Christina Suarez, President, has been a resident in Boulder County for over 40 years. During most of this time Christina has been involved in improving the lives of people living in poverty. Christina serves as an Attendance Advocate in the Boulder Valley School District. Christina focuses on finding avenues to help students avoid giving up on lifelong learning and to help them succeed toward their high school graduation and post-secondary education. Christina served as a member of various county and municipality boards and committees including the Boulder County Board of Health for ten years and has served as its president for three years. Christina has been with the Latino Task Force since 2009.
Rebecca Chavez (Becky), Secretary, was born in Colorado and raised in the small town of Milliken. In high school she was privileged to be a part of the Colorado State University Upward Bound program, a federally funded pre-collegiate TRIO program that prepares first generation and low income students to attend college. The program’s unwavering support through high school, and even through college, motivated Rebecca to work in the field of education to share the mission of TRIO. As the Director of Outreach and Enrollment Services at Front Range Community College-Boulder County Campus in Longmont, Rebecca is able to guide future college students through the college enrollment process and help them accomplish their goals. Rebeca is involved in the Boulder County community as a part of the Friends of Longmont Youth, the Hispanic Education Foundation serving St. Vrain Valley School District, the Personal Investment Enterprise Program, the Milagros Scholarship Fund at Boulder High School, and the Colorado Coalition for the Educational Advancement of Latinos (CoCEAL).
Louie Lopez is a native of Longmont and has been a devoted leader, mentor and educator in service to youth and families in Boulder County for over 20 years. Currently, Louie serves as the Community Coordinator for the City Of Longmont and coordinator for GRIP (Gang Response and Intervention Program). He supports youth who are challenged by gang life to develop positive relationships and conflict resolution skills, increase self-esteem and personal responsibility. Louie has developed and facilitated leadership groups that serve many populations. He is dedicated to supporting and empowering youth through the many thresholds of life through healthy communication, developing relationships, and pure love. Louie is very involved in the Longmont community. He has been a Co-organizer for Cinco de Mayo for 20 years, Diez y seis de septiembre for 16 years. He has served as a leader and elder for Surfing the Creative® since 2012. He is a father of three sons, a devoted husband and grandfather to his grandson and his new baby granddaughter.
Mary Vigil has worked for the past 17 years at the Alternatives for Youth and is currently the program director of Celebrando la Familia. In her role, she designs, manages, and facilitates homework clubs in different schools, summer youth programs, the Folklorico Dance Troupe, parent meetings and numerous community partnerships. As part of the homework clubs, she works closely with school principals, teachers and parents. Mary is also involved in the Longmont community- helping to organize the Cinco de Mayo, Diez y seis de Septiembre, and Dia de los Muertos events. Mary recently joined the Latino Task Force in 2011.
Laura Zavala is a Colorado native and proud alumnus of the St. Vrain Valley School District. She is also a proud parent of a 9 year-old; her son Gabriel is currently a 4th grader at Sanborn Elementary. Laura has almost 14 years of banking experience working for the credit union industry. She is a grassroots advocate of the credit union movement and an activist to financially educate the Hispanic community. She is currently the Business Development Officer at Elevations Credit Union. Through her role she has been able to do Spanish financial literacy presentations for the I Have a Dream students and parents, El Centro Amistad, Salud Family Health Center and Clinica Family Health Center. Laura also volunteers at the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center and gives Spanish and English tours of the Día de los Muertos exhibition. Presently Laura is an undergraduate at Front Range Community College. She intends to transfer to CU-Boulder to obtain her bachelor’s in Business Administration.