El Poder de la Mujer Latinas Conference

The Hispanic Women’s Corporation (HWC) was founded in 1981. HWC is a model organization, a nationally recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation known for being a proactive leader in the development of Latina women. HWC empowers Latina women through its commitment to the culture by promoting education, community involvement, professional advancement and leadership development for the improvement of our cultural quality of life. HWC will be the primary conduit of information and opportunities to benefit the community and instill las ting results toward our future. HWC is also a proud affiliate of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR).

MANA’s goal of empowering Latinas and their communities has never been more critical to the Hispanic community and to our Nation. This organization which was founded and developed by Mexican American women is now led by an incredible group of Latinas from all over the world. In its over 26 years of existence MANA has served as a foundation to support Latinas in their professional and personal endeavors. In doing so Latinas have been empowered to build stronger communities benefiting Hispanics and strengthening the nation’s infrastructure.

Windermer is responsible for mortgage originations for three Windermere offices in the Portland metropolitan area. She has been with Windermere Mortgage since 1995 and has been in the real estate industry for over 25 years. Ms. Ferrán began her career working in the title insurance and escrow business with Ticor Title Insurance and soon became an Escrow Officer. Later, She has worked for Commonwealth Mortgage Company as a Senior Loan Officer.

She was born in Havana, Cuba, and came to the United States in February 1961 as a Cuban refugee through a program for Cuban children called “Operation Peter Pan”. Ms. Ferrán arrived in Portland, Oregon in March of 1961, through a program sponsored by Catholic Charities for Cuban refugee children throughout the United States. She attended Marycrest High School and Portland State University.

Nancy Steffen

Vice President

Escrow Administrator

Transnation Title Agency of Oregon

I have been in the title and escrow industry since 1970 when I began as a receptionist at an independent escrow company. My experience includes positions such as Sales Representative, Escrow Officer and Escrow Branch Manager and covers time spent in Oregon, Florida and Washington State. I joined Transnation Title in 1994 as the manager of the Hillsboro branch.

My job at Transnation now entails compliance and training for the escrow staff, developing policies and procedures and some outside speaking and training.

I have a home in Hillsboro which I share with my dog Sam and two cats. I also volunteer as a mediator for the Hillsboro Police Department, working with residents and families in Washington County who may have a conflict, and I watercolor and draw whenever I have tim

Track B: Health & Wellness

Fabiana Wallis, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Center for Health Disparities Research
Oregon Health & Science University

Fabiana Wallis was born in the U.S. and raised in Argentina. After completing her first year in psychology at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario, she moved to the U.S. and graduated as an honor’s student from the Psychology Department at UCLA in 1993. With an interest in cross-cultural mental health, she pursued her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at University of Massachusetts Boston, one of the first doctoral programs to develop a minority mental health track. During graduate school, she conducted research and provided clinical services to minority women in recovery from substance abuse. This lead to an interest in psychological trauma, and she is the co-author of a cultural adaptation for Latina women of the widely used TREM trauma group curriculum. She completed her clinical training at Harvard Medical School and was later the Director of the Latino Mental Health Service at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. She also pursued a post-doctoral fellowship at MIT and specialized in acculturation and the psychology of immigration. In Portland since 2004, she is currently assistant professor at the Center for Health Disparities Research at OHSU and teaches in the Public Health and Psychiatry Nurse Practitioner programs at the School of Nursing. She is also the clinical supervisor and program manager for the MIOS Latino mental health collaborative in Multnomah County, and has a small private practice in SE Portland.

Dr. Yasmin Chotocruz obtained a Medical Degree (MD) from University of Costa Rica and in 2002, the degree of Doctor in Naturopathic Medicine from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine (NCNM) in Portland, Oregon.

Currently Dr. Chotocruz works as a primary care physician in Portland and is the attending physician at East County, a community clinic that provides low cost medical services. She is also the medical provider for the Migrant Head Start Program, for Multnomah and Clackamas Counties.

She serves multiple Hispanic patients offering linguistically and culturally proficient medical services. The focus of her practice is women’s and children’s health, with emphasis on prevention and health education.

Partnership Program Coordinator for the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Service for western and central Oregon.

Her position is hosted by Oregon Health and Science University. A graduate of Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine (MPH) and the College of William and Mary (BA, Anthropology), she brings ten years of experience providing public health education and promotion to underserved and minority populations in the United States and abroad. Padilla’s former role as Program Officer at Family Health International included managing comprehensive HIV/AIDS/STI prevention, care and treatment programs in Latin America and the Caribbean. She has also provided crisis management and advocacy services for persons living in rural and resource-constrained environments in central California. She is bilingual (Spanish/ English) and served in the U.S. Peace Corps as a community health extensionist for two years in the Dominican Republic. Padilla resides in Portland, Oregon with her husband.

Eva Núñez-Méndez,

Ph.D. (U. of Salamanca-Spain) Spanish Language & Linguistics

Dr. Nunez received her Ph.D. in Spanish Linguistics from the University of Salamanca, Spain. She has taught beginning and advanced level courses at various universities, including Middlebury College, VT, Hope College, MI, the University of Houston, TX, the University of Ireland, Galway, and the University of Portsmouth, England. At present, Dr. Nunez is an Assistant Professor at Portland State University. Her fields of research focus mainly on theoretical linguistics: History of Spanish grammar, Syntax and Phonetics and Phonology; and secondary in translation and women studies in Hispanic literature. Her publications include articles and reviews on applied linguistics issues.

Arleen Barnett serves as vice president of Administration, which includes Human Resources, Information Technology, Environmental Services and Ethics & Compliance. She has served on PGE’s executive team since 1998, when she was

named vice president of Human Resources. Barnett is also PGE’s Corporate Compliance Officer.

A 29-year veteran of PGE, Barnett has held a variety of positions including employee services coordinator, equal opportunity employment specialist, human resources consultant and support services supervisor for line operations at PGE’s Western Division office in Beaverton, Ore. From 1989 to 1991, Barnett worked at the Trojan Nuclear Plant in Rainier, Ore., as manager of human resources for generation and later as human resources operations manager. She joined the company in 1978 as a transcriptionist.

A 1972 graduate of Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas, Barnett earned a bachelor’s degree in English. She also studied in the graduate business program at the University of Portland in Portland, Ore., and received a Human Resources Certification from Portland State University. Before joining PGE, Barnett worked within California’s educational system and for the American Cancer Society.

Barnett serves as a board member of the Urban League of Portland, Oregon Historical Society, and the Albina Rotary Club. She is a past board member of the Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, Salvation Army Greenhouse and Junior Achievement. Residing in Durham, Ore., Barnett enjoys spending time with her family which includes her two college-age children, music, reading and travel.

Ms. Castillo is one of the founding members of the Hispanic Chamber that was established in 1994. The Hispanic Chamber is a local chapter of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber in Washington D.C. The mission of the Hispanic Chamber is to work with all members of the community to increase the economic advancement of Hispanic-owned businesses. The Hispanic Chamber is the largest Hispanic Chamber in the Northwest with 700 members. The Hispanic Chamber services and programs include: technical assistance to Latino businesses, scholarships for Latino students statewide, and leadership development training.

Alex Monroy,
CyberScape Cafe Inc.

Born in Spain moved to the US in 1991, speaks English, Spanish and French. He is a University of Portland graduate with a double major in Management and Marketing. He has worked for multinational companies Alcatel and Intel. Has extensive experience in software localization: testing computer software in other languages. Also experience in training, technical writing, quality assurance, technical marketing, web development. He has started and operated 3 businesses.

Kedma Ough,
MBA is the business director for the Women’s Business Center (WBC)

WBC provides training and technical assistance to women entrepreneurs in Oregon and Pacific Northwest Indian Country. Ms Ough has more than 10 years in small business development with a background in business lending. She was a former professor for University of Arizona International College and has been serving Business Women in Oregon since 2002. The WBC is a program of ONABEN, www.onaben.org and funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with US Small Business Administration. For more information contact Kedma@onaben.org

Daniel brings a unique blend of public and private experience to the State of Oregon. Trained as an educator, Daniel has served as a superintendent of schools on both the West and East coast. He earned his doctorate from Columbia University in New York City where he also served as an associate professor. Daniel has also owned his own executive search firm before working in his present position as the Diversity Outreach and Executive Candidate Consultant for the State of Oregon. Daniel has previously served on the Board of Directors for the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber in Portland.

El Poder de la Mujer

Latinas Conference 2007