Elda E. McGrath, M.Ed

President

Elda E. McGrath is originally from Panama.  She is currently an ESL Teacher at Northwoods Elementary School. Elda holds a Master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  She became passionate about the NCSHP mission because she works with students whose first language is not English and struggles to achieve. She believes in working together as a community of care and a community that shares the 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 its scholarships and its 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 Elda.  She 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.

MaríaRosa Rangel, M.A.

Board Chair

Rodolfo Ruiz

Treasurer

Mr. Rodolfo Ruiz graduated as a Computer Engineer from the Autonomous University of Guadalajara. Originally from Monterrey, NL, he grew up in Mexico City, Querétaro and Guadalajara. He began his career as a software developer at IBM Guadalajara and has worked as a designer and architect of software solutions. He has had the opportunity to be in two international assignments. The first for 2 years in IBM Raleigh, North Carolina from 1995-1997, as the head of the software development team. In 2005, as part of the sale of the PC Division, it became part of Lenovo. From 2007 to 2010, he was transferred to Shenzhen China, with the mission of opening a software development laboratory, which now has more than 350 engineers. In 2018 he returned to work at IBM in Raleigh, North Carolina. Rodolfo believes that education is the key to a better life and future. He would like to help our Latino students acquire post-secondary education and be able to live the American Dream. He resides in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his wife Adriana and their three children.

Shelia Bennett, M.A.

Member at Large

Shelia Bennett works in Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) as a Senior Administrator, HR Recruitment and Retention. Primarily, her work involves the knowledge and support of approximately 1,600 beginning teachers within the district. Also, Ms. Bennett recruits certified and lateral entry teachers at local and out-of-state career fairs. This passion to help others fuels her drive to assist anyone in her path toward their dream goals. Ms. Bennett possesses a number of years as an experienced Human Resources professional. Her areas of expertise include all facets of recruitment and retention, employee relations, compensation and benefits, safety, etc. She enjoys doing presentation to students regarding the intentional art of résumé writing skills, interviewing and guides to gaining ideal employment.

Pamela Gales

Board Member at Large

Pamela Gales has spent over 20 years of her career in Local and State government. First with Durham County, and now with Wake County Public School System. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from American Intercontinental University. She is a Certified Local Government Purchasing Officer (CLGPO), and an Executive Certified Master Compliance Administrator (ECMCA). Ms. Gales is President of the North Carolina MWBE Coordinators’ Network (NCCN), a member of the American Contract Compliance Association (ACCA), the Carolinas/Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council (CVMSDC), Carolina Association of Government Purchasing (CAGP), and the National Notary Association. Pamela has spent countless hours at small business fairs and expos and supports other partner agencies with her energy and commitment to the mission of educating, supporting and assisting the M/WBE community. Pamela served as Secretary for the North Carolina M/WBE Coordinators’ Network for three years, and she also served as a Board Member, and Programming Committee Chair for the Greater Durham Black Chamber of Commerce (GDBCC). In 2017, Pamela received the Best New Program Award from the Carolinas/Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council (CVMSDC), and most recently she received the 2018 Presidential Recognition of Brilliance “Advocate of the Year” award from the Hispanic Contracting Association of the Carolinas (HCAC), and United Minority Contractors of NC (UMCNC). Also, Pamela was selected as one of the 2018 Triangle Business Journal Leaders in Diversity.

April Gonzales

Member at Large

College Student

April Gonzalez will be a rising junior (Class 2021) in the College of Engineering at NC State University with a major in Chemical Engineering. April is of Mexican descent and has lived in North Carolina for most of her life. She is an Academic Officer for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers – NC State Chapter, and a Scholar of the American Chemical Society. April is also a recipient of the NC Hispanic Scholarship Fund - Duke Energy Engineering Scholarship. April has worked with high school students in various outreach programs to encourage them to pursue careers in STEM. Also, April has more than three years of experience working and tutoring middle and high school students to encourage them to pursue a college education. April’s objective is to build inventions for competitions, work on project for the community and volunteering for a cause. April is very enthusiastic about representing and promoting the vision of the NCSHP. She strongly believes that bringing educational opportunities and resources to Hispanic students will encourage them to envision a better future for themselves.

Alan Marines

College Board

Member at Large

Alan Marines is a junior at NC State University in the process of obtaining his Bachelor of Science in Science, Technology, and Society with a concentration in Statistics. He is currently working on a thesis on certain statistics that deal with immigration, and an important part of that research involves the education of Hispanics.

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Alan Marines is of Mexican descent and has lived in North Carolina for his entire life. He has been involved in many events that promote the growth and aiding of education of the Hispanic youth. Last Spring, he helped organize and conduct an informational meeting that included presentations by Wake County and Mexican Consulate representatives.

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Throughout his three years at NC State, he has met with multiple Hispanic high schoolers to provide academic and financial information, as well as tours of the university for students to get an idea of what college life is like. His objective is to inspire Latino students to continue their studies. Alan Marines is always trying to find new opportunities to encourage students to continue on with their education.

Marco A. Zárate is the Co-Founder and former President 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.

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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, M.S.

Co-Founder & Board Member at Large

Jairo Najera

Jairo Najera is an Estimator at Brasfield and Gorrie Construction Construction. He obtained an Associate Degree in Applied Science at Sampson Community College in Clinton, NC and his Bachelor in Applied Science at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC.  He was the president of the Sampson Community College Construction Club and a recipient of the prestigious Academic Excellence Award from Sampson Community College. Jairo is a product of the Sampson Public School System and the first in his family to graduate from high school. Every year Jairo gives back to the community by sharing with high school and community college students his experience within the construction industry.

Member at Large

Jorge Luis

Pacheco Santiago

Member at Large

Jorge Pacheco is a Teacher at Fuquay-Varina High School of Wake County Public School System. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Technology, Design and Engineering Education with a minor in Graphic Communications from North Carolina State University (NC State) in Raleigh, NC. He was the president of “Mi Familia”, a Hispanic student organization at NC State University. Also, Jorge was a College Student Board member for the NC Society of Hispanic Professionals from 2014 to 2016.  Jorge has been a member of the Hispanic Educational Summit planning committee since 2015.  He was born in McMinnville, Oregon and was raised in Graham, NC attending school in the Alamance-Burlington School system in Alamance County. Jorge believes that education and hard work are the fundamental keys for being able to contribute to not only the Hispanic community but our society as a whole.

Luisa Scott

Member at Large

Ms. Luisa Scott is a young Hispanic professional who was born in Tucson, AZ, and raised in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. She obtained her Bachelor of Social and Behavioral Science in Communication and Spanish Literature from The University of Arizona. Luisa is passionate about helping others; she has been working for the nonprofit sector since 2011. Luisa understands the needs of the community and is very involved with different organizations. Luisa serves as a board member of the Red Global of Mexicans – Raleigh Chapter; she also serves as a board member of Young Professionals – Raleigh Chapter with Make-A-Wish®.

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Luisa is a member of the NCSHP and has been a member of the scholarship selection committee, and supported NCSHP translation services.

Rosa Carbajal

Member at Large

Rosa works closely with Worldwide Support and Professional Services to ensure that NetApp is providing high-quality interactions with their customers.  During her, 8 year tenure at NetApp Rosa has worked on the NetApp Support Site team as the Product Owner for Search and Web Analytics and then later transitioned to Customer Experience where she enjoys capturing customer feedback and working with internal teams to transform the feedback into actions for improving experiences.
Rosa is the leader of Latinos Unidos @ NetApp (LUNA), a NetApp Diversity and Inclusion group.  In her spare time, Rosa enjoys the outdoors with her boys and her dog, Max.  Her son Isaac will be graduating this Summer from North Carolina State University; and her younger son, Xavier, will be starting high school in the fall.

Rocio Anderson 

Member at Large

Rocío Anderson holds degrees in Physics, Mathematics and Business Administration. She currently resides in Apex, NC with her husband, Shawn and their two sons Fabrizio and Carmines.
Rocío Anderson is the Director of Health Education for Maternal Child Health and NICU Innovation for March of Dimes. She leads the NC Preconception Health Campaign by directing the statewide initiative aimed at improving individuals’ health before, during and after pregnancy as well as their birth outcomes.
One of Rocío’s personal and professional passions is women’s health and ensuring that services are tailored with a life course perspective as opposed to episodic or acute. Rocío is an active leader in the NC Perinatal Strategic Plan (PSP) Workgroup, the NC Preconception Collaborative Innovation and Improvement Networks (CoIIN) Leader-ship Teas.
Rocío’s professional accomplishments are pronounced by more than 17 years of experience as a consultant in the fields of Health Care and Education, Public Health and Public Safety. Rocío has held many volunteer positions working with and for the Latinx community in North Carolina.