Our Board of Directors
The members of the IACO Board of Directors are elected every four years and are chosen from among leaders and professionals who have demonstrated their interest in promoting the well-being of the immigrant community through their work.
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, young people, children in need of foster homes, and alcoholics. For his community work, Mr. Hernández has received numerous awards: the Passaic County awarded him the Berlin Wiesler and the Visiting Homemaker awards; the New Jersey State Assembly awarded him a resolution for his Meritorious Service and Leadership; the city of Passaic awarded him the Award for Exemplary Citizen; and the Passaic Hispanic Police and Firefighters Association awarded him the Civic Leader, among others.
Carlos M. González - Vice President
A member of the Newark Municipal Council since 2006, Mr. González is a leader dedicated to helping the community and with a background in the financial and legal sectors. In 1979, González graduated with a master's degree in accounting from the International Institute of the Americas. With determination and ambition, he used his savings to study law full-time. In 1992, Rutgers University awarded him a doctorate in law and he began working with a law firm on Wall Street. In Newark, González established a respected firm specializing in real estate, bankruptcy, and family matters. González is a member of the board 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
A lawyer at the University of Pennsylvania and 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 help immigrants. Due to his vast experience and respect, Mr. Parry is constantly invited to participate in conferences and symposiums on immigration law. He was also president 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 providing legal counseling to its members.
Daniel Santo Pietro - Treasurer
Historian and political science specialist, Santo Pietro was for 12 years the executive director of the Hispanic Directors Association of New Jersey, a network of more than thirty community organizations in New Jersey. Previously, he had twenty-five years of experience working with non-profit organizations. Currently, Santo Pietro is the director of public policy at 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 from Harvard College with a history degree and earned a master's degree in political science and Latin American studies at Stamford University.
Jimena Ladino - Vocal
Graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University, M.A.T. World Languages, and a theater actress, she graduated from the School of Free Theatre Acting in Bogotá, Colombia. Jimena has participated in more than 25 theater productions 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 on several theater productions at the 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 en TV Pública” while working at IACO in Passaic, NJ. Jimena was President of the Institute of Latin American Culture and Art, ICAL, where she used to direct an educational theater project and teach Spanish to children and adults from 2009 to 2013. In 2012, Jimena participated in the XIII Ibero-American Theater Festival in Bogotá, Colombia, where she played the role of “País de Bicicleta" by Nilo Cruz. From 2013 to 2015, she obtained her first job as a Spanish teacher at Hackensack High School. Then, from 2015 to 2018, she worked for Ramapo Indian Hills HS District. In 2018, Jimena created a curriculum for citizenship applicants and a series of instruction tools to serve this community. Currently, she works at Pascack Valley HS, a district where she definitely feels she is in the right place, and hopes to continue serving and growing as an educator. She has also been an adjunct professor at Bergen Community College for three years.
Víctor Javier Solano - Vocal
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 worked as a journalist in television. Initially, his career took place in his native Colombia, after studying Journalism in Bogotá. In 1995, he arrived in Washington, DC, as a correspondent for the Q.A.P. News program. Two years later, he joined the Hispanic American network CBS Telenoticias; initially as a correspondent in Washington and then as a news presenter in Miami. For seven years, he worked for Telemundo in Chicago and New York, as a presenter and reporter. Now, as weekend host and reporter, Víctor Javier puts his experience at the service of the Hispanic community in the tri-state area. In 2008, Víctor Javier was recognized with the A.C.E. (Association of Critics in Entertainment) award for his excellent work as a communicator.
Juana I. Inurritegui - Vocal
Juana Inurritegui is a Social Worker, a graduate of Rutgers State University. She has been serving in the Social Services career since 2010 and has been a great help in guiding the organization to provide better service to the community. Her support in the challenges we face as an immigration advocacy organization has helped us improve the representation of the community in immigration matters.
Sandra P. Banguero - Vocal
Sandra P. Banguero is a journalist with more than 15 years of experience in the national and international fields. She has been in charge of public relations in different non-profit organizations. Among the institutions in which Sandra Banguero has worked are: El Nuevo Hudson and North Jersey Media Group. This allowed her to serve the Hispanic community from a close and direct perspective.