Speaker Bios
 Diana Cristina Díaz, Director of Corporate & Community Relations, Univision Communications, Inc.
Diana Cristina Díaz, is director of Corporate and Community Relations for Univision Communications Inc., the premier Spanish-language media company in the United States. She is responsible for supporting in the development and day-to-day management of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives and is a key member of the Company’s external affairs group, responsible for building and fostering relationships with community groups and national non-profit organizations that benefit the Hispanic community.
In her role, she continues to create new partnerships that generate positive relationships and produces national campaigns that raise awareness of our communities’ needs through Univision’s programming, specials, public affairs shows, health and educational campaigns and production of public service announcements.
A five time Emmy nominee, Ms. Díaz was an integral part of the team honored in 2008 with the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for Univision’s Civic Education Campaign, “Ya es Hora” (It’s Time) and in 2005 for “Salud es Vida…Entérate!” (Lead a Healthy Life… Get the Facts!), Univision’s Health Initiative.
Ms. Díaz joined Univision in 2000 from Tribune Broadcasting's local New York Television Station, WPIX (formerly WB11), where she had worked for eight years in the Local Production and Community Affairs Department.
She has been awarded with the New York State Broadcasters Award, the Gabriel Silver Angel Award for best documentary for children living with Autism, the New York Associated Press Award for the best local documentary on New York Television and the CAN DO Award from the Community Action Network. Ms. Díaz currently serves on the Communications and Marketing Coordinating Committee for the American Heart Association and is currently on the board of directors of the National Latino Children’s Institute.
 Josephine F. Garza, Executive Director, National Latino Children’s Institute
As Executive Director, Ms. Garza’s responsibilities are to oversee operations and promotion of the National Latino Children’s Institute (NLCI), to seek additional sponsors and build public/private partnerships. She holds a B.A. and M.A. in Education with three certifications in early childhood education, bilingual education and counseling; with an emphasis in cross-cultural counseling and communications, both degrees are from University of TX at San Antonio. She has over 25 years experience working in public schools and non-profit sector. She is an alumna of the National Hispana Leadership Institute.
She worked as an independent consultant with NLCI since 1997 before coming on fulltime in 2002. She participated in focus groups that looked at cultural competencies in accessing healthcare, which lead to a report submitted to Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on barriers and solutions to accessing children’s health. She worked on designing culturally appropriate activities for Corazón de mi Vida a child passenger safety program, Onda Sana an HIV/AIDS prevention program for young Latinos ages 10-18 and Salsa, Sabor y Salud a healthy lifestyles program for Latino families with children ages 3-12.
Prior to NLCI, she was co-founder and served as Co-Executive Director three years for Youth Advocates of California, Inc. (aka-Hope in Hollywood) in Los Angeles, dedicated to building a positive youth community that taught young people how to access resources and create a support system for each other. Over most of her career, she has been actively involved with organizations dedicated to empowering and protecting rights of young people and their families who have been disenfranchised, most of whom are minority (predominantly Latino) poor, and many of whom end up in the juvenile justice system. She has much experience in the field of leadership and youth development, has worked with youth, youth workers, and youth organizations to design and implement programs and training models that were culturally appropriate for the field of youth development nationally and internationally.
 Peter Grevatt, Ph.D., Senior Advisor for Children’s Health, Office of the Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
Peter Grevatt is the Director of the Office of Children’s Health Protection and Environmental Education and the Senior Advisor to EPA Administrator Jackson for Children's Environmental Health. He is responsible for ensuring that all EPA decisions are protective of children’s health and that EPA is an international leader on children’s environmental health issues.
Peter served as the Senior Science Advisor in EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response and as the senior health scientist in EPA’s Region 2 office. In these roles, Peter was responsible for ensuring that science, public health, risk assessment, environmental justice and children’s health were fully considered for a range of critical issues such as asbestos, PCBs, lead and arsenic.
Peter led the national water quality monitoring program in EPA’s Office of Water, and more recently, as Director of the Economics, Methods and Risk Analysis Division in EPA’s Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery; he provided leadership to the Regions and States on RCRA implementation, and provided health risk assessments and economic cost-benefit analyses on major rulemakings.
Peter received his B.A. degree in Biology from Earlham College and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Basic Medical Sciences from New York University Medical Center.
 Kevin Jennings, Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools
Kevin Jennings was appointed by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in July 2009 as Assistant Deputy Secretary to head the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools. Kevin is the first career educator to hold this position and brings to this role 25 years of experience as, a teacher, a writer, and a leader in the fields of K-12 education and civil rights.
A native of Winston-Salem, N.C., he became the first member of his family to graduate from college when he received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. He taught high school history for ten years during which he served as faculty advisor for the nation’s first gay-Straight Alliance student club and also founded the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in 1990, launching his life’s dedication to seeking to ensure that schools are safe places where every young person can focus on learning. In 1995 he left teaching to become GLSEN’s founding Executive Director, a position he held for 14 years before stepping down in late 2008.
Mr. Jennings was named in 1997 to Newsweek magazine’s Century Club as one of 100 people to watch in the new century. He received his master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies in education in 1994 from Columbia University and earned an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business in 1999. He has authored six books, the latest of which, Mama’s Boy, Preacher’s Son, was named a Book of Honor by the American Library Association in 2006. He was also a writer and producer of the documentary Out of the Past, winner of the 1998 Sundance Film Festival Award for Best Documentary. Among his many honors Mr. Jennings has received the Distinguished Service Award of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the Human & Civil Rights Award of the National Education Association, and the Diversity Leadership Award of the National Association of Independent Schools.
 Melina Lerma, a graduate from Small Folks Development Center, Lansing, MI
Ms. Lerma is an alumnae of the Small Folks Development Center in Lansing, MI. She graduated from Lansing Eastern High School in 2003; and will be graduating from Lansing Community College in May. She will be receiving an Associates Degree in Business, Paralegal studies as well as an Associate's Degree in Graphic Design. She is 24 years old and a single mom of 2 children, daughter 5, and son 3.
 Mark Hugo López, Associate Director, Pew Hispanic Center
Mark Hugo Lopez is the Associate Director of the Pew Hispanic Center where he studies the attitudes and opinions of young Latinos, the political engagement of Latinos, and Hispanics and their interaction with the criminal justice system. Lopez also coordinates the Center’s national surveys. Additionally, he currently serves as a Visiting Professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, as the Second Vice President of the American Society of Hispanic Economists (ASHE) and as a member of the American Economic Association’s Committee on the Status of Minority Groups in the Economics Profession (CSMGEP). Prior to joining the Pew Hispanic Center, Lopez was the Research Director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) where he studied the civic engagement of young people.
Lopez received his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University in 1996. He joined the Pew Hispanic Center in January of 2008.
 Ronald Blackburn-Moreno, President and CEO, ASPIRA Association
Ronald Blackburn-Moreno has been President and CEO of the ASPIRA Association, the only national organization dedicated exclusively to the education and leadership development of Latino youth, since 1994.
In his sixteen years as ASPIRA President, the organization has grown to become the largest national Hispanic organization in the country, serving over 55,000 Latino youth each year, and a major force in shaping national education policy to benefit Latino youth.. It has also developed several major, multi-year national initiatives, including: the Community Technology Access and Training Initiative; the ASPIRA Financial Education Initiative; the ASPIRA Mentoring, Promoting Health Communities and the Traffic Safety initiatives; the Mathematics and Science Academy (MAS) enrichment program; and most recently, the national initiative to expand and conduct research on ASPIRA’s signature program, the ASPIRA Clubs in schools.
Mr. Blackburn-Moreno has been a consultant in K-12 education, postsecondary mathematics, science, engineering education, planning; management; fund-raising; and organizational development to colleges and universities, federal agencies, national foundations, and national non-profits and businesses. He also serves on a host of several national advisory boards, panels and commissions for federal agencies, colleges and universities and the private sector, including the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Education, the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and a host of private companies.
Mr. Blackburn-Moreno holds degrees in Political Science from the University of Puerto Rico and Princeton University. He lives in Haymarket, Virginia and is married with three grown children.
 Teresa Niño, Director of the Office of External Affairs for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
In May 2009, the Obama Administration appointed Ms. Teresa Niño as Director of the Office of External Affairs (OEA) for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). In this role, she guides 200 employees to successfully achieve the strategic communication objectives to promote vital health care for the more than 90 million Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
Ms. Niño brings to CMS over 20 years of experience directing strategic communications and marketing initiatives. She previously served as the Director of Communications and Legislative Affairs at the National Trauma Institute in San Antonio. In addition, she worked for the San Antonio Express-News, as both Director of Community Relations and Director of Marketing. She was the Director of Marketing and Business Development for the Greater Kelly Development Authority.
During the Clinton Administration, Ms. Niño served as DHHS Secretary Shalala’s Director of Outreach, where she was highly involved with various interagency and White House Committees, including the Interagency Committee on Persian Gulf Mystery Illnesses, the Environmental Justice Committee, the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, and the White House Executive Order on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). She also worked with the Health Care Financing Administration (now CMS).
Ms. Niño launched her journalism career in 1986 as a TV Reporter. In 1989, she assisted in the campaign that led to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s election, later serving as Mayor Daley’s Assistant Press Secretary.
 José A. Rico, Deputy Director, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans
José Antonio Rico is the deputy director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. Named to his post on Feb. 1, 2010, Rico helps carry out President Obama’s efforts to improve the academic achievement of Hispanic students. He came to the Department as a senior adviser in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education on April 29, 2009.
Born in the small town of Jeruco, México, 7-year-old José and his brother, Carlos, immigrated to the United States, where his father was a railroad worker and his mother was a housewife. From 1995 to 1997, he served as the program director for Public Allies, a Chicago nonprofit dedicated to community service, and, during this time, in May 1996, he finished his bachelor’s degree at Northeastern Illinois University. In 1997, he went to work for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant Rights, organizing its “Removing Barriers to Education” campaign, working with parents around the state to see that their children were not denied access to education.
Two years later, he was hired by the University of Illinois–Chicago’s Small Schools Workshop to help develop small, innovative learning communities in public schools. During this time, he worked as a school improvement coach and on charter school projects with the Knowledge Works Foundation and the National Council of La Raza. While at UI–Chicago, he also completed a master’s degree in curriculum instruction in 2003.
As Chicago’s Multicultural Arts High School opened in 2005, Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan named Rico its first principal. It was quite an achievement, considering that Rico and 13 other members of the Lawndale–Little Village neighborhood had gone on a 19-day hunger strike starting on Mother’s Day weekend in 2001 to call attention to repeated delays by previous administrators in approving the school. Rico served as the founding principal of the school, which has 24 teachers and an enrollment of 350, until he joined ED in 2009.
 Veronica Rivera, Legislative Staff Attorney, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Veronica serves as the lead for the Campaign for High School Equity, a coalition of civil rights organizations focused on high school education reform. Her work is concentrated on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, English Language Learners and the effective adoption and implementation of the Common Core State Standards. Veronica was a guest panelist on the education summit on Legal and Legislative Strategies to Eliminate the Achievement Gap held by Representative Robert “Bobby” Scott and a speaker at various education briefings on Capitol Hill.
Veronica’s service in education is broad. She was previously elected to the Austin Community College (ACC) Board of Trustees in 2004 and served on the board until 2009. She served as the Board’s Vice-Chair prior to her departure. In addition, she served as Secretary of the Board in 2006. Veronica served on the Advisory Council of the ACC Center for Public Policy and Political Studies and served on the Board of Directors of the ACC Foundation. She also served on the Foundation Board of the Texas Community College Teachers Association and is the co-founder and board member of Las Comadres Para Las Americas, a network for Hispanic women. She served as the Chair of the City of Austin and AISD’s Joint Task Force on Education and Quality of Life for Hispanic Students and has served on various education committees. For her efforts in education, Veronica was nominated for the Austin Under 40 Awards and was named a Finalist in the Youth/Education category twice. She received the Travis County Women Lawyer’s Association “Contribution to Minority Community” Award, and was the guest speaker at the 40th Anniversary of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act at the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park.
 Gloria Rodríguez, President & CEO, Comunicad
Ms. Gloria Rodríguez is the Founder and President & CEO of Comunicad. Her exceptional visionary and leadership skills have led her to build strategic coalitions to advocate on behalf of multicultural women, children, and families in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Latin America.
Gloria’s expertise in mainstream and multicultural markets spans two decades. Her success developing working partnerships with key stakeholders who provide direct access to these markets is unparalleled. She began her career as the only Hispanic producer in the newsroom of a major media market. Throughout her career, Gloria has been an advocate and active member of the Latino community. She serves on the advisory boards of several major Hispanic organizations, including the League of United Latin American Citizens, Cuban American National Council, and on the board of directors of the Smithsonian Latino Center and the National Latino Children’s Institute. Gloria’s business, community development, and communications work is nationally recognized. She was named to the Faculty of the University of Nebraska / Gallup University’s School of Executive Leadership and appointed Founding Fellow of the Gallup International Institute at Princeton University. The Gallup Organization honored her by awarding her their highest Leadership Award and selecting her "Visionary Leader for the 21st Century." Recent industry awards include the International Association of Business Communicators Pinnacle Award and the Public Relations Society of America Diversity Champion Award.
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