LEADERSHIP

MARICELA GARCÍA
Chief Executive Officer

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Maricela Garcia is the Chief Executive Officer of Gads Hill Center, a community-based organization founded in 1898 that creates opportunities for children and their families to build a better life through education, access to resources, and community engagement.  Ms. Garcia has more than 20 years of experience in nonprofit management leading organizations through start-up, turnaround, and expansion.  

Ms. Garcia is the former Executive Director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and founding Executive Director of the Latino Policy Forum.  Prior to Gads Hill Center, she was the Director of Capacity Building and Juvenile Justice Policy at UnidosUS, formerly the National Council of La Raza.

Ms. Garcia came to the United States in the early 1980s as a result of the civil war in Guatemala.  After her arrival in the U.S., she founded Casa Guatemala to assist newly arriving refugees and later co-founded Women for Guatemala, an organization dedicated to building solidarity among women in the U.S. with women’s organizations in Guatemala fighting to uphold human rights.  

Maricela has also served on various boards and councils including the National Immigration Forum, the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Northwestern University Human Rights Center, the Chicago Community Renewal Society, Illinois Partners for Human Services, and Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. 

Ms. Garcia holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Administration from Northeastern University and a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago.  In addition, she was a policy fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. She has also completed leadership programs at Northwestern University, the Kellogg School of Management, and at Harvard Business School. 

Ms. Garcia has received several fellowships and awards including the Chicago Community Trust Senior Leader Fellowship, National Hispana Leadership Institute Fellowship, the Leadership Greater Chicago Fellowship, Latinos of the Southwest Excellence in Leadership Award, and Casa Guatemala Human Rights Award.  In 2001, Chicago Woman Magazine nominated Ms. Garcia as one of the 100 most prominent leaders making a difference in the quality of life of Chicagoans.  That same year, she received the Bannerman Fellowship, which allowed her to study the correlation between economic development and migration in Mexico, Central America, and the United States. She is currently a member of The Chicago Network, an organization for women in senior level leadership positions in business, government, nonprofits, and academia.

Ms. Garcia has two children who are the inspiration of her life, Daniella and Camilo.

ERNESTO DE LA TORRE
Chief Financial Officer

With more than 15 years experience in financial non-profit management, Mr. De La Torre currently is Gads Hills Center's Chief Financial Officer. Mr. De La Torre joined Gads Hill Center in 1999 as an accounting assistant. During the last eight years, Mr. De La Torre has held positions with increasing accounting and financial responsibilities. In addition, he has provided training to other nonprofit organizations on topics such as financial management, internal control, cost savings, budgeting and financial reporting. Mr. De La Torre received his B.A. in Accounting from the University of Guadalajara.

​ROSA JULIA GARCIA RIVERA
Chief Operating Officer

​Ms. Garcia Rivera is an Illinois state Licensed Clinical Professional Therapist with over 20 years of culturally competent clinical experience in the mental health services field. She has worked as a mental health consultant since 2002, and is the owner and operator of Rivera Mental Health Consultants, a firm specializing in mental health-related strategies that provides services to schools and mental health agencies. In 2016, she became the Director of Mental Health and Youth Services at Gads Hill Center. Ms. Garcia Rivera received her Bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University, and her Master’s degree in Counseling Education from Northeastern University. With a concentration in child and adolescent therapy, as well as a depth of knowledge in trauma-focused therapy, Ms. Garcia Rivera has extensive experience in the treatment of adults, adolescents and children with a variety of severe psychological, emotional and behavioral disorders. She also serves as a Clinical Supervisor to other mental health professionals and students in various settings, has taught Master's level courses, and is currently an adjunct professor at Erikson Institute. She works systemically, taking a non-judgmental, strengths-based approach, to create desired change and emotional growth, helping individuals and systems build internal social emotional capacity.
 
Ms. Garcia Rivera is continually motivated by her husband Danny and two children, Vida Rosa and Gael Ruben.

​MICHAEL NUDO
Director of Development and Communications

Michael Nudo has served in many different leadership capacities at the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago, Howard Brown Health Center, and AllianceChicago where he has led teams focused on development, operations, and institutional giving. Michael graduated from North Park University with a Master's Degree in Nonprofit Administration (MNA) and has also completed Graduate Certificates in IT Project Management and Database Administration at Northwestern University and in Healthcare Management and Nonprofit Accounting at North Park University. Michael also serves a Federal Grant Reviewer for the Health Resources & Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. A native of Chicago, Michael grew up on the South Side and now lives in Chicago's Lincoln Square Neighborhood

NILSA ORTIZ
Associate Director of Mental Health and Community Initiatives

Nilsa Ortiz joined GHC soon after earning her MSW degree in 2015. Nilsa is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with a master’s in leadership development in Social Services, from Loyola University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Justice and Sociology from Northeastern Illinois University. Nilsa has professional and volunteer experience in community outreach, client advocacy, and providing therapeutic and crisis de-escalation services for disadvantaged youth and families within diverse populations. Nilsa has unique clinical background with proven impact in workforce, education and community engagement.