Gloria M. Rodriguez, a Brooklyn-born Puertorriqueña is a psycho-spiritual counselor & life-facilitator, workshop leader, lecturer and consultant. In 1998 she founded DeAlmas Latinas, a community based organization dedicated to the spiritual and personal (mental, emotional and physical) empowerment, healing and transformation for women of color. As a former leading member of the Young Lords Party (1970-1976), her commitment to raising consicousness continues. She has led workshops and retreats nationally and co-directs an annual international cultural exchange program for women to Salvador Bahia, Brazil. She lectures and facilitates workshops at major colleges/universities such as Columbia/Barnard, New York University, Dartmouth, Wesleyan, and St. Johns University, among others. She has collaborated with other organizations including the The Caribbean Cultural Center, Viver Brasil, El Rincon de Salud, and 100 Hispanic Women, which share similar philosophies.
She holds a M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Goddard College. She is also a Professor of Psychology at Bronx Community College of the City University of New York. Her interests and on-going research include multicultural psychology, women’s psychology, the intersection of psychology and spirituality, group process and Latina development within the social contexts of racism, sexism, class and gender discrimination. She was voted Teacher of the Year by the BCC Chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa for 2003. She has published in a peer-reviewed journal, Women and Therapy and her article also appears in the book, The Invisible Alliance: Psyche and Spirit in Feminist Therapy. She is currently working on a book documenting the work and women of DeAlmas.
Karen A. Castro has been a sister of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority Inc. since Spring 2001. Ms. Castro is an alumnus from San Diego State University, with a Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice and minor in Mexican American Border Studies. She is currently attending her last semester of Graduate School at Rutgers University, where she will obtain a Master’s in Social Work with an emphasis in Children and Families. Ms. Castro has worked with adolescents and families since 1997 through the San Diego Juvenile Probation Department and Department of Family and Children, Los Angeles. She is currently a Clinician at Trinitas Hospital where she works with juvenile offenders in an out patient program, many victims of child abuse. Ms. Castro is a survival victim of physical, mental, and sexual abuse.
David Finch is Assistant Vice President of Training & Organizational Development for L’Oreal USA Products Corporate Manufacturing. Previously he was Assistant Vice President of Corporate Human Resources for L’Oreal USA in New York City. David has also held executive level positions in human resources with Bristol-Myers Squibb, and the Hartford Financial Services Group. He is also a principal in David Finch & Company, one of the leading consulting firms specializing in Diversity Management and Affirmative Action. He has consulted to many corporations, and government organizations.
David has over 20 years of teaching experience at the college level. He is Adjunct Professor of Management at Temple University Fox School of Business & Management. He has taught Organizational Change, Human Resources Management, Organizational Behavior, Industrial Psychology, International Human Resources Management, Labor Relations, and Cross-Cultural Communication Skills at St. John’s University Graduate School of Management; The College of St. Elizabeth; and The New School for Social Research. For 10 years, he was an Adjunct Professor of Management & Staff Consultant for Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations in New York City.
David has a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, and a M.S. in Industrial Psychology (Organizational Behavior) from the University of Hartford. He completed the Program in Industrial Relations at Cornell University, and also pursued post-graduate study at Rutgers University. David Finch is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC). He is a member of numerous professional societies including The American Psychological Association, The Society of Industrial & Organizational Psychologist, and the Institute of Management Consultants.
Al Lucas is a native of Queens, NY and has served as the director of the New Haven Board of Aldermen’s Office of Legislative Services since 1998. At the time of his appointment, he became the youngest person to serve as the chief of staff for the Board of Aldermen and the first African American to hold the position. Al is a graduate of the St. George’s School and Yale University where he majored in Political Science and Latin American Studies and extracurriculars. He is a 1987 initiate of the Zeta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. In his fraternity, he has won numerous awards for service, leadership, and oratory and has served in elected and appointive leadership positions at every level. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the fraternity while he was in college and again as an alumni brother.
He is a founder and the first President of the New Haven Pan Hellenic Council and served as its first President as he did for the Yale University InterFraternity Sorority Council. An alumni of Leadership Greater New Haven and founder of numerous community service youth programs, he received an Elm Ivy Award in 2004 and lifetime service award in 2005 from the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, for his decades of continuous service to the New Haven community. He is a founder and CEO of CUL DE SAC a consulting organization that provides leadership and organizational skills to school, and communities.
He maintains strong ties to students in the New Haven area serving as a mentor and resource for students on the campuses of the University of New Haven, Southern Connecticut State University, and in local public schools and has received awards of appreciation for many of these organizations and schools and is a frequent panelist and speaker. He is a life member of the NAACP, Blacks in Government, a certified parliamentarian and a three-time championship coach of the Midnight Basketball Association.
Julio A. Marenco is the Assistant Director of Employer/Labor Relations for New Jersey’s Department of Corrections in Trenton, NJ. Mr. Marenco oversees all the department’s union contractual negotiations, EEO appeal hearings and grievances, as well as the prosecution of disciplinary matters. Prior to his position in Employee Relations, in 2004 Mr. Marenco was appointed the Assistant Director for the Department of Corrections Equal Employment Division.
From 1990 to 1994, Mr. Marenco served his country in the United State Navy, aboard the USS Whale Submarine (SSN 638) out of New London, CT. After completion of his military service in 1994, Mr. Marenco enrolled as a full-time student at Montclair State University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science in 1997. Mr. Marenco continued his post-graduate education at Seton Hall University School of Law in Newark, New Jersey where in 2001 he earned a Juris Doctorate. He subsequently began his career as an Attorney at the Law Firm of Locatelli, Star and Associates where he practiced in Corporate Real Estate and Municipal Affairs.
Mr. Marenco’s career however, is not limited to the military or the practice of law, as he is actively involved in State and local politics. In July 1999, Mr. Marenco was appointed as a Commissioner to the North Bergen Parking Authority. During his term on this board, he oversaw the successful turnaround from an agency in deficit to at a quarter million profit every year since 2001. In 2002, Mr. Marenco was selected to fill an unexpired term in his city’s Board of Education, making him at 28, the youngest board member in the city’s history. In 2003, the citizens of North Bergen elected him to a full three-year term by a victory margin of over 4000 votes. While on the board Mr. Marenco has been part of the district’s acquisition of two new schools, a new Pre-K program, and successful contract negotiations.
In 2000, Mr. Marenco ran his first political operation, the re-election of Congressman Bill Pascrell Jr. (8th-NJ). As Deputy Campaign Manager, he managed the Campaign’s “Get-out-the Vote Operation” (GOTV) in over 21 Townships and Municipalities to a 70-30% victory for the Congressman. In 2002, then candidate, Jose ‘Joey’ Torres selected Mr. Marenco as the Campaign Director for the Paterson Mayoral Race. In a four-way race against an incumbent mayor, he successfully helped make Joey Torres the first Latino Mayor of the City of Paterson (the 3rd largest city in the State of NJ). Since 2000, Mr. Marenco has engineered and consulted on various campaigns victories at all levels of NJ government from the County Freeholder level to local Board of Education. More importantly to him he has recruited and trained many successful campaign operatives who now continue to win on Election Day.
Born in Brooklyn, NY, Mr. Marenco is a first generation Hispanic American; his mother emigrated from the Dominican Republic and his father came from El Salvador. Mr. Marenco was raised in Union City, New Jersey and currently resides in the Township of North Bergen. Mr. Marenco is a member of various board and committees, which include: the American Legion, the New Jersey Hispanic Bar Association and on Montclair State University’s Alumni Association. In addition, Mr. Marenco is an adjunct professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Masters Program.