MARIA ESTHER LOPEZ
Principal Prior to establishing her own venture, Maria Esther López was the director for external affairs at El Valor. El Valor, considered among the top Hispanic-serving community based non-profits in the country, is an organization that works to promote early childhood education, enrich youth, support people with disabilities, strengthen families and develop leadership. Ms. López’ responsibilities at El Valor included the coordination of external relations including resource development, media and marketing, government relations, building construction project management, international relations, and the leadership programs. During her tenure at El Valor, Ms. López was responsible for initiating, cultivating and stewarding relationships with local and national philanthropic groups, community organizations, businesses, media and government in order to engage resources to support programs El Valor’s programs. She coordinated the distribution of a multimillion dollar public awareness campaign on the importance of early childhood education, a campaign that garnered $100 million dollars in in-kind donations and achieved behavioral change where 33% of young parents were actually reading, singing and talking to their babies from birth. Ms. López managed El Valor’s Leadership through Education programs, which addressed the demand for qualified, culturally and linguistically skilled personnel in the areas of early childhood, education, special education, social work and business. The Leadership through Education program had an 85% retention rate and graduated more than 650 Latino students with their bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in partnership with area universities. Ms. López also served as the director for the Leadership Connections. The goal of the Latino Leadership Connections was to bridge mutually beneficial relationships between Latinos and decision-making entities including boards of directors, advisory committees, and councils. Leadership Connections addressed the demand for diversified leadership in areas including education, business, government, policy, arts, culture, and advocacy. Ms. López was El Valor’s internal project manager for the construction of its 28,000 sq.ft. Carlos Cantu Children & Family Center, El Valor’s third children and family center that works with more than 1,000 families annually with programs in early childhood, youth enrichment and family support. Contributing to the community and advocating on behalf of the community has been important to Ms. Lopez. At the national level she participated with the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans-Partners in Education, the National Council for Community and Educational Partnerships, and was the founding board secretary of the American STEM Alliance based in Texas. At the state level she served on the Regional Transit Authority Citizen Advisory Board, the board of the Latino Policy Forum and the Illinois Latino Family Commission. Locally she served on the Boy Scouts of America Chicago Area Council Board of Directors. Prior to joining El Valor, Ms. López worked for CNA Insurance Institutional Markets, Miller-Pear Communications, and Citibank’s retail division. A daughter of hard working immigrant blue collar parents from Mexico, Ms. López was born and raised in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood. She is a proud product of involved parenting, early childhood programs, a small grammar school, and attendance at Lane Technical College Prep High School. Ms. López went on to obtain a bachelor degree in Commerce at DePaul University, and completed a Masters in Business Administration degree at National-Louis University. MEMBERSHIPS/VOLUNTEER Ms. López is an active member of her community and has a history of serving in a variety of strategic, leadership positions.
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