www.negociosnow.com
March 2023 57
Gabriela Vargas
Challenging
society to
handle suicide
differently
Age: 36
Title: Founder & President
Organization: National Hispanic
Suicide Prevention Network Inc.
Gabriela Vargas is a social en-
trepreneur, and founder and
owner of Poiema Studio, a safe
space for community mental
wellness in the city of Elgin
where the National Hispanic
Suicide Prevention Network
Inc. was born. With the sup-
port of co-founder Alejandro
Ramirez, Vargas leads NHSPN,
a nonprofit organization cen-
tered on suicide prevention
with an increased focus on
marginalized communities.
Vargas' passion for preven-
ting suicide in the Hispanic
community is based on per-
sonal experience with anxiety
and depression, the impact of
becoming a suicide attempt,
and suicide loss survivor. She
began making a difference in
her community by sharing her
personal survival story and ad-
vocating for changing the way
society remembers suicide
loss victims and offers support
to survivors.
Through Vargas' leadership
and advocacy, the city of Elgin
proclaimed March 1 as Suicide
Grief Awareness Day to shed
light on suicide grief, and the
city proclaimed July 18 as Va
-
nessa Guillen Day to highlight
the three main public health
problems affecting minority
and military communities:
sexual abuse and harassment,
mental illness, and suicide
loss.
Vargas shares the challen-
ges of fellow immigrants. She
was born in Zacatecas, Mexi-
co, and grew up bi-culturally
as an undocumented child in
Palatine, Illinois. She became
a mother at a very young age.
As she raised her two sons and
worked in a community hos-
pital as a medical interpreter
for 14 years, Vargas experien-
ced firsthand the needs in her
community. She learned the
value of service from her pa-
rents, to whom she is grateful
for always being an example
of leading in service, and who
taught her to always have faith
in God, and how to be resilient
in adversity.
WORDS OF WISDOM:
"L
ead with your heart,
and trust the process."
