Anita Martínez – Chair and Fund Development Committee Co-Lead
Anita I. Martínez is the Executive Director of the Michigan Hispanic Collaborative (MiHC) and leads the organization’s strategic way forward. In this role, Anita focuses on economic equity to provide first-generation ambitious and underserved Hispanic students with the support to and through college. Foundational to all strategies, Anita ensures programming implemented has a culturally relevant, two-generation approach focused on simplifying information regarding the complex higher education system. MiHC strategies also provide students with important career exposure opportunities so that they see firsthand the potential career paths. “Exposure is half the battle. You can’t be what you can’t see.”
Anita served as a Community Impact Director of Financial Stability and Wealth-Building at United Way for Southeastern Michigan (UWSEM). In this role she primarily oversaw a portfolio of agencies in the Economic Prosperity focus area. Providing co-oversight to The Greater Detroit Centers for Working Families network of eight high performing community based non-profit organizations at 10 locations — a wholistic workforce development business model designed to improve the financial stability and wealth-building opportunities for families. Anita successfully launched UWSEM’s Community Financial Centers network of six sites to integrate financial coaching expertise with the partner agencies’ other line of services. Additionally, her portfolio of responsibilities included a $9.6M pool of basic needs partner funded agencies impacting 135,000+ residents.
Anita is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and holds a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Studies and an MBA from Central Michigan University. In 2016, Anita volunteered her time and helped launch the University of Michigan’s Latino Alumni affinity group and has served as its Chair since.
Born and raised in Detroit, Anita is honored and humbled to support the upward mobility and self-sufficiency in the community she was raised. As a first generation college student, her commitment to this work is personal and fueled by her personal life and professional experiences. She has dedicated her career to applying her community development background to improve systems that assist constituents with growing their financial and workforce development skills. Expanding her system knowledge into the area of education, Anita’s tool trunk of community development, financial and workforce development, and business skills uniquely positions her to accelerate change. Her professional experiences have allowed Anita to pursue her passion, which is serving others and improving individual and family conditions in life.
As a proximate leader, Anita leverages her shared life experiences and deep understanding of the community and its needs to design programs, cultivate relationships with business, government, and community partners. Her goal is to ensure a consistent and reliable stream of credentialed Hispanic professionals that fill a gap in Michigan’s professional labor force.
Anita’s most significant contribution to life is her role as a wife and a mother of four beautiful children.
Veronica Sanchez-Peavey – Vice Chair, Nominating Committee Lead, and Fund Development Committee Co-Lead
Veronica Sanchez Peavey is the Senior Assistant Vice President – Adult Services and a Regional Director for SER Metro-Detroit, Jobs for Progress, Inc. (SER), a workforce development organization which was established 50 years ago in Detroit, MI. SER also has operations in Illinois and Texas. Veronica has dedicated over 20 years to SER and its mission to Advance People, Grow Businesses and Strengthen Communities. She is currently responsible for the administration, management and implementation of SER Detroit based programs, including two Detroit at Work Career Centers, ReBuild Detroit, an apprenticeship readiness program and SER’s Center for Working Families.
Veronica holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Michigan. She is also a graduate of the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Leadership Detroit Program, the Detroit Workforce Leadership Development Academy and The Center of Leadership Innovation Latino Nonprofit Leadership Academy. Veronica is Vice Chair of the University of Michigan Latino Alumni.
Veronica holds professional affiliations with the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals and the Michigan Works! Association.
Giancarlo Guzman – Treasurer and Programming Committee Co-Lead
Giancarlo Guzman is the legal investigator for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan. The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation’s guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
Giancarlo is from Detroit, Michigan, where he attended Detroit Public Schools, Brother Rice in Bloomfield Hills for secondary education, followed by the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and Dearborn, BA and MPA respectively. His work experience includes corporate, government and charitable institutions.
Currently Giancarlo lives in Metro Detroit with his wife and two children and enjoys as much family time as he can get.
Reuben Kapp – Secretary and Programming Committee Co-Lead
Reuben is a Doctoral Candidate and Research Assistant at the University of Michigan Center for the Study of Higher & Postsecondary Education. His research interests include college access, enrollment management, sense of belonging, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. As such, Reuben has dedicated his career to expanding college access for first-generation, low-income, and students of color. He has years of experience working in many capacities within higher education. More recently, he served as an admissions representative in the University of Michigan Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
In addition to his work in higher education, Reuben has extensive background in public policy and politics. During his time in Washington D.C., he served as a Public Policy Fellow on Capitol Hill and in the U.S. State Department. He also has experience working with prominent Members of Congress during his time as a campaign fundraising associate.
Reuben received his BA in Public Policy and MA in Higher Education from the University of Michigan and will be a triple Wolverine upon completion of his dissertation. He currently lives in Ann Arbor, MI where he enjoys his time with his wife, kid, and dog.
Ivan Aragon – Member at Large and Communications Committee Co-Lead
Ivan is a Residential Mortgage Broker serving multiple states. He loves helping people attain homeownership and invest in residential real estate. He is the host of the Home Loan MBA Podcast where he discusses the home loan process and interviews real estate professionals.
He lives in the Phoenix, AZ area. He has an Associate’s in Business from Phoenix Community College, a B.S. in Finance from Arizona State University and an MBA (2019) from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. While at Michigan Ross, he was elected to be his Section’s (cohort) President, as Michigan Ross MBA council (Student Government) VP of Finance.
In addition to his service on the University of Michigan Latino Alumni Board of Directors, he serves as President of the Ross School of Business Alumni’s Phoenix Chapter and a founding board member of the Latinx MBA Association (a national organization). In his free time you can find him cooking a meal for his extended family, playing indoor volleyball or on the salsa and bachata dance floors in Phoenix.
Susana Olague Trapani – Member at Large and Communications Committee Co-Lead
Susana Olague Trapani is a content strategist who shapes and shares stories of impact and importance. She is the Associate Director of Communications for the Aspen Institute’s Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation. She serves on the University of Michigan Latino Alumni Board as a board member at large and co-leads its communications committee as a Chisme Officer (yes, you read that title right).
Before she joined the Aspen Institute, Susana was a philanthropy writer with Children’s National Hospital. Her strategic input and writing helped raise $65 million over eight years. Her past experiences also include roles at the American Red Cross and the National Science Foundation. Whether it’s responding to a disaster like Hurricane Sandy or flying 24 hours to facilitate grant workshops in Micronesia, she’s seen the strength of communities and witnessed the power of philanthropy. Through it all, she’s learned that she wants to leave behind a healthier, more just world.
Susana is a first-generation Mexican American immigrant. She earned her BA in English from the University of Michigan in 2000 and her MA in English from the University of Toronto in 2003. Susana was lucky enough to split her childhood between San Isidro, Zacatecas, Mexico, and Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her two homes gave her good friends, conversational Spanish skills, and the desire to tell lots of stories. She lives in the Washington, D.C., area with her husband and daughter.
Brent Herrera-Durr – Member at Large
Brent Herrera-Durr is a University of Michigan alumnus who loves science with extensive hospital and clinical experience at Mass General Brigham and the Medical College of Wisconsin. Go Blue!
Brent is a forward-thinking product marketing professional with over 10+ years of experience in diversified industries and is passionate about using consumer-facing language to scale content development and brand awareness.
Currently, Brent is working as a Product Marketing Manager, Provider at Ciox Health in Seattle, WA. At Ciox, he’s developed and executed a monthly, client-focused webinar strategy that resulted in 3x growth in lead generation. He also pioneered the development of a client-oriented newsletter and subsequently drove engagement through content curation and distribution.
Before Ciox Health, Brent worked at Navigating Cancer, a B2B SaaS Startup, where he created positioning for core product customer segments based on customer insights. He conceptualized and executed content development and GTM strategy to support product launches for all video assets focused on customer awareness. This resulted in increased product adoption and engagement on their digital health platform.
Brent has also worked as a Social Media & Content Product Marketing Specialist at MCG Health. He created and deployed multi-channel social media strategies and product marketing campaigns across LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, leading to a 10% increase in overall social media followers.
Brent holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science with a French emphasis from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and previously was at the Medical College of Wisconsin for a brief stint in medical school.
Aside from his professional work, Brent is interested in social determinants of health, running, music, film photography, and microbreweries. In addition, Brent is proficient in various tools and platforms like Adobe Creative Suite/Marketo, Google Analytics, Figma, and Epic (EHR).
Christine Nishimura – Member at Large
Christine Nishimura is founding executive director of Teach For America Austin, the first alumni innovation region in the country, supporting the individual and collective leadership of educators and school leaders throughout Austin.
Christine has been a lifelong advocate for educational equity. Christine started her career as a Teach For America Los Angeles corps member, where she taught 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. Her time in the classroom inspired her to pursue systemic change through education law and policy.
Following law school, Christine earned an Equal Justice Works Fellowship to work at Disability Rights Texas as a special education attorney advocating for appropriate, and culturally responsive interventions for low-income families. Immediately prior to becoming the executive director of Teach For America Austin, Christine was the director of legal and policy and then general counsel for the Texas Public Charter Schools Association, advocating for equitable education policies for all students in Texas.
In addition to serving as the executive director and a member of the UMLA board, Christine sits on the University of Texas Charter School Board and is the Vice Chair of the Austin Achieve Public Schools Board.
Christine has called Austin home for 13 years, where she lives with her husband, Jake and son, Lucas. Christine holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from the University of Texas.
John Sabat – Member at Large
John Sabat has been a portfolio manager in Point72’s quantitative business Cubist Systematic Strategies for more than 20 years, where he runs global mid- and high-frequency equities, futures, and fixed-income strategies. Sabat began his career at D.E. Shaw & Co. in the international equities statistical arbitrage group in 1995. He is an advisory committee member for the venture fund Upper90 and sits on the advisory board of Sortium, an AI-based software development company. Actively involved with education nonprofits, Sabat serves on the board of trustees of Education Reform Now and the advisory council for Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth.