LEADERSHIP
MARICELA GARCÍA
Chief Executive Officer

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.
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
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ROSA JULIA GARCIA RIVERA
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ANDREW LINDSTAD
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KRYSTAL ROSS
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NILSA ORTIZ
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MARSHA PAYTON
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TOMIKO L. SMITH
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