SER National

ABC of Food Trucks
2021-09-16 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Online – WebEx, TX, United States
Join us for “ABC of Food Trucks” with María Santi of the Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce.
Date & Time: 9/16/2021 at 2:00pm CT

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How to Register your LLC
2021-09-09 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Online – WebEx, TX, United States
Join us for “How to Register your LLC” with María Santi of the Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce.
Date & Time: 9/9/2021 at 2:00pm CT

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Sharing Best Practices Around Establishing a Relationship with a Banker
2021-09-02 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Online – WebEx, TX, United States
Join us for “Sharing best practices around establishing a relationship with a banker” with JC González of Wells Fargo Bank.
Date & Time: 9/2/2021 at 2:00pm CT
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Adapting to your New Life on Campus with DiOnetta Jones Crayton
2021-06-17 03:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Online – WebEx, TX, United States
Join us for a webinar with DiOnetta Jones Crayton on “Adapting to your New Life on Campus”.
Date & Time: June 17, 2021 at 3:00pm CT
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DiOnetta Jones Crayton Bio
Associate Dean, Office of the Vice Chancellor
Director, Office of Minority Education
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
As an associate dean for the Office of the Vice Chancellor and director of the Office of Minority Education, DiOnetta Jones Crayton is plays a critical role in ensuring that MIT develops and supports the overall success of all students, particularly those from underrepresented minority groups.
Prior to her appointment at MIT, she was the director of diversity programs for the College of Engineering at Cornell University. She previously served as director of education, training and outreach at The National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science, Inc. (GEM) at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, In. Before joining GEM, she held the position of statewide associate director for California’s Mathematics Engineering and Science Achievement [K-12] Schools (MESA) Program at the University of California, Berkeley Office of the President. She also served as director of the MESA Schools Program and the MESA Engineering Program at the University of the Pacific (UOP) in Stockton, California. Prior to her work at UOP, she served as the Director of the Business Education Science Team [K-12] program at the California State University-Sacramento.
Crayton has held several national leadership positions with educational and technical organizations such as the Women in Engineering ProActive Network, Inc., the Institute for Broadening Participation, the Massachusetts Governor’s Diversity Subcommittee on STEM, and the National Association of Multicultural Engineering Program Advocates, Inc. She currently serves as a Board Member for the Lena Park Community Development Center in Boston, the Harvard/MIT Cooperative Society, and the New England Regional Assembly of the College Board. Dean Crayton is a proud Veteran, having served in the USAF during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. She also maintains local and national affiliations with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Crayton holds a BA in communications from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, LA and a MA in educational and counseling psychology from UOP. She has also completed post-graduate coursework in education administration and theology. She is a licensed minister on staff at Morning Star Baptist Church in Boston, MA.

STEM Talk with Dr. Larissa Aviles-Santa of NIH
2021-06-10 15:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Online – WebEx, TX, United States
Join us for a STEM TALK with Dr. Larissa Aviles-Santa of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Date & Time: June 10, 2021 at 3:00pm CT
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Larissa Avilés-Santa, M.D., M.P.H.

Dr. Larissa Avilés-Santa is the director of the Division of Clinical and Health Services Research at National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In her current role, she works with her great team on fostering high-quality research towards improving health outcomes of populations with health disparities and within the context of health care settings and systems.

From 2006 to 2019 she was the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) project director for the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos, the most comprehensive study on Hispanic/Latino health in the United States to date. The study takes place in four U.S. cities, has followed over 16 thousand participants of Hispanic/Latino descent, and has been fundamental and increasing our understanding of health and health care similarities and differences among people of diverse Hispanic/Latino heritage groups.

Dr. Avilés-Santa has participated in multiple NIH-wide committees and working groups addressing minority health, diabetes mellitus and its complications, women’s health, and vascular dementia. In 2015, she founded the NIH Hispanic Health Research Scientific Interest Group. She has coauthored multiple publications on different Hispanic/Latino health topics, has served as a journal reviewer and guest editor, and is a frequent guest lecturer at diverse academic and scientific venues within and outside of the NIH. In 2015, she was recognized by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists with the Outstanding Service Award for the Promotion of Endocrine Health of an Underserved Population. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Puerto Rico Consortium for Clinical Investigation and an advisor to the Advanced Center for Chronic Diseases in Santiago, Chile.

In 2017, Dr. Avilés-Santa was the field coordinator of the post-hurricanes Irma and María recovery of the health and social services of the entire country of Puerto Rico during the first six and a half months of work coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She had the opportunity to lead a diverse group of volunteer federal employees and local contractors in the performance of needs assessments of healthcare and social services facilities and the proposal of recovery strategies.

Dr. Avilés-Santa earned her medical degree from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, and completed a residency in internal medicine at the University Hospital in San Juan, and a fellowship in endocrinology at the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center. She also earned a Master’s degree at the UT School of Public Health.

The Legacy Leader as a Super Hero with Anthony Lopez
2021-06-03 15:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Online – WebEx, TX, United States
Join us for the webinar, “The Legacy Leader as a Super Hero” with Anthony Lopez.
Date & Time: June 3 at 3:00pm CT
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Anthony Lopez Bio:
Tony López is an experienced C-Suite and Board executive with a reputation as an inspirational, multicultural and bilingual leader. López has a strong track record of success in global President level leadership positions in publicly traded companies with > $1Billion P&L responsibility. He is recognized as a strategic thinker and people developer with a proven record for bringing about positive and empowering change while driving breakthrough results.
López is a sought-after speaker and expert on leadership and management topics. He has presented to audiences throughout the globe, and thousands of people have attended his presentations. He is the author of“The Legacy Leader (1st and 2nd editions)”, “Breakthrough Thinking: The Legacy Leader’s Role In Driving Innovation”,“The Leader’s Lobotomy: The Legacy Leader Avoids Promotion Induced Amnesia”, “The Leader In the Mirror; The Legacy Leader’s Critical Self-Assessment”, “The Diversity Engagement Model: From Awareness to Action” (published in The Journal for Hispanic Business Research, October 2008), and “The Legacy Leader As Superhero: LEGACYWOMAN”.
López is the CEO/Founder for L&L Associates, a Leadership & Management Consulting Firm. He is Chairman-Emeritus of the Board of PROSPANICA and served on the PROSPANICA Foundation Board until December 2019. He currently sits as a member of the Executive Advisory Board for NexPhase Capital, a New York City based Private Equity Company. He also serves on the Board of Advisors for MAS Global Consulting, Inc. and CulturIntel, Inc.
He began his professional career as a military officer and served as a Captain in the Air Force. He joined Johnson & Johnson in 1991. While at J&J he held leadership/GM positions in Engineering, Operations, Sales, and Marketing. He also served as Chairperson for the Hispanic Organization For Leadership & Achievement. From 2009 to 2011 he was the GM for Respiratory Systems in CareFusion, and from 2011 – 2017 he served as President, Ansell Healthcare. In 2017 he was named CEO & Managing Director of AZZUR GROUP.
López holds a BS in Electrical Engineering, an MS in Engineering Management, and is a graduate of the Department of Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute. He is a member of the Latino Corporate Director’s Association and the National Association of Corporate Directors where he holds the Governance Fellow designation.
Linked-In
www.legacyleader.net

SER STEM Community Day STEM Competition
2021-05-21 15:00 - 2021-05-23 17:00 (America/Chicago) | 100 East Royal Lane, Suite 130, Irving, TX, 75039, United States
General guidelines and video submission guidelines for the SER STEM Community Day Competition:
General Guidelines:

All participants will be working independently. Participants are expected to work alone with general guidance from an adult if needed
All participants will have an equal opportunity to showcase their creativity and abilities in all aspects of the competition, such as the assembly, operational abilities, and the production and recording of the video that will showcase the final product.
The final product must be functional and operational for it to enter the competition.
Only one video per student will be accepted.
The video must showcase how it operates and functions. The design and assembly part of the project must not be included in the video.
The video must be 30 seconds or less in length. Videos longer than 30 seconds will be disqualified.

Video Submission Guidelines:

The video must be uploaded to Dropbox using this link https://www.dropbox.com/request/tk5dO9GxliW2zNeCVDH2.
The deadline for submitting the video is Sunday, May 23, 2021, by 5:00 pm CST. Any video submitted before 3:00 pm CT on 5/21/21 will be disqualified.
No videos will be accepted past this deadline.
Please submit your videos with file name NAME GRADE CITY STATE. (Example: JoseHernandezHoustonTexas)

Once all videos are received, they will be reviewed and evaluated by the judges. Winners will be announced during the STEM Talk on June 10. First, Second, and Third place winners will receive an IPad, Laptop, or Tablet, respectively.

Community Day
2021-05-21 11:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago) | Online – WebEx, TX, United States
Community Day will be held on May 21, 2021 from 11:00am – 3:00pm CT over Webex.

This year’s Community Day will include inspiring and educational speakers!
SER National looks forward to welcoming partners from all across the country to this important gathering.

Click Here to Register!

Agenda

Friday – May 21, 2021

11:00 AM CT
STEM PresentationDr. Alicia Abella, Google

12:00 PM CT
Motivational SpeakerJosé Hernández, Astronaut (retired)

1:00 PM CT
STEM PresentationDr. Calvin Mackie, CEO/Founder of STEM NOLA

2:00 PM CT
STEM Activity and CompetitionSTEM NOLA Staff

Speakers

Dr. Alicia AbellaManaging Director, Telecom, Media & Entertainment Industry Solutions,Google

Dr. Alicia Abella is the Managing Director, Telecom, Media & Entertainment (TME) Industry Solutions, for Google Cloud leading the North America and Latin America regions. She has responsibility for building the go-to-market approach for TME, partnering with the Product, Engineering, and Sales teams to deliver end-to-end solutions for Telecom customers. Prior to joining Google Cloud, Dr. Abella was VP of the Integrated Systems Engineering and Realization organization of AT&T Labs driving the company’s network infrastructure deployments, SDN, Edge, and 5G programs. In her 25 year tenure with AT&T she also led multiple highly technical organizations specializing in cloud computing, software-defined networking, human-computer interaction, mobile services, big data analytics, and Internet of Things.

José HernándezAstronaut (Retired)
José M. Hernández is the first migrant farmworker to become a NASA astronaut. Born into a migrant farm working family from Mexico, José wanted to fly in space ever since he heard that the first Hispanic-American, Franklin Chang-Diaz, had been selected for the Astronaut Corps.
Hernandez attended the University of the Pacific in Stockton, where he earned a degree in electrical engineering. He was then awarded a full scholarship to the graduate program at the University of California in Santa Barbara, where he continued his engineering studies. In 1987, he accepted a full-time job with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. While at Lawrence Livermore, Hernandez worked on signal and image processing applications in radar imaging, computed tomography, and acoustic imaging. Later in his career, Hernandez worked on developing quantitative x-ray film imaging analysis techniques for the x-ray laser program. Hernandez applied these techniques in the medical physics arena and co-developed the first full-field digital mammography imaging system. This system has proven useful for detecting breast cancer at an earlier stage than present film/screen mammography techniques. He has also worked in the international arena where he represented Lawrence Livermore and the U.S. Department of Energy on Russian nuclear non-proliferation issues.
After several applications to the astronaut program, José was selected as part of the 19th class of U.S. Astronauts in 2004. On August 28, 2009, José was assigned to the STSe128 Space Shuttle Discovery mission as the flight engineer. He realized his dream of reaching for the stars came true as he blasted off into space on a 14 day mission to the International Space Station.

Dr. Calvin MackieCEO,STEM NOLA
Dr. Calvin Mackie is an award-winning mentor, inventor, author, former engineering professor, internationally renowned speaker and successful entrepreneur. He is the founder of STEM NOLA, a non-profit organization founded to expose, inspire and engage communities about the opportunities in STEM.
Dr. Mackie struggled with his grades in high school and had to take remedial classes at Morehouse College prior to pursuing his bachelor’s degree. After completing those classes, he graduated from Morehouse College in 1990 and was simultaneously awarded a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech. After that, he earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in 1996 from Georgia Tech.

Sponsors

57th SER National Annual Conference
2021-05-20 11:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago) | Online – WebEx, TX, United States
The 57th SER National Annual Conference will be held on May 20th over Webex.
This year’s conference will include inspiring speakers and entrepreneurship workshops.

SER National looks forward to welcoming partners from all across the country to this important gathering.

Click Here to Register

Agenda

Thursday – May 20, 2021

11:00 AM CT

Opening / Welcome Remarks
Ignacio SalazarPresident and CEO, SER Jobs for Progress National, Inc.
A Conversation about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Dr. Merary SimeonVice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, PepsiCo
Ignacio SalazarPresident and CEO, SER Jobs for Progress National, Inc.

12:00 PM CT

Motivational Speaker
Maria Marín

1:00 PM CT

A Conversation about Women and Empowerment
Anna Escobedo Cabral42nd Treasurer of the United States
Ignacio SalazarPresident and CEO, SER Jobs for Progress National, Inc.

2:00 PM CT

Entrepreneurship: Government Programs to Start or Grow a Business
Nancy AlvarezUS Small Business Administration

Speakers

Ignacio SalazarPresident and CEO, SER
Ignacio Salazar serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of SER Jobs for Progress National, Inc., a national network of employment and training providers comprised of affiliates in 24 States, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia, providing services to more than one million people annually. Unanimously selected by the SER National Board of Directors to lead the organization in 2001, Mr. Salazar is committed to SER’s mission of transforming lives through employment, education, and empowerment.

Dr. Merary SimeonVice President, Diversity Equity & Inclusion, PepsiCo
Dr. Merary Simeon is a proven and celebrated human resources executive who is community-minded and people-invested. She is a wife, mother, co-founder of Color Forward podcast, author, board member, and kingdom work advocate. Dr. Simeon’s diverse experiences have equipped her with a deep understanding of the needs and opportunities critical to leaders at all levels. Her leadership expertise includes Talent Management, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Leadership Consulting, Culture Change, Executive Coaching, and Public Speaking.
Dr. Simeon holds a doctorate in Strategic Leadership from Regent University and a master’s degree in Human Resources from Fordham University. She is a native of Puerto Rico and currently resides in Frisco, Texas, with her family. She credits her success to Jesus Christ. “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength,” Philippians 4:13.

Maria Marín
People en Espanol magazine selected Maria Marin as one of the 25 most powerful Latina women in 2012. Maria Marin is the leading motivational icon among Hispanics worldwide. Her message of motivation, personal growth and success reaches millions through her newspaper columns, best-selling books, international seminars and radio show. As a “life coach” she now reaches thousands of listeners with her national syndicated radio show, “El Show de Maria” on Univision Radio Network. The program covers relationships, family and personal growth topics. She has been dedicated to empowering “Latinos” for over ten years.

Anna Escobedo CabralSenior Advisor, External Relations Department, Inter-American Development Bank
Anna Escobedo Cabral currently serves as a Senior Advisor in the External Relations Department of the Inter-American Development Bank. Prior to joining the bank, Ms. Cabral served as the 42nd Treasurer of the United States. She became the highest-ranking Latina in the George W. Bush Administration.
From 1993 to 1999, Ms. Cabral served as Deputy Staff Director for the United States Senate Judiciary Committee under Chairman Orrin G. Hatch. The Committee’s jurisdiction ranges from oversight of the Department of Justice and our nation’s criminal and drug enforcement laws to approving federal judicial nominations, and it includes review of immigration, antitrust, patents and trademark, and technology-related legislation.
In addition, Ms. Cabral simultaneously served as Executive Director of the U.S. Senate Republican Conference Task Force on Hispanic Affairs, during which she managed a task force of 25 senators dedicated to ensuring that the concerns and needs of the Hispanic community were addressed by Congress through legislation.
From 1999 to 2003, Ms. Cabral served as President and CEO of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, DC, which partners with Fortune 500 companies to increase Hispanic representation in employment, procurement, philanthropy and governance. Under her leadership, the organization published a best practices series, and instituted a partnership with Harvard Business School to provide executive training programs in Corporate Governance Best Practices to community leaders.
In 2003, Ms. Cabral was named as Director of the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Latino Initiatives, where she led a pan-institutional effort to improve Latino representation in exhibits, and public programming among the Institution’s 19 museums, five research centers, and the National Zoo.
In 2002, she was appointed to the Council on the 21st Century Workplace, providing guidance to the White House and the Department of Labor on work-related issues. That same year, she was named to a two-year term on the Diversity Council of the Premier Automotive Group, an outreach effort of the Ford Motor Company. She has also served on the boards of the Sewall-Belmont House and Museum, a historic center commemorating women’s suffrage, Martha’s Table, a nonprofit that provides assistance to families in need, the American Red Cross, Naturebridge, a nonprofit dedicated to environmental education, and the foundation board of Providence Hospital, which provides quality healthcare to the Washington, DC community. Currently, she serves on the Diversity Advisory Group for Comcast/NBC Universal/Telemundo, and as a Member of the Board of Directors for Navient, the nation’s leading loan management, servicing and asset recovery company.
A California native, today, Ms. Cabral resides with her husband, Victor, in Arlington, VA. They have four adult children and are blessed with five grandchildren. Ms. Cabral received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Davis, a Master’s degree in Public Administration with an emphasis in international trade and finance from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a Law Degree from George Mason University.

Nancy N. AlvarezSupervisor, 8(a) Business Development Program, Women Business Representative,Dallas Fort Worth District Office, U.S. Small Business Administration
Since 2011, Nancy N. Alvarez has served as the Head of the 8(a) Business Development Program and the Women Business Representative for the U.S. Small Business Administration, Dallas/Fort Worth District Office. She is instrumental in providing leadership, management, and oversight to optimize the deployment of SBA’s Federal Contracting programs to the small business communities within a 72-county geographical area in North Texas in Spanish and English.
She is a champion for women and disadvantage businesses in the federal marketplace; playing an important role in increasing participation of small businesses in Federal Contracting Programs and advocating strongly for the inclusion and participation of small businesses in government procurement.
Nancy graduated from Jacksonville University with a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration (Magna Cum Laude). She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. She served on the Board of the City of Jacksonville, the Mayor’s Hispanic American Advisory Board, the Mayor’s Small & Emerging Business Advisory Council, and as an advisory board member in the Beaver Street Enterprise Center, City of Jacksonville’s first business incubator.
Nancy is currently an advisory board member of the Dallas/Fort Worth Federal Agency Small Business Advocacy Council (FASBAC), a small business professional’s forum where federal agencies share, gather, and create ideas that promote small businesses’ interest and participation in the federal marketplace.

Sponsors
A special thank you to our sponsors.

Protecting You from Fraud and Abuse with Lee Alviar of the SSA
2021-04-29 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago) | Online – WebEx, TX, United States
Join us for the webinar, “Protecting You From Fraud and Abuse” with Lee Alviar of the Social Security Administration.
Date & Time: Thursday, Apr. 29, 2021 at 3:00pm CT

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STEM TALK with Humberto Barreda of Honeywell-UOP
2021-04-15 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago) | Online – WebEx, TX, United States
Join us for a STEM TALK with Humberto Barreda of Honeywell-UOP!
Date & Time: April 15, 2021 at 3:00pm CT
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Humberto Barreda Bio
Honeywell/UOP
Sr Lead Project Manager
Company leader in technology for the treatment and refining in the gas, oil, and petrochemical sectors. Complete solutions covering planning, design, equipment supply and start-up.
Project Management execution for domestic large gas process technologies. Project coordination, support to the sales, business and execution teams for new capital equipment and turnkey projects including global engineering and design, equipment fabrication, installation and construction related activities.
Coordination of technical scope review, customer interphase with engineering disciplines, logistics, QA/QC, material supply chains, development of execution strategy. Review of schedules, scope and base lined cost, contract review, risk analysis including MonteCarlo and business analytics. During execution phase, main liaison with customer, engineering and manufacturing groups.
Project close-out and lessons learnt analysis.
Achievements

Coordination and implementation during planning phase of the several modular gas processing and CCR Projects.
Coordination of the Material Supply Chain for a large size project for a domestic customer.
Material supply chain management for a large modular gas processing plant.
Business development of several lump sum projects (LSTK) for gas processing plants in USA and abroad.
Successful coordination of virtual team across USA and in several parts of the world.

Employment Session: What You Need to Know About Social Security
2021-04-08 03:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Online – WebEx, TX, United States
Join us for an Employment & Training Session with Lee Alviar of the Social Security Administration.
Topic: “What You Need to Know About Social Security”
Date & Time: April 8, 2021 at 3:00pm CT
Lee will provide an overview of SSA programs including Retirement, Disability, Survivors, and Medicare. Information will include eligibility, benefits, and alternative filing methods including online services.
Click here to Register

Lee Alviar Bio
Lee Alviar, a 30 year veteran with the Social Security Administration, first started as a claims clerk in Brownsville Texas and has worked through various levels of management. Lee was previously a Lead Training Instructor for 5 years training newly hired employees nationwide, and currently serves as a Regional Public Affairs Specialist over a 5 state area.
Lee has a Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science, a Master’s degree in Business Administration, and a Doctorate of Management in Organizational Leadership. In addition to playing with computers, Lee enjoys working with the youth and has been a Board Member and trainer for TEDxYouth in Fort Worth for the past five years.

Entrepreneurship Session: SBA's Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contracting Program
2021-03-25 15:00 (America/Chicago) | Online – WebEx, TX, United States
Learn about the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contracting Program now during Women’s History Month.
Join us for an Entrepreneurship Session: SBA’s Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contracting Program with Emma Maxey.
Date & Time: March 25, 2021 at 3:00pm CT
Click here to Register
Thank you to our sponsor, General Motors.

Education Session - Finding Money for College: Financial Aid Basics
2021-03-18 15:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Online – WebEx, TX, United States
Learn about how to find money for college with Raul Hinojosa of The University of Texas at Dallas.
Date & Time: Mar. 18, 2021 at 3:00pm CT
Due to severe weather, the previously scheduled SER webinar for Thursday, February 18th, has been rescheduled to March 18th at 3:00pm CT.
If you have registered, your registration will be carried forward.
Thank you for your understanding. We look forward to your participation on Thursday, March 18th, 2021.
If you have been affected by this severe weather, please stay safe.
Click here to Register

Raul Hinojosa Bio
Raul Hinojosa Jr. joined The University of Texas at Dallas as Director of Community Engagement in 2008. He is the founding director of this office created to focus on college access initiatives to increase the number of underrepresented students enrolling in college. He also serves as a leader of diversity and inclusion initiatives at the University. Hinojosa serves on several national advisory councils including the College Board College Scholarship Service/Financial Assistance Council. He has a history of being engaged in a variety of community and service organizations. He is the Former President of the Richardson Adult Literacy Center and currently serves on the Richardson Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Hinojosa has also volunteered with the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Council 4871 – Dallas Rainbow Council and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers DFW Chapter Scholarship Committee. He is an alumnus of the Leadership Dallas Class of 2015 – the Dallas Regional Chamber’s (DRC) leadership development program, and currently serves on the DRC Leadership Council. Hinojosa has taught strategic communications and non-profit management courses as an adjunct professor at University of North Texas and Texas Christian University. He has also facilitated several diversity and inclusion training programs throughout the country. During his spare time, he enjoys reading, cooking, and eating at new restaurants.

STEM TALK - Dr. Virginia Counts of Medtronic
2021-03-11 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago) | Online – WebEx, TX, United States
Join us for a STEM TALK with Dr. Virginia Counts, a Sr. Program Manager for Medtronic.
Time & Date: March 11, 2021 at 3:00pm CT
Click Here to Register

Dr. Virginia Counts Bio
Alchemist • Strategist • Coach • Program Manager • Process Improvement Expert • STEM Advocate
I get joy out of organizing and creating strategies from ether, transforming chaos into order, and synthesizing disparate information.
These days, I am a Sr. Program Manager for Medtronic, where I manage teams across Operations groups manufacturing pacemakers, defibrillators, and associated leads. I work on the large, cross functional, super-visible, hairy projects that most others shy away from. My early career provided challenging work as a Project Engineer building and testing gas turbine engines in the Aerospace industry. I then spent a decade in process improvement; certified as a Lean Manufacturing Expert, and Six Sigma Master Blackbelt, helping teams improve processes and provide significant savings.
Passionate about getting more women in engineering, I am a Fellow of the Society of Women Engineers and spent a decade on the SWE Board of Directors culminating with the role of President in 2009. Recognized as one of the most “48 Intriguing Women of Arizona” in a book celebrating Arizona’s 100th anniversary as a state. Based on MDT’s Tempe Campus, I live in Phoenix and enjoy hiking nearby with my slightly neurotic but energetic miniature schnauzer, Princess Sophia.
Education

BSE, Mechanical Engineering, Arizona State University
MSE, Industrial Engineering, Arizona State University
PhD, Sustainable Engineering, Arizona State University
