Meet The Team

Meet the team: Yasmin Campos-Mendez

Meet Yasmin Campos-Mendez, Public Policy Manager Where are you from?   I am originally from a small town in the central valley of California, called Ivanhoe. Ivanhoe is a very small and rural town, where most of the population is Latin@ and Spanish speaking. Ivanhoe is in Tulare County, California, and […]

Read more    

Shelter services at Esperanza United with Irene Ochoa

In this podcast, as part of a series celebrating our new name, ā€œEsperanza Unitedā€, our Co-director of Family Advocacy and Community Engagement, Rosario de la Torre, speaks with our Senior Family Advocate, Irene Ochoa. DoƱa Irene has helped Latina survivors in Minnesota for nearly 35 years, and is admired among Esperanza […]

Read more    

Meet the Team: Jenny Lee

Meet Jenny Lee, Finance Director Where are you from?Ā  I was born in Australia and my father moved us to the United States (I was 5 years old) to be closer to family.Ā  We spent a couple months in California and came to Minnesota. Iā€™ve been in Minnesota since. Where do […]

Read more    

Meet the team: Lillie Macias

Meet Lillie Macias, PhD, Director of Research and Evaluation Where are you from? My family moved around growing up. I was born in California, and I also lived in Utah, Texas, and New Jersey.  Where do you feel most at home? I feel at home whenever Iā€™m with my family and […]

Read more    

Meet the team: Annika Gifford

Meet Annika Gifford, Program Strategy and Fund Development Advisor Where are you from? I was born in South Korea and grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Where do you feel most at home? Nature. What inspires you, professionally and personally? Many things inspire me – right now given current conditions, Iā€™m most […]

Read more    

Meet the Team: Cristina Escobar

Meet Cristina Escobar, Director of Communications and Marketing Where are you from? My parents are academics so we moved around a bunch but Iā€™d say Iā€™m from Arizona. I went to middle and high school there. My claim to fame, though, is that Iā€™ve lived in all four US-Mexico border states. […]

Read more    

Meet the team: Olivia GarcĆ­a

My main responsibilities are to: Help advance the development and implementation of a national Latin@ public policy agenda to prevent and eliminate domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence and support healthy families and communities. Work in conjunction with the Policy, Training and Research divisions to develop resources and enhance […]

Read more    

Meet the team: Makeda TourƩ

Meet Makeda TourĆ©, Project Specialist My name is Makeda TourĆ© and, I am a 25-year-old South Minneapolis resident who gives the sparkling water industry a significant part of my income. I am really into popular culture, comedy and The Sims. At Casa de Esperanza, my main responsibility is to provide administrative […]

Read more    

Meet the team: Nancy Nava

Ā  In today’s edition of Meet the Team, we will introduce Nancy Nava, our Research and Evaluation Manager. Meet the Team is an opportunity for readers to get to know a little bit more about the amazing and inspiring people who work with Esperanza United. Below are facts about Nancy Nava, […]

Read more    

Meet the team: Paula Gomez Stordy

Where are you from? I am from more than one place. I was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Chilean parents and have lived in various cities and towns in Massachusetts and Chile throughout my life. I feel fortunate to have discovered different places and connected with diverse people. Where do you […]

Read more