Join Laura Gutierrez, Waleska Casiano-Matos, and Jesse Raudales for an in-depth and engaging discussion on the current affairs of the Hispanic/Latino communities of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County. The panelists, all experts in their fields, will identify important topics and concerns such as social, health, legal, and immigration issues affecting the community and will discuss law and legal services available to the community. 

The Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County (CFAAC) is presenting this program as a part of our Community Impact Speaker Series, focusing on the issues presented in CFAAC’s data-extensive report: Community Needs Assessment, Poverty Amongst Plenty VII: Moving Forward Together.This event is open to the public and free to registered participants.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Laura Gutierrez, City of Annapolis Office of Community Services Manager, City of Annapolis Hispanic Liaison

Laura Gutierrez is the Manager of the Office of Community Services of the City of Annapolis and the city's Hispanic Liaison, the Chair of the Immigrant Affairs Commission of Anne Arundel County, Chair of the Latino Patient Family Advisory Council of Luminis Health, Founder and Chair of the Mid Atlantic Latino Vaccine Equity Coalition, and member of the Board of Directors of OHLA, Inc. 

Gutierrez also developed and launched the Take Care/Cuidate Annapolis program early into the pandemic in efforts to reduce COVID-19 cases in black and brown communities and was able to successfully flatten the curve of cases in the Latino community, garnering state and national attention and funding for her work. In the past two years, she has accrued six awards and citations from local and state government agencies and nonprofits recognizing her leadership, partnership, contributions to the immigrant communities, and commitment to health equity throughout her work.

Waleska Casiano Matos, Esq., Immigration Attorney, Mid-Atlantic Legal & Immigration Services, LLC

Waleska opened her private practice as an Immigration Attorney in Annapolis in 2013. She represents mostly the Hispanic community but helps immigrants from all over the world with the idea that everyone deserves an opportunity to become an American citizen. 

Waleska is a board member at the Center of Help and a trustee for “Scholarships for Scholars.” In 2020, she was appointed by the County Executive as a member of the Anne Arundel County Immigrant Affairs Commission. Waleska initiated her career as Director of the Legal Office for the General Services Administration (GSA) in Puerto Rico in 1999. In 2000, she was appointed by the Governor of Puerto Rico as a Commissioner of the Women’s Affair Commission and became President of the Board of Commissioners in charge of establishing public policy to protect abused women on the island. In 2003, she was appointed Director of the Legal Office and Chief Counsel for the Department of Corrections in Puerto Rico. Waleska has been an Instructor for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, National Institute of Corrections since 2009.

Jesse Raudales, Executive Director of the OIC of Anne Arundel County, Inc.

Jesse is the Executive Director of the Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) of Anne Arundel County, Inc., a nonprofit organization. The OIC of Anne Arundel County is the only OIC in the United States that runs 100% virtual learning classes. Previously, Jesse was the Executive Director of the OIC of Wilson, Inc. in North Carolina from 2016-2018, where he successfully wrote a $1.2 million Reentry grant. He is LS/CMI Certified by MHS (Mental Health Systems) and supervised the SOAR Re-entry Program. 

Jesse is also an internationally acclaimed celebrity artist, whose work is featured in museums, galleries, organizations, and homes of many collectors. In 2006, Jesse was selected among thousands of applicants to represent the 2006 Olympic Games, becoming the First Latino Olympic artist to represent the United States. His Olympic painting, "Peace for the Children of the World" opened in California, toured to New York, and then to the Olympic Games in Torino, Italy. Since then, Jesse has been honored by the NAACP, FBI, Warner Bros., and the EPICC Center and featured as a rising artist in international press.