Negocios Now

www.negociosnow.com Febrero 2023 17 small business owners through the multiple stages of business development by offering workshops, trainings, access to capital, networking, and referrals. JUAN SOTO President IT Impact Inc. IT Impact is a Microsoft partner located in Chicago and with employees in North and South America. �s they sa� fie�d hospita�s going up as the pandemic took hold, they created a free tool to allow organizations to keep track of ��� inventory� �ovid �upp�ies Database (COVIDSuppliesDatabase. com). It is a simple inventory system that comes loaded with many of the items a fie�d hospita� cou�d need� including many models of ventilators, and is easier than using a spreadsheet. JACQUELINE SOTO Manager of Community Affairs Norwegian American Hospital For the last seven years, Soto has worked at Norwegian American in the community. When the pandemic came, she went into overdrive, and began the coordination of food for staff. When the rates of Covid-19 were disproportionately high at NAH, she helped set up a press conference to be sure that others were aware of the health inequities. She led NAH's social media campaign around Covid and helped coordinate with the National Association of Hispanic Nurses to distribute food. DR. SUSAN PAOLA Family Medicine Rush University Medical Center During the pandemic, Paola has been tireless in her care not only for her patients, but for her fellow staff as well. She has been nominated as a Healthcare Hero by her colleague Itzel Gonzalez, a medical assistant at Rush, who says, "I've seen Dr. Susan very tired and exhausted, working on barely any rest or sleep. Despite this, she has been helping in the Emergency Department during this challenging time and still in the clinic helping her patients� �he rocks�� COVID 2019 CHICAGO H I S P A N I C P O W E R H I S P A N I C P O W E R CHICAGO READ MORE AT NEGOCIOSNOW.COM REYNA TORRES MENDIVIL Consul General of Mexico Chicago Ambassador Torres Mendivil took office in Chicago on July 14, 2019. During her diplomatic career she has held various positions in the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including general director for Latin America and the Caribbean, and deputy general director for international policy on human rights. Before her current position in Chicago, she was consul general in San Antonio, Texas. Torres Mendivil was a resident fellow at Harvard University's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. FRANCISCO VELEZ Deputy District Chief Chicago Fire Department Velez grew up in Humboldt Park and is a 25-year-veteran of the Chicago �ire �epartment� the second �argest fire department in the country. As deputy district chief he assists with the day- to-day operation of the department. In addition to advising the fire commissioner and first deputy on administrative and operational matters, he is also responsible for �udget preparation� staffing� assisting with legal matters and representing the department in meetings with agencies and outside organizations. JESSE VERA Motor Transport Coordinator Norwegian American Hospital Vera has been with the hospital for almost 20 years. His attitude and can-do spirit are contagious. When the Covid-19 pandemic began, he took initiative to increase cleaning for all the transportation vehicles. He speaks in whatever language a patient wants, and he has been educating the community, promoting masks and other PPE, to keep people safe. When he heard that many people were facing food insecurity, exacerbated by the pandemic, he stepped helped deliver food to patients' homes. CARMEN VERGARA Chief Operations Officer Esperanza Health Centers Vergara is the chief operations officer at Esperanza, which operates four clinics on Chicago's southwest side. She grew up in the Little Village neighborhood and earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago. To help prevent healthcare inequity from affecting communities, she �aunched one of the first �ovid� 19 testing sites at the start of the pandemic. She is currently serving on the city's Racial Equity Rapid Response Team, and on the Illinois Latino Covid- 19 Initiative. DR. PAMELA VERGARA- RODRIGUEZ Director of Psychiatry Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center Cook County Health Vergara-Rodriguez is a triple- boarded-certified physician in internal medicine , psychiatry and addiction medicine with more than 15 years' experience as a multi- specialty HIV provider in the Cook County Health System. She has a particular focus on Spanish-speaking groups, and she has led several social service grants to improve the health outcomes of underserved populations including Mexican immigrants, the LGBTQ population, people living with HIV, and people living with substance use disorder and/or mental illness. PAUL VALLAS Y BRANDON JOHNSON NO LOGRARON EL 50 POR CIENTO, PERO SÍ LOS SUFICIENTES VOTOS PARA IR A UNA SEGUNDA VUELTA Y ACABAR CON EL TRONO DE LA ALCALDESA, LORI LIGHTFOOT. reDacción V allas, un exdirector eje- cutivo de las escuelas de Chicago, y el comisiona- do del condado de Cook Bran- don Johnson, avanzaron a una segunda vuelta el 4 de abril. Ni Vallas ni Johnson lograron el 50 por ciento de los votos, pero sí suficientes sufragios para derrotar a la actual alcaldesa Lori Lightfoot y apagar la espe- ranza latina en la candidatura del congresista Jesús 'Chuy' Gar- cía, con un lejano cuarto lugar. La derrota de Lori es significa- tiva. Por primera vez en 40 años un alcalde de Chicago perdió la reelección. Durante su campaña, Vallas golpeó a Lori por su punto más débil: el crimen, y dijo que entre las primeras medidas que toma- ría si llega al City Hall será sus- tituir al Superintendente de la Policía de Chicago, David Brown, al tiempo que se comprometió a contratar más policías. Mientras que Vallas apelará al fortalecimiento del cuerpo policial para atajar la escanda- losa ola de violencia, Johnson asegura que fomentará y reali- zará inversiones críticas en los vecindarios para prevenir el cri- men. Además de trabajar en for- talecer la relación de policías- vecindarios, Johnson dijo que creará una Oficina de Seguridad Comunitaria, reabrirá las clíni- cas de salud mental de la ciudad y financiará completamente el empleo juvenil durante todo el año. Durante la campaña, Vallas obtuvo el respaldo de la con- servadora Orden Fraternal de la Policía de Chicago y enfrentó acusaciones de sus rivales de ser republicano a pesar de declarar- se demócrata. El candidato también ha sido administrador escolar en Nueva Orleans y Filadelfia, y realizó una campaña sin éxito para goberna- dor de Illinois en 2002. Cuando no calificó para la segunda vuel- ta de la alcaldía de Chicago en 2019, respaldó a Lightfoot. Por su parte Johnson, un ex educador y organizador sindi- cal que no es un nombre políti- co muy conocido en la ciudad, ganó impulso al ser el candidato favorito del Sindicato de Maes- tros de Chicago, que ayudó a financiar su publicidad política. Si bien Vallas aventajó a Johnson por casi 70,000 votos, es una incógnita por quién votarán en la segunda vuelta los simpa- tizantes de los demás candida- tos que, en conjunto, sumaron 240,000 sufragios en las pasadas elecciones. La victoria por la alcaldía tam- bién dependerá de la habilidad de los candidatos para convencer al electorado que no acudió a las urnas. Según datos de la Ofici- na Electoral, la participación de los votantes fue del 32.1%, con 507,852 sufragios de un total de 1,581,564 votantes registrados. Chicago se debate entre Vallas y Johnson en segunda vuelta electoral Brandon Johnson Paul Vallas

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