CHSA Announces Inaugural Advisory Board

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 11, 2019
Philip Bennett, Communications Director: (310) 384-5815 
[email protected]
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Congressional Hispanic Staff Association is pleased to highlight the inaugural Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee is made up of senior staff throughout the halls of Congress that come ready with a wide depth of knowledge, experience, and passion for promoting diversity on Capitol Hill. Advisory Committee members are active CHSA members who were nominated to serve by the general membership because of their passion for CHSA’s mission. The Advisory Committee is here to engage with our membership in a meaningful and productive way. Through placement efforts, data collection, and advice on bigger-picture initiatives, the Advisory Committee will lend their wisdom to advance CHSA’s mission. Please contact the Advisory Committee Chair, Bianca Ortiz Wertheim, if you have any questions or suggestions for the CHSA Advisory Committee.

Bianca Ortiz Wertheim, Chair 
University of Oklahoma, BA
University of New Mexico, Anderson School of Management, MBA

Bianca has over 20 years of experience working in political and policy focused organizations. Originally from Nambé, a small town north of Santa Fe, NM, Bianca started in New Mexico politics and community organizing. Bianca had the honor of working as a field organizer for U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman in his successful re-election campaign.

Continuing her interest in public policy and community organizing, Bianca served as a past president of MANA de Albuquerque. She worked with the American Cancer Society as Director of Government Relations for New Mexico. She served in New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson’s Administration as Director of Cabinet Affairs, where she was the primary liaison between Governor Richardson and his full cabinet.

Following her appointment with Governor Richardson, Bianca worked for Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez as his Legislative Affairs Representative and later as his Chief of Staff.

Bianca joined the Office of U.S. Senator Tom Udall (NM) in 2009 as his State Director. In the fall of 2015, Bianca became the senator’s Chief of Staff, making her the second Latina to serve as a Chief of Staff in the U.S. Senate. She currently serves as an honorary co-host of the Bipartisan Chiefs of Staff Foreign Affairs Study Group.

Eduardo Lerma
Eduardo Lerma is the Chief of Staff for Congresswoman Verónica Escobar (TX-16). The El Paso native most recently served as Director of Outreach at the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, where he helped in the development of the Senate Democratic agenda. He also served as a liaison on behalf of the Senate Democratic Caucus on issues relevant to the Latino and Asian American communities. Prior to that, the Santa Clara University graduate spent nine years in the House of Representatives, including time as Deputy Chief of Staff and Homeland Security Legislative Assistant to former California Congresswoman Loretta Sánchez, as well as with the House Small Business Committee.

Miguel Franco
Miguel Franco serves as Chief of Staff for Congressman Tony Cárdenas (CA-29). Miguel has worked for the Congressman for twelve years in various capacities during his time in Congress and on the Los Angeles City Council. As Congressman Cárdenas’ Chief of Staff, he manages the Washington, D.C. and San Fernando Valley offices, as well as policy matters dealing with labor, LGBTQ rights, and Native American tribes. While working for the Los Angeles City Council, Miguel oversaw issues related to transportation and economic development, as well as the Port of Los Angeles and Los Angeles World Airports. 

Miguel was born and raised in Southern California. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.A. in Political Science. He is married to Robert Perez, residing in Prince George’s County, Maryland with their three children. In his free time, he enjoys gardening, tennis, and playing softball.

Angela Ramirez 
Angela Ramirez is the Chief of Staff to the House Assistant to the Speaker, Congressman Ben Ray Luján (NM-03). Longtime Chief of Staff in Luján’s personal office, Angela brings with her a depth of knowledge and broad Capitol Hill experience to the leadership team. Angela has worked as Luján’s chief of staff since 2009 and was influential during Luján’s time as the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Angela also served as the executive director of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus for two years. Angela is a graduate of Princeton University where she studied political economy and received a certificate in Spanish. 

Bertha Alisia Guerrero 
Bertha Guerrero currently serves as Chief of Staff to Congressman Jimmy Gomez (CA-34). As Chief of Staff, she is the Congressman’s principal advisor on a wide range of policy, legislative and political matters. Bertha is also responsible for the development and implementation of his public policy priorities in the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Prior to assuming this role, Bertha Alisia served as Director of Public Engagement for Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee. In this capacity, she engaged political, media, and key constituencies to build support for a wide range of conservation and environmental legislative priorities. Before returning to Capitol Hill, Bertha Alisia served as Director of National Advocacy at the Hispanic Federation, where she mobilized elected officials, businesses and community leaders, and diverse stakeholders to support Latino nonprofit organizations, improve education, increase access to quality health care, support immigrant families and expand economic empowerment and financial security. 

Bertha Alisia was born and raised in Santa Ana, CA. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her dog Mia. 

Virgilio Barrera 
Virgilio Barrera is the Legislative Director for Senator Martin Heinrich (NM). Before returning to Capitol Hill, Virgilio worked at Holland & Knight as a public affairs advisor for two years. He received his Bachelor of Arts at Wittenberg University and his Master of Arts from Texas A&M International University. Virgilio is fluent in English and Spanish and is a proud Texan. 

Stephanie Cuevas 
Stephanie Cuevas is the Legislative Director for Congressman Pete Aguilar (CA-31). She was born and raised in Whitter, CA, graduated from Yale in 2012 and began working in Washington, D.C. shortly after graduation. She is proud of the continuous work she has done to help advance legislation that support DACA recipients. Stephanie also enjoys eating tacos, Hot Cheetos, and listening to Selena.

Veronica Duron
Veronica serves as the Legislative Director to Senator Cory Booker (NJ). Duron served in various capacities in the offices of former Congressman Solomon Ortiz and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer prior to her current post with Senator Booker. Veronica has been an active member of CHSA during her tenure on Capitol Hill, serving as President and Vice President of the Executive Board and lending her professional acumen to all staffers. She was recently honored by the Hispanic Lobbyists Association with the Avanza Trailblazer Award for demonstrating leadership in promoting diversity and inclusion on Capitol Hill. 

Javier Gamboa
Javier Gamboa serves as Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director to Congressman Jeff Van Drew (NJ-2) and has worked in Congress for nearly ten years. Javier got his start on Capitol Hill as a Staff Assistant for Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (CA) at the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works where he assisted the Committee’s efforts to pass landmark climate and energy legislation. In 2012, Javier went across Capitol Hill to work for Congresswoman Kathy Castor (FL-14), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, as an Energy Policy Analyst and Legislative Assistant. After several years, Javier moved on to become Legislative Director to Congresswoman Nanette Barragan (CA-44) where he formulated and advanced her policy priorities and helped to position her as a leader on environmental justice issues. Having been part of a team to establish a new member office and operation, Javier decided to broaden his professional experiences by joining The Trust for Public Land as a Senior Legislative Representative. In that role, he advocated before Congress for public lands and parks funding, legislation, and programs like the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Javier Gamboa has been a member of the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association throughout his tenure on Capitol Hill, was elected twice to the Executive Board, and loves playing Chili Dog softball. He is a proud alumnus of Cal State Fullerton and of the California State University D.C. Scholars Program. 

Eliza Ramirez
Eliza Ramirez is the Legislative Director for Congressman Tom Malinowski (NJ-07). Eliza holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science and women’s studies from California State University, Fullerton as well as George Washington University. Prior to joining Rep. Malinowski’s team as the Legislative Director, Eliza was a Legislative Assistant in Rep. Mike Capuano’s office and a Staff Assistant in former Senator Barbara Boxer’s office. Eliza is a native of Anaheim, CA. 

Emily Benavides
Emily Benavides is currently serving as Senator Rob Portman's (OH) Deputy Communications Director, handling his media presence in her home state of Ohio and nationwide. Prior to joining Senator Portman's office, Emily worked on Jeb Bush’s 2016 Presidential campaign as a traveling press secretary and member of the communications office. Throughout the 2016 primary, she managed the former Governor's media booking, surrogate booking, and Hispanic media operations. In 2014, Emily served as Communications Director for Governor Rick Snyder’s (MI) victorious re-election campaign in Michigan.  In this capacity, she managed communications strategy for the campaign, building a content driven media engagement plan in coordination with a forward thinking digital campaign. During the 2012 election cycle, she was the Florida Press Secretary and National Hispanic Press Secretary for the Romney campaign, and prior to that, Specialty Press Secretary for the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

Benavides was named one of the 40 under 40: Latinos in American Politics in 2014 by The Huffington Post. They went on call her “one of the Republican Party's top Latina communications operatives.”  In 2015, she was recognized by Cosmo for Latinas with a Fun, Fearless award for outstanding contributions in the political arena. Benavides has also served as Communications Director for the Hispanic Leadership Network, an initiative of the American Action Network. She began her career on Capitol Hill as a staffer for Congressman Robert Aderholt (AL-4).

Dayanara Ramirez
Dayanara Ramirez is the Communications Director for Congressman Mark Takano (CA-41) and serves on the Board of the Democratic Digital Communications Staff Association. She also serves as an organizer of the Digital Academy and helps train the next generation of congressional digital experts. Dayanara started a career in communications as a press intern in the Office of Congressman Juan Vargas (CA-51) after graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles. She soon became the Congressman's press secretary and helped manage the office’s communications strategy. Dayanara is a proud first-generation American from California, speaks and writes in Spanish with bilingual proficiency, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies and Political Science. 

Miguel R. Salazar
Miguel R. Salazar is currently the Communications Director for the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs serving under the leadership of Chairman Mark Takano (CA-41). He previously served as the Communications Director for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus under Chairwoman Michelle Lujan Grisham and Chairman Joaquin Castro. Prior to that he was the Communications Director for Congressman Ruben J. Kihuen and served as the National Press Secretary for the House Democratic Caucus under Chairman Xavier Becerra. He is a graduate of The George Washington University, a native of San Antonio, TX, and a First Lieutenant in the Marine Corps Reserve.

Caitlin Soto
Caitlin Soto is Investigative Counsel for Chairman Chuck Grassley (IA) of the Senate Finance Committee and works on healthcare oversight and investigation matters. She previously served as Health Counsel to former Chairman Orrin Hatch (UT) before he retired at the end of the 115th Congress. She’s a graduate of the American University and the Catholic University Columbus School of Law. She’s Cuban-American and originally from Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Eduardo Hilera 
Eduardo Hilera currently serves on the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control as a Legislative Assistant to Co-Chairman Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA). Eduardo’s career has been focused on homeland security, law enforcement, and public safety policy at the federal and state level. Prior to his service in the United States Senate, Eduardo served as Senior Advisor to the Puerto Rico Secretary of the Treasury where he developed a plan to restructure the tax fraud and intelligence division, as well as a task force program with the US Coast Guard Investigative Service in San Juan. Eduardo also served on the staff of former Congressman Pedro Pierluisi (PR) for almost seven years, four of which were spent as a Legislative Assistant in Washington D.C. 

Eduardo has served as an advisor on six political campaigns, including Obama for America in 2008 and Pierluisi for Governor in 2016, as a senior advisor to the Campaign Director and chair of the public safety and law enforcement platform team. 

Eduardo is of Cuban and Puerto Rican descent, and was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He completed his undergraduate degree in Political Science at Penn State University, a National Security Strategy Certificate from National Defense University and is currently enrolled in Georgetown University’s Emergency and Disaster Management Master’s Program. 

Victoria Rivas
Victoria Rivas serves as a Legislative Assistant for Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40), Chairwoman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security. Victoria's portfolio includes homeland security appropriations, immigration, foreign affairs, defense, judiciary, and LGBTQ rights. She is also the lead staffer for Congresswoman Roybal-Allard’s bill, the “American Dream and Promise Act of 2019” (H.R. 6). Victoria began her career working for Congressman Xavier Becerra, former Chairman of the Democratic Caucus. Passionate about building a diverse congressional workforce, Victoria previously served as the President and Secretary of CHSA. Victoria was born and raised in Southern California and received her Bachelor of Arts at the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied international relations and human rights.

Noel Perez
Noel Perez serves as the Director of Outreach for the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee. One of two Democratic Leadership Committees in the Senate, the Committee serves as a liaison and fosters dialogue between Senate Democratic offices and leaders from key stakeholder groups. 

Perez was previously the Policy and Program Manager at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, where he served as the first-ever lead for Staff Up Congress, an initiative to increase staff diversity in Congress. Before joining NALEO, Perez served as an Adviser for Member Services and Outreach for the House Democratic Caucus, where he worked for every Democratic member of the House of Representatives and as a Legislative Aide for former Congressman and current California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. 

Noel received his start on Capitol Hill when he was selected to participate in the Panetta Institute for Public Policy Congressional Internship Program in Washington, D.C. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Noel holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from California State University, East Bay.

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