Chicago BridgeBuilders Fund: Cohort 3

Anna Calix is the founder and executive director of Gifts from Liam, an organization that was born out of the stillbirth of her first child on his due date. For over 15 years, Anna has dedicated her career to working in public health and healthcare, specifically in underserved communities throughout Chicago and in her home country of Honduras. Throughout most of her professional life, Anna has focused on maternal and child health, particularly perinatal and infant death prevention and support. Anna earned a bachelor's degree in pre-medicine, biology, and communication studies from Augustana College. She also holds a Master of Public Health degree and Public Health Management Certificate from the University of Illinois at Chicago. In addition to her work in public health, Anna is a medical writer, researcher, author, speaker, support group facilitator, grief companion, and legislative advocate.

Martine Caverl is a registered nurse and certified case manager with a background in community organizing, emergency preparedness, street medic activism, and birth work. In 2014, she started teaching community care response for gunshot wounds together with friends and family in Chicago. In 2015 they founded Ujimaa Medics (UMedics). Today, after being a volunteer for seven years, she is Executive Director and is grateful for the opportunity to build a future for this organization that she loves. Current programs include in-person and virtual workshops on topics important for Black survival such as basic and advanced gunshot wound first response, asthma & seizure community care, community safety planning, protest defense, CPR/AED/First Aid certification, and birth emergency skills. She is a graduate of New York University and the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.

Shatina Edwards is a certified life coach and mentor who is exceedingly motivated and passionate about empowering youth. Shatina founded the nonprofit organization M.E.A.N. (Manage-Emotions-Avoid-Negativity) Girls Empowerment Mentoring Program in 2014, which aims to prevent bullying and empowers young ladies to avoid negativity, build self-confidence, and pursue their goals through perseverance, courage, and creativity. To date the organization has served more than 1,700 girls in the Chicagoland area. As an entrepreneur, wife, and mother, Shatina’s mission is to live with purpose and accomplish excellence in all areas of life while encouraging others to do the same. Shatina sees value in the uplifting of youth that follow in her tracks. She is dedicated to exuding poise and integrity with her incessant commitment to empower her community.

Maya Zazhil Fernández grew up in the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods of Chicago as a third generation Mexican-Peruvian. She attended the University of Illinois at Chicago and received a BA in Spanish Literary and Cultural Studies with a concentration in Linguistics. Ms. Fernández comes from a family of musicians, linguists, and cultural workers. At an early age she developed a passion for and commitment to musical traditions, specifically Son Jarocho from Veracruz, Mexico. Having experienced the power of traditional arts in strengthening cultural identity for communities of color in the U.S., she is committed to the preservation and practice of Afro-Indigenous music traditions as a form of community building, resistance, and healing. She carries out this work through being a co-founder of the cultural center, 18th Street Casa de Cultura, located in Pilsen, Chicago. In addition, she is an educator at Chicago Public Schools and in community education-based projects on the city’s South Side. In the community she is known for her active involvement in the transnational music movements of Son Jarocho through the collective Jarochicanos, and of Puerto Rican Bomba through the all-female ensemble Las BomPleneras and La Escuelita Bombera de Corazón.

Jackie Hoffman is Founder and Executive Director of Peace Runners 773. Peace Runners 773 is a nonprofit 501(c)3 that advocates for health equity. The organization empowers, educates, and brings awareness to holistic health and wellness from a physical, mental, and social well-being standpoint, while creating safe spaces for movement in our underserved communities. Jackie Hoffman, born and raised on the West Side of Chicago, was no stranger to poverty and lack of resources. Jackie’s direct impact and big heart motivated him to provide free and affordable health and wellness alternatives to his community. Through Jackie’s personal weight loss journey, he realized how his overall physical health affected his mental health and self-confidence, another aspect rarely prioritized or talked about in minority communities. It is through his own experience of transforming his mental and physical health that Jackie was inspired to reach back and pull others within the community into a collective that not only believes, but practices, a movement medicine for obesity, chronic disease, self-confidence, and overall physical and mental health.

Jackie’s mother, Glydan Hoffman, has been a massive inspiration for Peace Runners 773. She has battled obesity, high blood pressure, and chronic pain with swollen ankles and knees. She was a key participant in the Juneteenth 5K and has become the team captain for the “Young at Hearts” walking group. Through the “Community Workout” and using Peace Runners 773 as a group of accountability, she has lost 60 pounds and has been able to stop taking ten medications. Through this success and transformation, Jackie is reminded that the biggest contributors to this mother’s improved health are knowledge and motivation. Emphasizing and solidifying that the provision of proper diet and activity knowledge, accountability partners, motivation, and rewards, Peace Runners 773 can facilitate and support many more transformations of body and mind, literally saving lives within the West Side community.

The mother of eight children, Diane Latiker or “Ms. Diane” as young people in communities refer to her, is a 35-year resident of Roseland located on the Far South Side of Chicago. She founded the award-winning organization Kids Off the Block, Inc. (KOB) in her home in July of 2003. Diane was given this vision through her mother, Evangelist Ruth Jackson, who saw how the youth in the neighborhood listened to and respected her. Community residents, parents, and law enforcement officials also look to her for guidance in helping Chicago’s youth at highest risk for violence. Ms. Diane works with many groups to achieve her mission including law enforcement, health professionals, politicians, lawyers, professionals, entertainers, funders, and advocates. Diane formed KOB because she knew it could be effective in the community and in the lives of the marginalized children, youth, and families that she interacts with and helps daily. As a community-based organization, KOB is committed to affecting positive change for young people and the areas where they live. Programs serve Chicago’s high-risk children and youth after school and during the summer months. Diane and her volunteers have successfully served more than 1,756 children, youth, and families this year alone. She is dedicated to strengthening the organization's ties with policymakers, donors, and other stakeholders who are interested in assisting underserved young people and families. KOB has earned national recognition as a leading youth service delivery program for the enrichment, empowerment, and personal development of young people who live in the Roseland, Pullman, and West Pullman communities. These are considered Chicago’s roughest communities. KOB now has a team of more than 50 devoted volunteers who are all on a mission to keeping high-risk, low-income kids off the block by providing them with programs and services preventing community violence, gangs, drug and alcohol use, academic failure, entry into the juvenile justice system, and other self-defeating behaviors. For 20 years, KOB has also provided services to improve the lives of residents in historically marginalized and low-income communities. KOB’s strength is its ability to mobilize residents, volunteers, and stakeholders. It has a significant presence in under-resourced Chicago communities and offers programs to accomplish its mission. In addition to raising eight children and creating a highly successful nonprofit organization, Diane has been invited to numerous public speaking engagements. She has also facilitated several youth development and community mobilization workshops and seminars for nonprofit professionals.

David Rojas Jr. is a first-generation social entrepreneur with more than 10 years of experience collaborating with various stakeholders focused on youth empowerment and workforce development. David is a Chicago Posse Scholar and received his undergraduate degree from Connecticut College in Hispanic studies with a concentration in global community development. He was also a 2013 Global Davis Projects for Peace Fellow recipient, where he designed and managed a career development training program for first-generation college students in his neighborhood of South Lawndale (Little Village) in Chicago.

In 2018, David founded the Alliance 98 (TA98), a 501(c)(3) social enterprise based in Chicago that provides young adults 16-24 with meaningful career opportunities. Since its inception, TA98 has served more than 500 young adults in Chicago and has gathered more than $400,000 worth of workforce development resources for local, national, and global distribution.

David holds an Executive Certificate in Social Impact Strategy from the University of Pennsylvania. He is obtaining his MBA through One League, a hybrid program in collaboration with Harvard Business Publishing and Stanford Online. Additionally, he has served as the Manager of Near Peer Mentorship for the Noble Schools' Alumni Career Office, managing a portfolio of more than 300 first-generation college graduates, employer partners, and community partnerships across the Midwest. His work has been featured on WGN, Univision, and numerous newspapers and radio shows nationwide. In 2019, Chicago Scholars named David a 35 under 35 Young Leader Making an Impact Award. Overall, David is committed to directing teens and young adults to workforce resources and training and providing them with a safe space to further cultivate their identities and passions, ultimately leading them to secure living-wage careers in their desired fields.

Rev. Gwen Simpson is a native of Chicago and since 2017, has served as Executive Director of the All Things Through Christ Outreach Ministries’ service to communities through its food pantry, community garden, and youth job skills development and training programs. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rev. Gwen proved ATTCOM’s mission and sustainability by creating a new and innovative approach for marginalized populations to have access to support and essential services during a health crisis with strict distancing guidelines.

As the former deputy regional administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Chicago Regional Office, Rev. Gwen also possesses 42 years of experience in the regulation and administration of the Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance programs and from oversight of the outreach and education of benefits offered under these programs. Rev. Gwen directed the role of the Regional Outreach team to raise awareness and educate providers, partners, stakeholders, and beneficiaries about legislation, which governed implementation of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obama Care. Lastly, Rev. Gwen is an Adjunct Professor teaching Health Care Finance under the Health Care Administration MBA program at Elmhurst College; and, as Associate Pastor of the Hopewell Church, she is highly regarded by the residents, partners, and the membership.

Martín Unzueta is the Executive Director and founder of Chicago Community and Workers’ Rights (CCWR). Unzueta coordinates the work of the staff, represents the organization with different coalitions, and works with the Board of Directors, volunteers, and staff to develop strategic plans for the organization. He organizes trainings for workers, creates educational materials, supports workers organizing in their workplace, and promotes the development of worker cooperatives. Unzueta has been involved in the struggle for workers' rights and immigrant rights for over 20 years.