About Us
Ariel Schmidt
Ariel Schmidt is the president and owner of Atlantic Graphic Services, Inc., a commercial printing company located in Clinton, Massachusetts. When Ariel started his business, in 1982, the facility was generating sales of $100,000.
Atlantic Graphic Services, Inc. provides customers with outstanding printing and graphic services. Atlantic has earned a reputation as a top-rated supplier of commercial printing services by specializing in the production of one to six color-plus projects. Atlantic Graphic Services, Inc. is owned and operated as a minority company and runs a state of the art facility.
Before entering into his own business Mr. Schmidt served as vice president of manufacturing and plant supervisor at the Eusey Press, in Leominster, Massachusetts. Ariel entered the rich world of printing at a very young age. It was while he was living in Santa Clara, Cuba, with his missionary parents, that Ariel got his hands into some ink on an old letterpress machine ink has run in his veins ever since!
Mr. Schmidt has a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Atlantic Union College.
Alba Alvarez
Alba Alvarez is a franchise Owner of Metropolitan West Real Estate. Alba's primary focus is the analyzing and assessing of her clients' needs for housing. Alba then helps her clients to decide whether purchasing a property or renting a property is appropriate for them at that time. She specializes in sales and, rentals of residential and corporate properties.
Alba is an Independent Life Span Planner and Consultant Specializing in the Insurance and financial services Industry. She is able to assess strengths and weaknesses in her clients' business and personal plans. She is able to provide recommendations and suggestions to fulfill her clients' needs and enhance their life insurance & health insurance portfolios.
Alba spent her first six years in the insurance and financial services industry with New York Life Insurance Company. Currently she is an independent broker and continues to work extensively in the Hispanic market, assisting Hispanic population with their insurance needs.
Nicolas Garay, Alba's Father, founded Bay travel in 1983. Alba bought the travel agency in 1989 and was the proprietor for 17 years and recently sold her Travel Agency after expanding it from a single agency to a three-site agency. Alba's business of 17 years was one of the largest travel agencies providing unprecedented service within the Hispanic community for discounted travel and corporate travel to and from South and Central America. (Bay Travel-Chelsea, Bay Travel Cambridge) was well renown within the Latin Community of Boston, Cambridge and Chelsea. The company serviced the Latin community and corporate accounts traveling to south-central America.
Alba is an exceptionally giving person, volunteering her time to various non-profit organizations including The Greater Hispanic Lions Club as The Treasurer-Member 2001, Casa Nueva Vida, Board Member (Shelter for Homeless Mothers & Children), American Heart Association, Board Member-served two years, Devon & Nicole House (Home away from Home for Families with Children having Heart Surgery) and Little Heart, Board Member-served two years (Support Group for Families with Children with Heart Disease).
Alba was born in Argentina and came to Boston 32 years ago to finish her studies. She has taken many courses in a variety of areas ranging from marketing and sales to financial planning and life span planning, public speaking (top of class in presentations). Alba graduated from American Travel & Tourism School of Boston in 1983.
Alba currently resides in Newton, Massachusetts; she is the mother of six children.
Nader Acevedo
Nader Acevedo is the President of the Hispanic-American Chamber of Commerce.
In this role he is responsible for the daily operation of the chamber’s businesses, individuals, corporations and educational institutions participation in the academic and economic development of the Hispanic community in the Greater Boston area. With extensive experience with businesses and government leaders at local, state and national levels, he manages all administrative functions and staff and ongoing support of the board of directors.
Prior to joining HACC, Nader was the Director of Latino and Latin American Programs at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences wherehe was responsible for the college’s local and international relationships with educational, government and financial institutions. He established a weekend and summer institute for Latino students “Creando Futuros” (Creating Futures). He developed and implemented a pilot Pharmacy Internship Program to recruit and train pharmacists from four different countries in South America.
Nader a former Vice President of Bank of AmericaCommunity Development responsible for the development and financing of Community Development Corporations and Small Businesses throughout the New England Region, was previously, Vice President of Community Banking at Shawmut Bank responsible for the development and maintenance of business relationships with small businesses and community based organizations. Nader began his banking career in 1990 as Regional Board Member of BayBank.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Marketing from the School of Sales and Marketing in Colombia. He completed a two year business program at Bryant and Stratton School of Business in Boston, Massachusetts. A graduate of Shawmut Bank’s one-year Credit Training Program.
Nader has been featured in numerous media outlets, including the Boston Globe, the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Banner, La Semana, TV and radio programs locally and in South America and most recently, he was profile in El Mundo Newspaper. He is the Treasurer of the Advisory Board at the Martha Eliot Health Center affiliated with Children’s Hospital, member of the Latino Professional Network (LPN) and member of the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA). Past Member of the Mexico-Massachusetts Business Alliance.
He has been the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions for his contribution to the economic development of the Latino Community in the United States and South America. Most recently he received the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Massachusetts 2008 Small Business Champion. In 2006 Community Award from the Action for Boston Community Development and from the Boston Public Schools he received a Certificate of Recognition for his contribution to building self-esteem of Latino students by serving as a role model.
Felipe Lopez
Felipe was born and raised in Venezuela. He received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from "La Universidad Metropolitana" in Caracas. Felipe worked for 4 years as a Project Engineer and eventually moved to Boston to attend Northeastern University, where he earned his MBA. Ever since, he has lived in the Boston area and became an US citizen in 2006.
Upon graduation, Felipe enter the Information Technology (IT) field and held positions in a wide variety of organizations including: Harvard University's Office of Information Technology for near 9 years; Boston Gas (a.k.a. Keyspan Energy Delivery; now National Grid) for 5 years; Guardent, Inc. a dot-com startup company; the Massachusetts College of Art and American Student Assistance.
Felipe is currently working as an IT contractor as a Project Manager and as an IT consultant for small businesses. He lives in Newton Corner since 1986 and has 2 daughters attending college.
Outside work, Felipe serves on the Board of Directors of “Watch CDC”, a non-profit, community-based organization that works towards a more just community in the Waltham area by creating and promoting affordable housing, providing adult education and leadership development, and empowering underrepresented residents through civic engagement. He is also an active member of the Latino Professional Network (LPN) and the local chapter of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) and other charity organizations.
Lorenzo Quinones
Lorenzo Quiñones was one of the founding members of the Hispano American Chamber of Commerce. During the HACC Annual Meeting last June, at the request of many of his friends, Lorenzo joined the Board of Directors of the Chamber.
Lorenzo works as Treasurer for C-Q Construction Corporation, where he is responsible for Project Management, Estimating and General Construction. Mr. Quinones has more than 40 years experience in the construction industry.
C-Q Construction Corp. was established in the spring of 1976 and has performed a wide variety of construction services for a diversified clientele in both the public and private sectors. The company has earned a rock solid reputation by doing business in an honorable, evenhanded, and conscientious manor and has been able to attract an experienced, reliable, and talented network of seasoned consultants, sub-contractors, and suppliers. C-Q prides itself on its ability to provide our clients with timely and reliable information regarding value engineering; budgeting and scheduling required to ensuring a successful project.
C-Q has received several awards for outstanding achievements.
Carolina Trujillo
Carolina Trujillo was born in Caracas, Venezuela. She received her law degree at Universidad Católica Andres Bello in 1999. In Venezuela, she worked five years as a volunteer in government and non-profit organizations as a legal counselor, focusing her efforts on problems related to abandoned and abused children. At the same time she worked in corporate and banking law for a private law firm.
Carolina came to the United States in 2000 for her Masters Degree in Banking and Financial Law at Boston University. After graduating, she worked in the residential lending industry until 2005 when Carolina joined NOAH to work with the BHA program, helping low income families getting prepared to purchase their first home. In October of 2007, Carolina started a foreclosure prevention unit that helped annually an average of 600 families negotiate with their lenders in order to maintain their homes. In addition, she coordinated First Time Homebuyer classes, and individual counseling with customers in the areas of credit, financial fitness and mortgage counseling. Carolina hosted an educational Spanish radio program in an effort to help the Latin community better understand the mortgage and real estate world. Since January of 2010, she has been teaching Housing Financing and Community Development at Boston University’s Law School. After 5 years, she decided to leave NOAH to work as a managing partner of ARCO, LLC a design and build company she co-founded with her husband in 2004. In January of 2011, she was recruited by Eastern Bank as a Residential Loan Officer. She is on the Board of Directors of the Hispanic-American Chamber of Commerce, is an active member of NECAG the New England Consumer Advisory Group lead by the FED and Chair of the ALPFA Career Connection Committee.
Recently, Carolina was recognized with the Silver Shingle Award: The Young Lawyer's Chair. This award is presented to the alumna/us whose performance and commitment, in ten years or less since graduation, reflects great credit upon the Boston University School of Law.
Silvia Ruiz
Sylvia Ruiz is an independent insurance broker with Group Health Specialists, a Broker/Consulting firm which works exclusively with small business and individuals, providing professional and expert advice in choosing a group health insurance plan. As a member of the Group Health Specialists’ team, Sylvia was trained to handle the administration of the day-to-day aspects of group health insurance; ranging from billing issues to additions and deletions of employees. She serves as a liaison between the plans’ participants and the insurance companies at all times.
Sylvia is fluent in Spanish and has knowledge of Portuguese. Sylvia is a Certified Medical Interpreter by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. She has volunteered her time at various not-for-profits, community-based organizations including Open Door Free Medical Clinic and Framingham Adult ESL Plus.
Prior to joining, Group Health Specialist, Sylvia worked as a Legal Assistant for Shapiro & Kreisman; a Framingham-based law firm who represents institutional lenders in foreclosures, bankruptcies and evictions.
Sylvia became a Member of the Board of the Hispanic-American Chamber of Commerce and joined the Event Committee, where she works on securing new events for the HACC.
Rafael Torres
Rafael Torres became Member of the Board of Directors of the HACC in June 2010. He is the owner and President of “Don Quixote Toursof New England”, a Quincy-based, privately-owned company, that was established and incorporated in Massachusetts in 1991. The company employs a staff of 7.
The company offers regular trolleys city tours in the Boston and its surroundings as well as a variety of related services, including special excursions to Salem, Cape Code, and even New York City. In addition to English language, his knowledgeable tour guide operators conduct them also in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.
Don Quijote Tours has provided our exclusive tour services to international visitors, both to individuals and corporations. His clientele include influential guess such as your Majesty the King of Spain and various head-of-state from Colombia, Peru and Argentina. He also provides Tour Operators, limousine services for conventions and airport transportation for corporate clients such as SovereignBank/ Banco Santander.
Gabriel Rodriguez-Garriga
Gabriel Rodriguez-Garriga joined the Chamber in the summer of 2009. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a dual degree in Financial Mathematics and Economics. He continues his relationship with the school by being on the Board of the University of Michigan Club of Greater Boston.
Gabriel works as a Business Development and Acquisitions analyst for Pyramid Hotel Group, a Hotel Management company with over 55 hotels under Management and Asset Management. He currently holds the position of Development Chair in the Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce.