reached out to him to win the Latino vote, Sosa agreed even though he knew “doodly about politics”. Tower obtained 37% of the Latino vote (compared to 8% republican average). By now, various companies had contacted him for his services to reach the growing Latino Market. Ronald Reagan reached out to for Sosa’s help in the 1981 campaign. Additionally he advised George W. Bush who obtained 41% of the Latino Vote. Meanwhile his firm has grown to become the largest independent ad agency in the U.S. In 2005 Time Magazine named him amongst the 25 most influential Latinos. Since being semi-retired Sosa has written several SCOLA-Themed books, sat at the Texas A&M University Board of Regents, and enjoys painting portraits.

SIMON SILVA was born in Mexicali, Mexico in 1961 and came to the United States when he was just over a year old. He worked to earn money to pay for his college tuition, and graduated from the prestigious Art Center College of Design in California with his Bachelor’s Degree in Art. He is a well-known artist, author and speaker who travels around the country doing presentations/workshops for educators, students, parents and business people. He knows firsthand the importance of education and it the only person in his family to have graduated from both high school and college. One of eleven children in a family of farmers, he grew up as a migrant student and relied heavily on his artistic skills and interest to cope with what was at times a difficult childhood. Simón Silva shares an insightful view of creativity, while telling a compelling story of struggle and hope. Simón connects with audiences with a powerful message about perseverance and success. This inspirational keynote/workshop nurtures 21st century skills and helps individuals regain creative confidence. Participants will be reintroduced to their creative genius that we all had as children!

www.simonsilvacreative.com

 

ADAN GONZALES grew up in a predominantly Hispanic Neighborhood of Oak Cliff (Dallas, TX). Both his parents worked long and hard hours. Early on, he noticed a disconnection between his family’s conditions, and the American Dream they had believed in. Adan saw a college education as the gateway to a better future for himself and his family. His upbringing and his determination led him to Georgetown University. He recently graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science in Government along with a minor in Education, Inquiry & Justice. While in college he founded the Puede Network. His organization promotes equal access to higher education for all by inspiring children, and by encouraging business to give back to their communities.

MICHAEL REYES A Bryan, Texas native, poetry has taken Michael Reyes all over the world. He has graced, inspired, and stunned audiences with features in HBO’s Latino’s Habla Series, PBS’s Dream Makers. Reyes has performed in universities across the nation and in stages as far as Europe, alongside a wide array of poets and to diverse audiences. Aside from Spoken Word poetry, Reyes is also a rapper and an actor with various features. His books, poems, and raps, focus on the Latino experience both within the United States and globally; he challenges and confronts social ills with lyrical talent and impressive story telling skill.


 

SCOLA 2015 Keynote Speakers

richardblanco

RICHARD BLANCO is the fifth inaugural poet in U.S. history—the youngest, first Latino, immigrant, and gay person to serve in such a role. Born in Madrid to Cuban exiled parents and raised in Miami, the negotiation of cultural identity and place characterize his three collections of poetry: City of a Hundred Fires, Directions to The Beach of the Dead, and Looking for The Gulf Motel. His awards include: the Agnes Starrett Poetry Prize from the University of Pittsburgh Press, the Beyond Margins Award from the PEN American Center, the Paterson Poetry Prize, and the Thom Gunn Award. He has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and National Public Radio’s Fresh Air. A builder of cities as well as poems, Blanco holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering and an M.F.A in Creative Writing. He is a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow and has received honorary doctorates from Macalester College, Colby College, and the University of Rhode Island. He has taught at Central Connecticut State University, Georgetown University, and American University. Blanco currently lives in Bethel, Maine. A memoir of his childhood in Miami, The Prince of Los Cocuyos, is forthcoming this fall by Ecco/ Harper Collins.

‪Watch Poet Richard Blanco deliver the Inaugural Poem for President Obama’s second inauguration 

elizabethacevedo

ELIZABETH ACEVEDO is the daughter of Dominican immigrants, proudly born and raised in the heart of New York City.She holds a BA in Performing Arts from The George Washington University and is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Maryland. Acevedo has been published or has poems forthcoming in The Acentos Review, The Ostrich Review, Callaloo, Poet Lore, and The Notre Dame Review. She has been a featured performer on BET and Mun2, as well as delivered a TEDx Talk that aired in March 2013. She has graced stages nationally and internationally including renown venues such as Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, and the Kennedy Center of Performing Arts. Acevedo was the 2014 Women of the World Poetry Slam representative for Washington DC, 2014 Beltway Grand Slam Champion, and as of August, a National Poetry Slam Champion. She lives in Washington, D.C.

shaylarivera

SHAYLA RIVERA believes, indeed ‘knows’, that anyone can accomplish anything they would like to. Her belief springs out of her own life experiences. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, her family moved to Texas where at the age of seventeen and fresh out of high school, Shayla attended Texas A&M University where she earned her degree in Aerospace Engineering. She not only had to learn ‘engineering stuff’ she also had to learn the English Language at the same time, and as she puts it, “learning to speak Texan is not easy”. Shayla then went on to work for NASA in the Space Shuttle and Space station Programs, from there it was Technical Sales of environmental products for the Oil and Gas and Chemical industries, then onto Stress Management Corporate trainings and motivational speaking, finally onto Stand-up Comedy, all while teaching aerobics, and being a single parent bringing up two magnificent children. Her life is a reflection of what can be achieved if you are willing to open up to the possibilities and to listen to your own spirit. “Everything I have done, and have been, has brought me to the person I am today and I like that person. Nothing has been wasted and nothing is regretted”.

VICTOR SANTANA-MELGOZA has made a career of diversity activism, education and outreach, and has been active in the field of social justice education for over 15 years. He is an award-winning diversity trainer and professional facilitator with his consulting firm, DiversityTalks, and has spoken in front of a variety of groups around the country. Victor has worked for social change throughout his life; from his time teaching communities about HIV/AIDS prevention to advocating for minority populations on college campuses to providing organizational analysis and consulting for multiple for-profit and nonprofit organizations. He has also worked with groups such as the Social Justice Training Institute, the National Conference for Community and Justice, and the Community Alliance for Diversity. Victor has written for The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education magazine, and has been asked to contribute to Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, and the Journal of Ethnicity and Inequalities in Health and Social Care. He holds a B.A. in organizational communication, and is finishing his M.A. in communication with a focus on intercultural and LGBT related issues. Victor has taught university courses in communication, gender studies, and university success, with a particular research concentration on interracial relationships, communication of social change, and positive deviance.