Our Board of Directors

The members of the IACO Board of Directors are elected every four years and are chosen from among the leaders and professionals who with their work have demonstrated their interest in promoting the well-being of the immigrant community.

Lorenzo Hernández - President

With a master's degree in social work from Rutgers State University, for 36 years he was director of the Passaic Hispanic Information Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping low-income families, youth, children who they need foster homes and alcoholics. For his community work, Mr. Hernandez has received numerous awards: Passaic County has honored him with the Berlin Wiesler and Visiting Homemaker awards; The New Jersey State Assembly honored him with a resolution for Meritorious Service and Leadership; the city of Passaic honored him with the Exemplary Citizen award; and the Hispanic Police and Firefighters Association of the city of Passaic with the Civic Leader, among others.

Carlos M. González - Vice President

A member of the Newark City Council since 2006, Mr. González is a leader dedicated to helping the community and with a background in the financial and legal sector. In 1979, González graduated with a master's degree in accounting from the International Institute of the Americas. With all determination and ambition, she used her savings to study law full time. In 1992, Rutgers University awarded him a Juris Doctorate and he began working with a Wall Street law firm. In Newark, González established a reputable firm specializing in real estate, bankruptcy, and family matters. González is a board member of Essex Community College and an active member of the following organizations: American Immigration Lawyers Association, New York Bar Association, and the Hispanic Bar Association.

Mark Parry - Secretary

An attorney from the University of Pennsylvania with a specialization in Immigration Law from Yale University, Mr. Parry has more than 15 years of experience presiding over his own firm and collaborating with non-profit organizations that assist immigrants. . Because of his vast experience and respect, Mr. Parry is constantly invited to participate in conferences and symposia on immigration law. He was also chair of the Legal Service Committee - Immigration Policy of New Jersey, is affiliated with The American Association of Immigration Attorneys, New Jersey Chapter, and is a member of the NJ Bar Immigration Ethics Committee. He has collaborated with IACO for several years offering legal advice to its members.

Daniel Santo Pietro - Treasurer

Historian and political scientist, Santo Pietro was, for 12 years, executive director of the Hispanic Directors Association of New Jersey, a network of more than thirty community organizations in New Jersey. Previously, he had XNUMX years of experience working with non-profit organizations. Currently, Santo Pietro is director of public policy for the Latino Action Network, an organization that works to promote the equitable inclusion of the Latino community at all levels of American society. Santo Pietro graduated as a historian from Harvard College and took a master's degree in political science and Latin American studies at Stamford University.

Jimena Ladino - Vocal

A graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University, MAT World Languages, and a theater actress, Jimena graduated from the Teatro Libre School of Actor Training in Bogotá, Colombia. She has participated in more than 25 plays and has been invited to international festivals. She has worked with ID Studio Performance and Research Center, NY, since 2001. Jimena worked with Alianza Dominicana between 2002 and 2004. She worked in several plays at Teatro de los Nativos in Queens, New York, and volunteered at the Center for Traditional Music and Dance, CTMD, NY, from 2003 to 2005. In 2006, she won the Swing Space Award provided by LLCM in New York, and in 2007, she won the Puffin Foundation Award in Teaneck, NJ. Jimena was the director and producer of "La Guía del Inmigrante" on TVPública while working at IACO in Passaic, NJ. Jimena was President of the Institute of Latin American Culture and Art (ICAL), where she directed an educational theater project and taught Spanish to children and adults from 2009 to 2013. In 2012, Jimena participated in the 13th Ibero-American Theater Festival in Bogotá, Colombia, where she played the lead role in Nilo Cruz's "Bicycle Country." From 2013 to 2015, she held her first job as a Spanish teacher at Hackensack High School. Then, from 2015 to 2018, she worked for the Ramapo District of Indian Hills High School. In 2018, Jimena created a curriculum for citizenship applicants and a series of instructional tools to serve this community. She currently works at Pascack Valley High School, a district where she feels she belongs, and she looks forward to continuing to serve and grow as an educator. She has also been an adjunct professor at Bergen Community College for three years.

Victor Javier Solano - Member

Víctor Javier Solano is the host of Noticias Univision 41 Fin de Semana and a reporter for Noticias Univision 41. For more than 20 years he has practiced television journalism. Initially, his career was spent in his native Colombia, after studying Journalism in Bogotá. In 1995, he arrived in Washington, DC, as a correspondent for Noticiero QAP. Two years later, he joined the Spanish-American network CBS Telenoticias; initially as a correspondent in Washington and later as a news anchor in Miami. For seven years he worked for Telemundo in Chicago and New York, as a presenter and reporter. Now, as a weekend presenter and reporter, Victor Javier puts his experience at the service of the Hispanic community in the tri-state area. In 2008, Víctor Javier was recognized with the ACE (Association of Critics in Entertainment) award for his excellent work as a communicator.