This is the fourth of a five-part series. Part one is available here, part two is available here and part three is available here.
Maria “MaDee” Lopez is an on-air personality for Madison’s 93.1 FM Jamz as well as a promotions coordinator, Website Designer, and Social Media Marketing specialist for La Movida 1480AM/94.5FM. Lopez has a Bachelor’s Degree in Audio Arts and Acoustics from Columbia College in Chicago. Lopez has been an advocate for hip hop around Dane County and won the Radio Personality of the Year by the Madison Hip-Hop Awards. You can catch MaDee every Saturday from 10am – 2pm on 93.1FM.
Juan Baez is a former Milwaukee Public Schools principal who led turnaround efforts at both Hopkins-Lloyd Community School and Alexander Mitchell Integrated Arts School. At these schools he worked to establish mentorship and leadership groups for boys. He has been a huge role model for black and brown students in Wisconsin and has attacked the black-white disparities in education. Baez was recently hired as the Director of the Black and Latino Male Achievement, a new initiative at MPS that is working to dig deep into the issues and Academic barriers Milwaukee’s Black and Latino males face. He serves as President for the Wisconsin Association for Bilingual Education as well. “We envision a time where our black and latino young men graduate from high school not only on time, but with an ability to embrace who they are, their identity, and also have the academic skills to navigate life,” Dr. Baez says.
Jose Sanchez started Sanchez Painting in Wauwatosa as a two-man operation nearly 20 years ago after completing an apprenticeship program in paints and coatings at Milwaukee Area Technical College in 1994. Since then, he’s grown the business into a multi-million dollar enterprise with more than 15 employees servicing major contractors on commercial and industrial construction projects. He’s fully embraced his role as a leader, and over the years has studied everything from human needs to meditation techniques, all in service of creating a productive and healthy workforce and thriving business.
Erika Villafuerte, Milwaukee, leads UnitedHealthCare’s statewide efforts to help people live healthier lives — especially underserved populations. She also runs Salud First, a social media platform providing bilingual motivational messages and reminders to help people prioritize and achieve their best possible health. Erika is also on the board of directors of the Milwaukee Food Council, which develops intentional, positive strategies for a healthy, affordable, equitable food system that nourishes our community and respects the environment.
Francisca Reyna of Beloit speaks at workplaces, faith organizations, local nonprofit organizations and community groups about financial wellness. As Vice President of Business Development and Education at Blackhawk Bank, Francisca makes financial education easy to understand and apply to everyday situations. Francisca has been Senior Sales Executive for Latin America and Pacific Rim, as well as serving on the Women’s Fund Advisory Board for the Stateline Community Foundation. She also stays very busy doing community service, serving on the board of directors for Junior Achievement of Wisconsin, the Women’s Fund Advisory Board, Blackhawk Technical College Advisory Board, the Stateline Community Foundation board of directors, and chair of the loan committee for the Blackhawk Region of NeighborWorks America.
Part five coming tomorrow!
