HACER
330 Hubert H. Humphrey Center,
301 19th Avenue South,
Minneapolis, MN 55455.
Phone: 612-624-3326,
e-mail: contact@hacer-mn.org
Rodolfo Gutierrez
Executive Director
Rodolfo is a doctoral candidate in History, at the University of Minnesota and came to Minnesota to complete his studies with extensive professional experience in demography and Mexican migration. He holds a degree in History, from the Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City and a master's in demography from El Colegio de Mexico. He has served as an adjunct professor at several institutions such as the Metropolitan Autonomous University, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, and the Autonomous University of Baja California and most recently Rodolfo has taught history at the University of Minnesota. He brings a strong background in quantitative and qualitative research with an emphasis on the Mexican women's labor force, elderly populations, human rights and demographic change.
Contact Rodolfo GutierrezSilvia Alvarez
Graduate Research Assistant
Silvia Alvarez was born and raised in Guatemala. She has studied Anthropology, Education Policy Administration, and currently is pursuing a Doctoral Degree at the Department of Work and Human Resource Education, University of Minnesota. She has participated in several educational projects, doing research, evaluation and design, and verification of educational materials. Silvia has experience working with groups that are diverse in terms of culture and language.
As part of her professional experience she has conducted research in the areas of health, education, food security and human rights utilizing case studies, focus groups, surveys and base line studies. She had also led participatory research projects and has trained groups of researchers to do community needs assessment.
Silvia is an active member of her community and has led cross cultural discussion groups with international students at the University of Minnesota Commonwealth Terrace Coop CTC. She has worked at Jane Adams School for Democracy, interpreting and facilitating study groups with Hispanic population, and has taught Spanish at the University of Minnesota. She is a co-producer and announcer of two radio shows featuring music, cultural facts and traditions from Latin America. She is a recipient of the 2008 Tapestry Award because her contribution to create a thriving campus community.
Silvia is very interested in the development of culturally appropriate educational services that provide life skills to the Hispanic community.
Contact Silvia AlvarezAlyssa Banks
Research Associate
Alyssa brings over 7 years of experience working in Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board's south side community centers facilitating and organizing community development and education programs with an emphasis on Hispanic/Latino cultural educational programming. In addition she has conducted research on communication and integration strategies to include Latino populations in community organizations. Alyssa also worked on several studies at HACER that have looked at migrant issues within Minnesota such as the comprehensive needs assessment of the Minnesota migrant education program SEAMS, 2006 Re-Interview process for MEP and Migrant Farmworker Enumeration Estimates and the Assessment of Migrant Legal Services Needed in Minnesota and North Dakota, to name a few. Alyssa holds a degree in Communications, with concentrations in Spanish and Women's Studies, from the University of Minnesota and has lived, worked and studied abroad in Costa Rica and Puerto Rico.
Contact Alyssa BanksAndreya Skarie
Research Associate
Andreya joins HACER with over four years of experience working with Latinos and other new immigrants in both the nonprofit and business sectors. At Centro, Inc., a South Minneapolis cultural center, she developed and implemented a diabetes program to serve Spanish-speaking clients and created and coordinated programming to improve the physical and emotional health of the senior's group. Moreover, she has gained a complementary perspective through providing human resource support and supervision for a diverse workforce of over 180 employees in a manufacturing setting. Andreya holds a degree in psychology, with a minor in Spanish, and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Nonprofit Management; both her undergraduate and graduate studies are from Hamline University. At Hamline, she has presented original research at the Minnesota Undergraduate Psychology Conference and has also collaborated variety of research projects. She has studied in Guatemala and has travelled to Ecuador on several occasions to assist a student with obtaining United States travel documents.
Contact Andreya SkarieElise Wehrman
Administrative and Research Assistant
Elise joins the HACER staff after coming to the organization in Fall 2007 as an Intern. She will complete her undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota in May 2008 with degrees in Biology and Sociology, and a minor in Spanish. She plans to start coursework for her Master's in Public Policy in Fall 2008. At HACER, Elise has worked on a variety of projects, from office organization to information gathering and assisting with transcription. Elise has enjoyed studying Spanish for many years in school, and is continuing to increase her fluency. Elise has also studied abroad in Mexico, as well as having traveled to various parts of that country. As a part of two courses, she has started volunteering with Centro, Inc. with their Adult Literacy and Youth Programs.
Contact Elise Wehrman