Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1498399
www.negociosnow.com 10 Abril 2023 Age: 33 Title: Committee Director and Legislative Counsel, Commit- tee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development Organization: City of Chicago Dedicated to purpose-dri- ven collaboration, Ashley Álvarez centers her life's work on strengthening the relationship between com- munity and government through advocacy that ad- vances equity, opportunity, and accountability to create sustainable change. Álvarez is a first-genera- tion Cuban and Puerto Rican daughter and granddaughter of immigrants. Born in Ma- ywood, she was raised in many Chicago neighbor- hoods but was shaped by Sunday dinners at El Prado (her abuelos' Cuban restau- rant), and summers in Are- cibo eating tembleque made by her abuelita and sitting with her abuelo en el balcón. At age 11, Álvarez knew she wanted to be an attor- ney after witnessing her father's long battle for custo- dy. Within her first month at California Western School of Law, Álvarez applied to work with the California Innocen- ce Project. There she united with a team that successfu- lly reversed a wrongful con- viction. Later she moved to the Public Defender's Offi- ce where she realized the power of legislation. Currently Álvarez is the committee director and le- gislative counsel for the city of Chicago Committee on Eco- nomic, Capital, and Techno- logy Development. She over- sees operations, legislation, team management, external affairs, and communications. Age: 36 Title: Founder Organization: Chicago Veterans Kevin Barszcz is a non - profit executive with over a decade of experience in the social services sector helping scale nonprofits for growth. He is a U.S. Navy veteran and the founder of Chicago Vete - rans, a nonprofit organi- zation helping veterans build their social support network to increase access to services and earned be- nefits. Barszcz is the current president of the Veterans Assistance Commission of Cook County and a recovery project mana - ger focused on home- lessness support services in the Chicago mayor's office. Prior to working in the mayor's office, he launched Habitat for Humanity's veterans pro - gram creating, partners- hips at federal and state levels to help veterans move from homelessness to homeownership. Barszcz is a Chicago native and proud alumnus of Chicago Public Schools where he graduated from Carl Schurz High School. He holds a bachelor's de - gree from DePaul Uni- versity and an electrical journeyman's degree from the United Services Mili- tary Apprenticeship Pro- gram. Barszcz is of Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Polish descent and is the great- grandson of Enrique Ugar- techea, el primer luchador Mexicano. Age: 29 Title: Founder & CEO Organization: MFGWorx Inc. Joel Calderon's parents came to the United Sta - tes as immigrants, and their first jobs were wor- king for minimum wage in factories in Chicago. He grew up on the South Side of Chicago, then moved to Somonauk, a small town an hour to the southwest. Financially his family always struggled, and they left the city due to dangerous experiences, but his parents always taught him to put his head down and create his own path. Calderon spent more than six years doing talent acquisition and human resources in manufactu - ring, and he found him- self in a position to offer opportunities to people. It was a full circle because he was helping people in the same position his pa- rents were in when they arrived in the United Sta- tes. To expand those op- portunities, he founded MFGWorx, a live chat hiring platform that con- nects hiring managers to talent in the manufactu- ring space in real time. MFGWorx is a portfolio company of Techstars, a business-accelerator program, and it was ac- cepted into a workforce development program that has a 1% acceptan- ce. Ashley Alvarez Kevin Barszcz Joel Calderon Government service leader Veterans problem solver Workforce innovator Edgar Candelas Dedicated to growing Hispanic businesses Age: 27 Title: President Organization: Northwest His- panic Chamber of Commerce Edgar Candelas is the cu- rrent president of the Nor- thwest Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a chamber dedicated to supporting Hispanic small busines- ses in suburban Chicago- land. Candelas has been involved with NWHCC for several years and ser- ved on its board before becoming president in 2022. Under his leader- ship, the organization has experienced signifi- cant growth by helping small businesses through programming, advoca- cy, collaboration and by offering other business resources. Candelas' passion for financial literacy stems from his personal expe- rience as a small busi- ness owner. Alongside his uncle, he operated a logistics business in Chi- cagoland that ultimately failed due to a lack of resources and coaching. Given access to the re- sources available today, their business might still be operating. This expe- rience inspired Cande- las to study finance and make a difference in the community by ensuring that all Hispanic busi- nesses have access to the resources they need to succeed.