Presenters are listed alphabetically by last name.

Yolanda Arauza
A Bush Leadership Fellow from 2005-2006, Yolanda Arauza is a doctoral candidate (History) at NDSU. She is a Chicano/Latino Studies instructor in the department of American Multicultural Studies at MSU Moorhead. Ms. Arauza is the host of Notas Latinas, a radio program heard in parts of Canada, six mid-western states, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Ms. Arauza's research and dissertation includes the development of a Latino community in the Red River Valley area.

Miguel Balderas
Originally from Texas, Miguel Balderas has lived in Moorhead since 1988.  A certified Computer Operations specialist (Minnesota State Community and Technical College).  Mr. Balderas as been the program director for the Soy Libre boys group for five years and is now the newest member of the Moorhead Human Rights Commission.

Gloria Contreras Edin
Gloria Contreras Edin is the Executive Director of Centro Legal, Inc., a 25 year-old non-profit law firm that provides legal services to low income Latinos in the area of immigration law and family law.  A Bush Foundation Leadership Fellow, Ms. Contreras is a graduate of the Hamline University School of Law where she initiated a scholarship endowment to inspire Latino students to attend law school.  Ms. Contreras is on the Board of trustees for the Women’s foundation of Minnesota as well as on the Initiative Foundation and the Minnesota Council of Foundations. She is the chair of the board for the Latino Economic Development Center.  Ms. Contreras was recently named by Minnesota Lawyer as one of Minnesota’s up and coming attorneys for 2007.

Tom Gillaspy
Tom Gillaspy has served as the Minnesota State Demographer since 1979.  During that time, he has been involved with a wide-ranging set of issues, applying an understanding of demographic trends in such areas as the state’s economy, health care for an aging population, education, higher education, welfare reform, rural population change, labor shortages, immigration, housing, government spending, and the aging state workforce. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Pennsylvania State University, specializing in economic demography. 

Mario Longoria
Mr. Longoria is a U.S. Navy veteran who served during the Vietnam conflict. A doctoral candidate at the University of Texas at San Antonio in English and Literature, he was a USDA Hispanic Leadership Fellow and a Community Scholar in Residence at that institution. Mr. Longoria’s background includes experience as a classroom teacher, an Instructor/Performance Specialist (United Services Automobile Association), and a case manager with the Salvation Army. His book, Athletes Remembered: Mexicano/Latinos in Professional Football, was the first book written by a Latino about Latino athletes. Mr. Longoria has written for The New York Daily News (Primera Fila); The San Antonio Express-News; Aztlan: International Journal of Chicano Studies Research; NUESTRO; Caminos; and Vista: The Magazine for All Hispanics.

Severita Lara
Severita Lara has been interviewed and appeared in three documentaries about the Mexican American civil rights movement. She also is the subject of the book We Won’t Back Down. Ms. Lara was a leader of the landmark high school walkout that sparked the Chicano civil rights movement throughout the southwestern United States. Among the founders of the La Raza Unida Party, she went on to become mayor of her city.  With almost thirty years as an educator, Ms. Lara has taught biology and served as a librarian in the Crystal City, Texas school district. She earned her Masters in Library Science from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas.

Nelson Lozano
Nelson Lozano is a Licentiate in Sociology graduated from the Universidad Nacional de San Juan in Argentina. Before coming to Moorhead to serve as the Executive Director of Centro Cultural, Mr. Lozano was a Bilingual Community Resource Worker with the San Bernardino City Unified School District in California. In his previous experience, Mr. Lozano was a Research Assistant in a projects related to the study of Mexican-American and Mexican families at the University of California-Riverside. Further, Mr. Lozano has served as a Director of the Association of Businessmen, NPO member of the Argentinean Federation of Businessmen. His experience includes Evaluation of Social Impact of Projects and Programs.

Dr. Mike López
Mike López began his administrative career in student affairs by designing a new educational opportunities program incorporating intrusive advising and peer mentoring.  He also wrote a FIPSE grant proposal for one of the first academic support services programs for university students with learning disabilities, and was involved in the development of one of the first university residential learning communities, then called an “Enrichment Program in Residence.”  As Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs for the Minnesota State Colleges ad Universities, Dr. López continues to seek ways to improve access to higher education and academic success for all underrepresented students.

Maria Isa
Maria Isa started her performing arts education at El Arco Iris Center for the Arts in St.Paul, learning Afro-Puerto Rican and Latino folkloric art through music, song, and dance.  In 2002, she and other advanced members at El Arco Iris formed the group, "Raices" to create awareness about their roots through traditional dances of Bomba and Plena. Maria Isa has been on stage with the Grammy-nominated Plena Libre, Paracumbe, Africaribe, and Los Pleneros de la 21. She has also opened for hip-hop and reggaeton acts, such as Medusa, Slick Rick and Julio Voltio amongst others. Maria Isa is known for her activism as she portrays quotes of Puerto Rican Nationalist Lolita Lebron and holds strong political messages in her songs.

Mas Que Suenos (MQS)
MQS is operated by Mujeres Unidas. MQS serves young Latinas ages 15-21 through two programs, one at the Moorhead Senior High School and one at the RALC. Their goal is to increase graduation rates and post-secondary enrollment.

Dr. Melisa Rivière
Dr. Riviére is a hip-hop scholar and audio-visual producer. She is currently a MacArthur Ph.D. scholar in the Anthropology Department at the University of Minnesota developing research on the diffusion of the four elements of hip-hop in Cuba and Puerto Rico. She has worked with artists from In The House Magazine, Songo Sounds, and The Cuban Agency for Rap filming hip-hop conferences, documentaries, festivals, and music video clips with Anónimo Consejo, Tego Calderón, Doble Filo, SieteNueve, Obsesión, and La Mala Rodríguez amongst others. As an educator Melisa teaches courses in anthropology and global studies utilizing hip-hop as a pedagogical tool. As an entrepreneur Melisa is the president of Emetrece Production, an audio-visual production label that focuses on Latin hip-hop and reggaeton.

Monica Trevino
Ms Treviño, a former migrant worker, has been with Mujeres Unidas for the past seven years, starting as an outreach worker, then becoming assistant director and a program coordinator, until being promoted as co-director. She has attended Camp Wellstone for community grassroots organizing as well as NonProfit Boot Camp at Minnesota State University Moorhead.  She has extensive experience in organizing Latino community art and cultural events.  A first generation part-time student at Concordia College, she is raising three children.