Board of Directors
The NCSHP is governed and managed by a volunteer board of directors. If you need additional information about the NCSHP, please contact any member of the Board of Directors at (919) 467-8424.
Marco A. Zárate, M.S.
E-mail: Mzarate@theNCSHP.org
President
Marco A. Zárate is the President and Co-Founder of the North Carolina Society of Hispanic Professionals. He has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering. He was born in Mexico and has lived in North Carolina since 1990. Mr. Zárate is also involved with various non-profit and educational organizations. He is a Board Member of Communities in Schools of North Carolina and Wake Education Partnership among others.
Mr. Zárate has two children, Christian and Carolina. His wife Susan is an ESL teacher in Wake County Public Schools. He was raised believing in education as a means to succeed in life.
Marco A. Zárate es Presidente y Co-fundador de la Sociedad de Profesionales Hispanos de Carolina del Norte. El Sr. Zárate tiene una licenciatura en Ingeniería Química y una maestría en Ingeniería Industrial. Marco Zárate es originario de Tampico, México y ha vivido en Carolina del Norte desde 1990. El Sr. Zárate esa involucrado en varias organizaciones educativas y sin fines de lucro, incluyendo su participación como miembro de la junta directiva estatal de “Communities in School of North Carolina”, “Wake Education Partnership” entre otras.
El Sr. Zárate tiene dos hijos, Christian y Carolina. Su esposa Susan es una maestra de Ingles como Segunda Lengua en las Escuelas Públicas del condado de Wake. Marco Zárate creció creyendo en la educación como un medio para tener éxito en la vida.
Andrew Caamaño, M.B.A.
Educational Summit Committee
Andy was born and raised in New York City. He graduated from St. John's University with a BSBA in Accounting and also received an MBA in Finance from Boston College. He recently retired and now functions as a financial consultant on a part-time basis depending on client project or assignment needs. For over 25 years he has held various international CFO and senior financial executive positions with different multinational conglomerates (i.e. Sara Lee Corp., ITT Corp., Max Factor & Co., Norton Simon Inc., Playtex Corp. etc.).
He is passionate about the NCSHP's mission because educational progression amongst Latino youth is essential to ensuring the economic, social and culural survival of the Hispanic community. He also believes it is essential to their political influence and presence based on an educated voting populace. "The future of Hispanics is dependent upon their ability to rise above their current political and economic circumstances. The vehicle to achieve economic independence and political dominance is education."
Carole Klein, M.A.
Member at Large
Carole Klein has a Masters Degree in Special Education from Columbia University. She has taught in every grade from pre-school through college. She has evaluated and instructed students who are learning disabled, developmentally delayed, blind/visually impaired, physically challenged, as well as students who deal with emotional and mental health issues. As a supervisor, she has administered a $750K Federal program, coordinating the services of teachers and therapists, and providing workshops for successful mainstreaming of exceptional education students. As an educational consultant, she has designed and implemented innovative and highly effective educational programs. She has been recognized as Exceptional Special Educator of the year. Carole currently works with Spanish-speaking students and their families at Boomerang, an alternative educational setting for students on short-term suspension from their home schools. She was at the first Summit of the Society, and has been a member since 2005. Carole says, “From the moment I first knew about the North Carolina Society of Hispanic Professionals, I was profoundly impressed with the commitment and determination of Latinos to uplift their own children and their community. Obviously education is crucial, and only with the involvement of caring adults can all our children access what they need to succeed. It is an honor to be a part of so dedicated and visionary a group of people, and of a cause so individually and globally significant and beautiful.”
Elda McGrath, M.Ed.
Member at Large
Elda E. McGrath is originally from Panama. She is currently an ESL Teacher at Carpenter Elementary School while also working on a master program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She became passionate about the NCSHP mission of promoting education among Hispanic students at all levels because she works with students whose first language is not English who struggle to achieve. She believes in working together as a community of care and a community that shares concern about the success of all students. She has been part of the NCSHP for over four years now, and she believes that the society has made a great difference in the lives of Hispanic students through both their scholarships and conferences. In her opinion, these contributions have helped to motivate many Hispanic students to succeed. “The North Carolina Society of Hispanic Professionals has created a vision for me. I now can see our Hispanic youth standing in a place of success, making a difference in our society, and contributing to the future of our country.”
Carlos A. Perez, M.B.A.
Treasurer
Carlos A. Perez was born in Maracay, Venezuela. He has a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs and a Master in Business Administration with a Major in Marketing from the University of Cincinnati. Through his work for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. as a Claims Manager, he has been a strong advocate for Hispanic initiatives in the company such as the Hispanic Heritage Month committee. He has also served in the Civic Action Program committee and the "Because of Me" Employee Recognition Program. Mr. Perez has supported the NCSHP's initiatives since 2005, and his volunteer experience extends to other nonprofits such as El Pueblo, Inc. and Special Olympics North Carolina. He has more than 15 years of experience in insurance, business, and management; but his greatest strength lies in his ability to inspire, encourage, and mentor young professionals on educational and career development. Growing up in a family of educators, Mr. Perez has seen first-hand how education can change lives and improve the future for all of us. With North Carolina's growing Hispanic population, Mr. Perez's goal is to provide opportunities for Hispanic youth to become leaders and change agents within both our state and our global community.
Luis Olivieri-Robert, M.A.
Board Chair
Luis F. Olivieri-Robert was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico. He serves as community education specialist for the City of Raleigh, teaches language and history at Durham Technical Community College. Also, serves hispanic families through a church ministry in Durham and Chapel Hill. He believes that being part of the NCSHP is a commitment to our community based on the belief that education is a life-long-without-limits experience which embraces knowledge, freedom, awareness, and prosperity as foundations. He can see great outcomes for our Hispanic youth as long as they set dreams and goals, and are given opportunities and motivation, in addition to community and parental support.
Susan D. Zarate, M.S.A., M.A.T.L.
Educational Committee, Board Secretary
Ana Bolchalk, M.A.
Member at Large
Ana Bolchalk was born in Texas and lives in Wake County. She holds a Master of Arts Degree in Teaching from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Bachelor of Science/ Biology, from The University of Texas at San Antonio. She is a National Board Certified Teacher and has received numerous awards; 2008 NCSTA District 3 Outstanding Science Teacher Award, 2008 Cary Chamber of Commerce Honor a Teacher Award, 2007-2008 West Cary Middle School Teacher of the Year, 2007-2008 Wake County Teacher of the Year Top 20 Finalist, 2005 Cary Chamber of Commerce Honor a Teacher Award , and 2003-2004 West Cary Middle School First Year Teacher of the Year. She has worked for Wake County Public Schools System since 2003 where she has also coached Girl’s Track and Field and Science Olympiad. Her current teaching position is at Cary High School. With the NCSHP she has been the grant writer and coordinator for the Good Stewards of the Environment Program since 2008. She has also served in helping with the Hispanic Educational Summit, fundraising and scholarships committees. She became involved with the NCSHP because “As a teacher, I see how some Latino students can struggle to find their way in our education system, I have always tried to find as many ways as I can to help all my students.”
Lucy Wilks
Member at Large
Lucy Wilks was born in Bogotá, Colombia and works as a Spanish teacher for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. She lives in Durham and has over thirteen years of teaching experience. She holds a BS in Economics and a Masters degree in Latin-American Studies from Ohio University. She is a National Board Certified teacher. She has volunteered with the NCSHP Board of Directors, as well as several NCSHP events and programs. She has also served with the Latino Support Group at East Chapel Hill High School. Her main interest is promoting higher education among Hispanic students.
Ricardo Velásquez, J.D.
Member at Large
Ricardo Velásquez was born in New Braunfels, Texas and grew up in Goldsboro, North Carolina where he graduated from Eastern Wayne Senior High School. He lives in Durham and is currently a member of the El Centro Hispano Executive Committee and the NC Democrats. After receiving his law degree from North Carolina Central University in 2002 he went into private practice and now has the largest Latino law practice in North Carolina. He received a Presidential Nomination to the U.S. Air Force Academy and later earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Economics and Materials Engineering from North Carolina State University. He then worked as an engineer at the Microelectronics Center of North Carolina, DuPont and AVX. Since becoming an attorney, Velasquez has focused his political efforts toward improving Hispanic voting power and defending all citizens’ civil rights. He is interested in the NCSHP mentoring program and those where future North Carolina’s Hispanic leaders can be trained.
Isrrael Alejandro Jaimes
Member at Large
Isrrael A. Jaimes was born in México and lives in Lucama, NC in Wilson County. Currently he is attending Fayetteville State University. He has volunteered with the NCSHP at the Hispanic Achievement Conferences and the Hispanic Educational Summit. He has also coordinated Summer Programs for children 2 through 14 at his local church in Wilson County. Isrrael states that “I don’t want to see more talented students dropping out of high school because they think that they can’t go to college.” His commitment with the NCSHP is “to help accomplish the mission because I believe that the NCSHP is important and unique to promote education among the students for a better future.”
Maureen Shannon Legaria
Member at Large
Louise Dupon
High School Board Member
Louise J. Dupon lives in Raleigh, but was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She is daughter of Mexican parents. Louise is often referred to as Lulu. She is a senior at Cary High School in Wake County. This is her second year as president of The Hispanic Club. She also has been a member of The National Technical Honor Society for two years. Lulu has volunteered at events such as Brown Bag Ministry, Ritmo Latino, Fiesta del Pueblo, NCSHP Hispanic Achievement Conference, NCSHP Educational Summit, Blue Jay Point County Park and with Latino Diamante. She was awarded by the Wake County Public School System and the LEP Community Coalition for her outstanding contributions to the Hispanic/Latino community. Hispanic Educational Summit and Graduate!, are programs she is interested in, to help promote a higher education among her peers. “I love helping other Hispanic students reach their highest potential because we are the future.”