AMERICAN BUSINESS IMMIGRATION COALITION - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Advisory Board of NTG Consultants
- Co - Chairman ABIC Board
- Director / Coral Gables Trust / Former Chairman
Al Cardenas is chair of the advisory board of NTG Consultants and former chair of the Florida Republican Party. He has been named one of Washington, D.C.'s top lobbyists by The Hill. He served on President Ronald Reagan's transition team and as chair of President Reagan's Commission on Small and Minority Business Affairs. He formerly served as chair of the American Conservative Union. He previously served two terms as chair of the Republican Party of Florida and three consecutive terms as its vice-chair. He has served on the boards of Miami-Dade College and Florida A&M University.
Job Titles:
- Co - Chairman / Loews Corporation
Andrew H. Tisch is cochair of the board and chair of the executive committee of Loews Corporation. He also serves on the board of directors of CNA Financial Corporation. He is former vice-chair of the board of Cornell University, where he remains active as chair of the dean's board of advisors of the S.C. Johnson School of Business, a member of the executive committee of the Weill Cornell Medicine Board of Fellows, and a member of the Cornell Tech Council. He is also chair of the dean's council's board of advisors at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.
Job Titles:
- Operations Director
- Contributor
Angelene Winn is a seasoned professional with a wealth of expertise in operations management, human resources, and compliance. Currently holding the position of Operations Director at ABIC, Angelene plays a crucial role in the organization by overseeing ABIC's operations budget, managing human resources, and ensuring compliance with regulations.
With a combined experience of over 15 years in operations management, executive leadership, and compliance, Angelene brings a depth of knowledge and strategic insights to her current role.
Before joining ABIC, Angelene served as the Director of Operations for a lobbying and education consulting firm based in Washington DC.
Angelene is an active contributor to her community. She serves as the Vice Chair on the fashion committee for a small non-profit organization dedicated to empowering women to achieve economic independence and thrive in both their professional and personal lives. Through her involvement in this organization, she supports initiatives that foster growth, self-confidence, and financial stability among women.
Born in Korea and raised in Japan, Angelene's background and personal experiences have shaped her deep dedication to her work at ABIC.
Job Titles:
- Media Relations Specialist for ABIC
Anna Núñez is the Media Relations Specialist for ABIC. Anna previously served as the Media Strategist for the Southern Poverty Law Center's Immigrant Justice Project and Communications Coordinator for the ACLU of Texas. She is a long-time immigrant rights and social justice advocate, including voting rights. Anna previously served as Community Outreach Manager for the Harris County Voter Registration Department, including Latino voter outreach with LULAC Texas and Director of Communications for Democracia U.S.A. (NCLR affiliate). She possesses over three decades of experience in communications, social media, and community outreach/partnerships with nonprofits, public health, business, and city, county, and federal governments. Anna is an alum of the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs. She serves on a Community Advisory Board with M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and resides in Houston, Texas.
Bill Lucia is the former Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of HMS, a leading healthcare analytics and technology company. He served as CEO from 2009 to 2021 and was named Chairman of the Board of Directors in July 2015. (HMS was acquired by Gainwell Technologies, a portfolio company of Veritas Capital, in April 2021.) Under Bill's leadership, HMS grew to $673 million in revenue, serving 500 healthcare payers and 50 government agencies in 40-plus states and 31 of the 38 private health insurers in Australia. He is a longtime champion of immigrants' rights.
Job Titles:
- Chairman and CEO of NZ Legacy
- Co - Chairman ABIC Board
- Founder / Zennihome, LLC
Bob Worsley is chair and CEO of NZ Legacy, LLC, and ZenniHome, LLC. He was a Republican state senator from Mesa, Arizona, from 2012 until January 2019. He began his career as a CPA with Price Waterhouse, went on to found SkyMall in 1989, and sold it to Rupert Murdoch's corporate empire 13 years later. He then founded NZ Legacy, which has been active in real estate, energy, and mineral developments since 2002. He has spent years working toward a long-term, compassionate solution to immigration challenges in Arizona. He is the author of "The Horseshoe Virus," a book on immigration reform.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder / Crate and Barrel
- Co - Founder of Crate
Carole Segal is the co-founder of Crate and Barrel, the founder and former CEO of Foodstuffs, and the president of the Segal Family Foundation. She is a trustee of Rush University Medical Center and chair emeritus of the board of governors at Rush University. She is a trustee emeritus of Bates College, a life trustee of Illinois Institute of Technology, a trustee of Chicago Theological Seminary and Catholic Theological Union, and is on the board of overseers of Colorado Mountain College.
Job Titles:
- ABIC 's New Midwest State Director
- Midwest State Director
Connor Gallivan is ABIC's new Midwest State Director who will oversee the organizing efforts in the Midwest. Prior to joining ABIC, Connor spent a decade working on electoral campaigns across the country where he specialized in campaign management, community organizing, and data analysis. He currently lives in the Chicagoland area.
Job Titles:
- Director / Coral Gables Trust / Former Chairman
Job Titles:
- Executive Chair / the Duchossois Group
- Executive Chair of the Duchossois Group, Inc
Craig J. Duchossois is executive chair of The Duchossois Group, Inc. (TDG), a privately held family business headquartered in Chicago. Along with other assets, Duchossois Capital Management (DCM) is the family's private investment firm. Duchossois serves as an advisory board member for The Edgewater Funds, Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, and the Said Business School/University of Oxford. His not-for-profit board memberships include Culver Educational Foundation, Illinois Institute of Technology, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and Trustee Emeritus for UChicago and UChicago Hospital. He served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1968-1971.
Job Titles:
- Business Development Specialist for Tyson Foods
David Barber is a business development specialist for Tyson Foods in Portland, Maine, and the former president and CEO of Barber Foods, a family business and leading retail and food-service chicken producer that has been owned by Tyson since 2017. Barber has more than 40 years of food manufacturing and sales experience, and currently focuses on product management, sales and marketing, along with government and community relations. He received his B.S. from Babson College and serves on multiple educational institutions, government, and corporate boards.
Job Titles:
- Retired President & CEO / Robert R. Mccormick Foundation
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board of Graham Holdings Company
Donald E. Graham has been chair of the board of Graham Holdings Company since 1993. He was CEO of Graham Holdings Company (previously The Washington Post Company) from 1991 to 2015 and publisher of The Washington Post from 1979 to 2000. He is cofounder of TheDream.US, the largest national scholarship fund for DREAMers. He was chair of the District of Columbia College Access Program, which has helped more than 23,000 D.C. students enroll in college and has provided scholarships totaling more than $33 million. He remains a member of the board.
Emiliano Valencia is a dynamic individual with a diverse background that weaves together his Mexican heritage and American upbringing. Born in Mexico City and having arrived in the USA at the age of 2, Emiliano was raised in the vibrant city of Houston.
With eight years of extensive experience in the banking sector, he served as a dedicated branch manager, honing his skills in financial management and customer relations. Emiliano earned his bachelor's degree from Sam Houston State University, a testament to his commitment to education and personal growth.
Entrepreneurship runs deep in Emiliano's veins. He is the proud owner of Super Tortas, a thriving restaurant that serves as a testament to his culinary passion. Additionally, he is at the helm of Texas Strong Builders LLC, a construction company that reflects his ventures into diverse business domains.
Emiliano's commitment to community and advocacy shines through his role as the New Texas Deputy Director of the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC). In this capacity, he brings his wealth of experience and diverse perspective to contribute to the organization's mission.
Enddy Almonord is an Organizer with ABIC, where she will oversee initiatives to provide leadership development and mobilization support to DREAMers, undocumented students, youth, and allies. Prior to ABIC, Enddy provided support to undocumented immigrant communities in various roles, including managing a number of subgrantee organizations for state and local programs dedicated to connecting undocumented immigrants with immigrant education and legal services. She also served immigrant communities as a legal intern at several organizations, assisting attorneys and DOJ accredited representatives prepare cases. Enddy graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Arabic Studies. Enddy is the proud daughter of Haitian and Mexican immigrant parents, and is based out of Chicago.
Job Titles:
- Intermountain State Director
Enrique Sanchez is a graduate of the University of Utah, holding a degree in Political Science and a degree from Salt Lake Community College in Criminal Justice. Enrique spent time in Washington D.C. completing an internship with the Ibarra Strategy Group. A long-time Utah resident, Enrique worked as a Community Specialist with a local police department and local government for almost five years prior to joining ABIC. Enrique is a board member of the Park City Youth Football Ute Conference and the Park City Community Foundation. Prior to making strides in the Utah leadership realm, Enrique spent time in Courchevel, France as part of a foreign exchange program. As a proud DACA recipient and activist, Enrique is excited to bring his perspective as a Utah-raised Latinx immigrant to the table and is passionate about ABIC's mission to promote sensible immigration reform.
Job Titles:
- Majority Owner and Chairman
Job Titles:
- Director of Legislative Affairs for ABIC
James O'Neill is the Director of Legislative Affairs for ABIC specializing in building out chapter potential in the Midwest Region and relationship building in the Agriculture sector. Prior to joining ABIC and during college he was a summer intern for IBIC, and after graduating, he worked briefly as a constituent services caseworker for then-Congressman Dan Lipinski (D-IL) before coming on as the Director of Suburban Outreach for IBIC. James graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy and two minors in Philosophy and Science, Technology, Environment, and Public Policy.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President
- Chamberlain Group in 2018 As Vice President of Operations
Jorge Palacio joined Chamberlain Group in 2018 as Vice President of Operations, overseeing all aspects of the company's manufacturing plant in Nogales, Mexico.
He has the overall responsibility of setting the direction and achieving results in an environment where safety is always put first. In 2021, Jorge took on an expanded role leading global manufacturing operations.
Jorge joined Chamberlain Group from Smiths Medical where he held the position of Director of Operations for Smiths' largest operation in their plant portfolio. He oversaw three manufacturing sites with over 3500 associates producing approximately 3 million medical devices each week. He previously held executive leadership roles at Navico as EVP of manufacturing and supply chain, and GM for automotive Tier 1 at Bose Corporation.
Jorge has a double B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering and Computer Science from CETYS University Mexico and received his MBA from the University of Rochester. He's APICS CPIM certified and is passionate about teaching at University and sharing his professional experiences and learnings.
Jorge is originally from Mexico City but has lived in the US-Mexico border region for the past 30+ years. He and his wife Karina have been married for 27 years and have three grown children. Together, they also own a successful candy factory and brand.
Job Titles:
- ABIC Cofounder and Board Cochair and Secretary
- Founding Executive Director, Retired
Josh ua Hoyt has worked for 45 years as an organizer, founder and leader of local, state, and national community and immigrant advocacy organizations. He is a partner in the national progressive consulting firm Democracy Partners. He co-founded the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) in 2010 and became its first executive director in 2014, retiring in 2020. Under his leadership, NPNA's members assisted tens of thousands of immigrants in becoming U.S. citizens and voters. He was also executive director and chief strategy executive at Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights from 2002 to 2013.
Job Titles:
- Director for the Texas
- Texas State Director
Juan Carlos Cerda is a DACA recipient and the Director for the Texas chapter (TBIC). Prior to joining ABIC, Juan Carlos organized immigrant communities at the Texas Organizing Project and taught kindergarten through the Teach for America program. He was also an ambassador for fwd.us, a bipartisan political advocacy group working for immigration and criminal justice reform, and currently serves on the Bishop's Immigration Task Force for the Catholic Diocese of Dallas. Juan Carlos graduated from Yale University with a bachelor's degree in history in 2015. He lives in Fort Worth with his wife.
Katherine Scarpitta is ABIC's grant writer where she works with the Development Team to manage all grant applications, reports, and prospective opportunities for funding. Katherine loves telling the story of an organization's accomplishments and making connections along the way. Prior to joining ABIC, Katherine worked in grant management and fundraising at Catholic Charities of Long Island and Educational Alliance. She received a bachelors degree in cultural anthropology from Boston University.
Job Titles:
- ABIC 's Director of Small Business Recovery
- Director of Small Business Recovery and Resiliency
Ken Kimber is ABIC's Director of Small Business Recovery and Resiliency and overseas ABIC's Community Navigator Technical Assistance programs for disproportionately impacted small businesses, focused on maximizing access to COVID-19 relief resources and expanding businesses capacity. Ken brings 10+ years of dynamic campaign management specializing in public policy, advocacy, strategy, outreach, and more recently public grant management with ABIC's small business grant work.
Job Titles:
- Communications Director
- Director of Communications
Lynn is the Director of Communications at the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC) and ABIC Action. She has 25 years of experience in nonprofit advocacy communications, primarily working on national and Ohio-based immigration campaigns. She is also the President of Anacaona, a communications firm, and Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance.
Lynn has been quoted and/or shaped stories in The New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, Univision, The Guardian, Columbus Dispatch, and Ideastream Public Media, among others. She is a 2018 Marshall Memorial Fellow with the German Marshall Fund and serves on the boards of Justice Action Center and Babel Box Theater. She lives in Cleveland Heights, Ohio with two kids, two cats, and a bearded dragon.
Job Titles:
- President & Co - CEO / Ariel Investments, LLC
Michael Deheeger has juggled organizing, communications, political and fundraising roles on a range of domestic and international issues, in both advocacy and electoral settings, including years of advocating for immigration reform with the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. He is a graduate of Colby College and received a Master's in Public Policy from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. He lives in the Chicago area with his wife and two children.
Job Titles:
- Chairman / MBF Healthcare Partners
- Chairman of MBF Healthcare Partners, L.P
Miguel "Mike" B. Fernandez currently serves as chair of MBF Healthcare Partners, L.P., a private investment firm located in Coral Gables, Florida, that invests in healthcare service companies nationwide. He has been the founder and/or majority shareholder of over 20 healthcare related companies, most of which have been acquired by publicly traded companies, including Physicians Healthcare Plans (acquired by AmeriGroup (NYSE: AGP)), CAC Medical Centers, PrescribIT-Rx, CarePlus Health Plans (acquired by Humana (NYSE: HUM)) and Navarro Pharmacies (acquired by CVS (NYSE: CVS)). He serves on the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami.
Job Titles:
- President and CEO / Aspen Skiing Company
- President and CEO of Aspen Skiing Company
Mike Kaplan is president and CEO of Aspen Skiing Company, which includes oversight of the four mountains of Snowmass, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk, as well as the Little Nell Hotel Group, including The Little Nell Hotel, The Residences at the Little Nell and the Limelight hotels. Mike started with the company in 1993 after spending six years in Taos, New Mexico. He spent four years as managing director of the Ski & Snowboard Schools of Aspen/Snowmass, was promoted to VP of ski operations in 1999, to COO in 2005, and to president and CEO in 2006.
Job Titles:
- New Small Business Associate
Mina Mari is the new Small Business Associate at ABIC, working with disproportionately impacted small businesses in Illinois and ensuring they have access to relief resources. Prior to joining ABIC, Mina worked with several refugee and immigrant organizations in Chicago such as Forging Opportunities for Refugees in America and Devon Oasis. Mina received a bachelor's in political science and criminal justice and criminology from Loyola University Chicago. Currently, Mina is pursuing a master's degree in criminology, law, and justice from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- Senior Executive
Miriam Harrison is the Senior Executive Assistant of the American Business Immigration Coalition. Prior to joining ABIC, Miriam served as an Executive Assistant at the University of Vermont. She brings experience in nonprofit administrative support through her work with Vermont Housing Managers Association. Miriam is a graduate of Boston University. Born in the Netherlands and having lived in Massachusetts, West Virginia, South Dakota, Connecticut, Indiana, California, and Vermont, Miriam now happily calls the coast of Maine home with her partner and a bevy of four-legged creatures.
Job Titles:
- Development Manager
- ABIC 's Development Manager
Nicholas Maio is ABIC's Development Manager where he will support our overall fundraising strategy, help establish tactics, messaging, and benchmarks. Nick comes to ABIC with experience in grants administration and non-profit management. Nick specializes in organizational, multitasking, and information management. Before joining ABIC, Nick worked at the American Association for Cancer Research, where he assisted in administering multi-million dollar research grants. Nick received a bachelor's degree in communications from Marist College. Currently, Nick is a first-year graduate student in Northeastern University's School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs.
Job Titles:
- Founder & Chair / PSP Capital
Job Titles:
- CEO
- CEO of Chicago 's the
Raul I. Raymundo is CEO of Chicago's The Resurrection Project, which, since its founding in 1990, has leveraged capital into $641 million in community investment and positively impacted more than 246,000 individuals in Latino Southwest Side city neighborhoods and western suburbs. TRP seamlessly blends community development, community organizing, human service delivery, and advocacy to build healthier and engaged communities. In 2012, Raymundo led the urgent action needed to avoid massive foreclosures from the failure of Second Federal Savings, a Mexican immigrant-serving financial institution with 1,100 mortgages and over $150 million in community deposits.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Founding Executive Director
Rebecca Shi is the founding executive director of the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC), a bipartisan coalition of 1200 CEOs, retired CEOs, donor class, employers, and business associations across the country, from Texas to Maine, Florida to Idaho. ABIC's mission is common sense immigration reform to grow the economy, create jobs, and keep families together. ABIC's niche is delivering business support to hard-hitting national, state, and local campaigns that benefit the undocumented. ABIC understands the necessity of Right - Left coalitions and alliances to win concrete victories. ABIC's victories include winning driver's licenses, in-state tuition, healthcare equity, access to justice across red, purple, and blue states; inclusive PPP and small business community navigator recovery programs in Washington working with Republican and Democratic Members of Congress.
Rebecca immigrated from China when she was ten years old; graduated from the University of Chicago with high honors and selected graduation speaker; and is tri-lingual in English, Mandarin, and Spanish. She has worked as a leader and organizer in the immigrant rights movement for 12 years, in part because her mother had a final deportation order for 19 years.
Rebecca was honored as "20 in their 20s" by Crains' Business Chicago; is an Asian American Community Leadership honoree; and an Illinois Governor Jim Edgar Fellow. Rebecca's work has been featured in the WSJ, Washington Post, New York Times, Texas Tribune, Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, Politico, and Axios, among others. She has testified before Congress multiple times.
Job Titles:
- Florida Deputy Director
- New Florida Deputy Director
Romy is the new Florida Deputy Director, where she'll focus on building business and community support for immigrants in South Florida to deliver sensible immigration solutions in Florida and at the federal level. She comes to ABIC as a Venezuelan professional whose journey has been characterized by a commitment to human rights advocacy and cultural enrichment. In 2019, amidst challenging circumstances in her home country, Romy made the difficult decision to leave Venezuela. Her passion for fostering international understanding and defending human rights led her to the diplomatic mission of the Interim Government of the Venezuelan Embassy in the United States. She earned a bachelor's degree in arts from Central University of Venezuela.
Samuel C. Scott, III, prior to his retirement in 2009, served as chair (since 2001), CEO (since 2001), and president and COO (since 1997) of Corn Products International, Inc., a leading global ingredients solutions provider now known as Ingredion Incorporated. He previously served as president of CPC International's Corn Refining division from 1995 to 1997 and president of American Corn Refining from 1989 to 1997. He currently serves on the boards of The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Northwestern Medical Group, and the Ringling College of Art and Design. He served on the board of Motorola Solutions, Inc. from 1993 until 2019.
Job Titles:
- ABIC Board Treasurer
- Board of Directors / Senior Chairman
- Chairman of the Texas Commission
The senior chair of the board of directors of Hunt Companies, Inc., and its affiliated companies, Woody Hunt is also chair of the Texas Commission on Community College Finance; foundation trustee of the Texas Higher Education Foundation; member of the Board of Visitors of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center-Houston; founding chair of the Borderplex Alliance in El Paso, where he is now chair emeritus; former chair of the Texas Business Leadership Council; and vice-chair for the Council for Regional Economic Expansion and Educational Development in El Paso. He is also chair of the Woody and Gayle Hunt Family Foundation, which he founded with his wife in 1987.
Job Titles:
- Carolinas State Director
- Director for the Carolinas
Yahel Flores is the Director for the Carolinas and a DACA recipient. Born in CD Juarez Chihuahua and raised in Winston Salem, NC. Prior to joining ABIC he was in the supply chain industry handling international imports for multiple corporate companies. After high school and during college, he started a few businesses to self-fund his education while attending Guilford College. While at Guilford, he was active with the Soy Un Lider conference to help high school seniors navigate the college application process. He was also a part of Hispanos Unidos De Guilford.