Meet the Board

Meet CHSA's 2011 Executive Board which began their terms in March of 2011.

 SUSIE SAAVEDRA, President

Susie Saavedra has nearly nine years of Capitol Hill experience and currently serves as U.S. Congressman Al Green’s (TX-09) Legislative Director (LD). As LD she is responsible for managing the Congressman’s legislative team and providing recommendations on all legislative activity pending before Congress. She also covers policy issues including Transportation, Labor, Appropriations, Veterans, Women, and Energy and manages the Housing portfolio for a Member of the House Financial Services Committee. Most recently, she served as Congressman Joe Baca’s Legislative Director and primary House Financial Services Committee advisor and prior to that, she was Legislative Aide to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. In her role with Senator Clinton, she served as an advisor on low-income housing issues and drafted the Housing America’s Workforce Act legislation which creates incentives to expand employer-assisted housing. Ms. Saavedra is a Congressional expert on Housing and mortgage lending issues and has covered these issues for two senior Memberd of the powerful House Financial Services Committee.

Ms. Saavedra came to Washington, DC in 2000 to work for House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt as a NALEO/Ford Motor Company Fellow.  Before coming to DC, she was an AmeriCorps member in Denver, Colorado.

From 2006-2009, Ms. Saavedra served on the board of the Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities (HACU), a national non-profit organization that advocates for opportunities in higher education for Hispanics. In 2010, Ms. Saavedra was elected to serve on the Executive Board of the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association (CHSA), an official nonpartisan Congressional Staff Organization whose primary purposes are to increase the number of Hispanic staffers in the United States Congress and to promote career development and advancement opportunities for current Hispanic staffers. During her 2010 term she served as CHSA’s Treasurer, Chairperson for CHSA’s Mentoring Committee and Co-Chair of CHSA’s Placement Committee.  On February 22, 2011 she was elected President of CHSA and began her new term as President of the organization on March 1, 2011.

Susie Saavedra has a Master in Public Administration (MPA) degree from George Washington University, and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree from University of Denver.  As the child of Ecuadorian Immigrants, Ms. Saavedra is a first-generation American.  She was born in Queens, New York and proudly grew up in a military family, living in eight different states and abroad in Germany.

ALFONSO LOPEZ, Vice President

FERNANDO CAZARES, Secretary

Fernando serves as the Legislative Correspondent and Grants Coordinator for Congressman Michael M Honda (CA-15). In these roles, he oversees the office's constituent correspondence system and coordinating the office's efforts in assisting district residents, nonprofit agencies, and local government and educational entities successfully access federal grants. Prior to this role, Fernando served as Staff Assistant and congressional intern in Representative Honda. 

Before  coming to Washington, DC, Fernando worked for the City of San Jose in California where he completed a Management Fellowship in the City Manager's Office and later served as a Development Specialist in the Housing Department - coordinating homeless services and monitoring federal grants - and finally as a Community Coordinator, a role in which he engaged residents and school, business, and civic groups in partnering with the City in maintaining and providing services at public parks and community centers. In this last role, he drafted the City's Volunteer Policy for parks and community centers.

Fernando was born in Mexico and moved with his family to Los Angeles, California. He has a Bachelor's degree in Public Policy from Occidental College and a Maters in Public Affairs and Urban and Regional Planning from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.  Fernando's familia includes his parents and his brother and sister in law and their two beautiful daughters who make Nando a proud "Tio!!"

BERTHA GUERRERO, Treasurer

Bertha Guerrero serves as a legislative assistant for Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07). Ms. Guerrero’s legislative portfolio includes immigration, border security, foreign policy, human rights and small business. In her role, she serves as an adviser to the Congressman, monitors state and federal legislative priorities and acts as a liaison to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Previously, Ms. Guerrero served as a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Public Policy Fellow, specializing in immigration and education.  Originally from Southern California, Ms. Guerrero has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles.