100 Hispanic Women; The Bronx Program
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Miguelina Camilo
President
Miguelina was born in the Dominican Republic and immigrated to the United States with her parents in the late 1980’s. She earned her Bachelor's in Political Science from New York University and In 2012 she received her Juris Doctor from New York Law School and soon after she started her first job as an attorney working at the law office of Murray Richman, a criminal defense attorney in the Bronx. There Miguelina learned to be an attorney and she gained a love for the courtroom.
In 2016 she opened her own practice focusing on family and matrimonial matters and joined the 18b panel to serve indigent parties of the Bronx community. From 2019 to 2021 she was Democratic Commissioner of Board of Elections for Bronx County and led the County through the important advent of early voting, extension of absentee ballots due to COVID-19 and ranked choice voting. During the pandemic, she also took on the role of Adjunct Professor for ASA College teaching introduction to torts, family court neglect proceedings and introduction to law enforcement. She also serves as a member of the Attorney Grievance Committee for the First Department. She has also served as Associate Counsel at the New York City Board of Elections where she is part of the Office of General Counsel charged with enforcing the New York Election law for all matters related to seeking public office in New York City.
Throughout her career, she has taken great care to make time to always give back. She is a mentor for at-risk youth at Bronx Connect and a mentor for high school students with the iMentor family. She volunteers as coach for the Thurgood Marshall Mock trial program for 7th and 8th grade students of the Bronx. She was a 2020 fellow for the Council of Urban Professionals. As an advocate for the Dominican community, Miguelina is an active board member of The Dominican Bar Association and was previously President of the organization in 2018.
She is currently Counsel to the Speaker of the New York State Assembly Carl E. Heastie.
Nadege Benoit
Vice President
Nadege is a Captain in the United States Army, currently serving at the United States Military Academy at West Point. In her capacity at the Academy, she serves as a coach and mentor to 120 cadets helping to mold the next generation of military leaders. Prior to her tenure at West Point, Nadege worked as a Human Resources Officer in high paced environments around the country and abroad. Nadege is a
proud native of El Paso, Texas and a first-generation American. She is also committed to educating others on cultural and racial biases that permeate industries such as the military and previously volunteered with Do More Together, a non-profit organization committed to empowering and mobilizing African-American graduates and cadets of West Point. She is also an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., in which she volunteers her time to numerous homeless, domestic violence, and veteran-focused programs.
Nadege holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Foreign Area Studies Eurasia from the United States Military Academy at West Point. She also has a Master of Arts degree in International Relations from Webster University, and has a Master of Arts in Social-Organizational Psychology from Columbia University’s Teachers College. She was a Council of Urban Professionals 2020 Fellow and currently a 2021 New Leaders Council fellow.
Cynthia Carrion
Secretary
Since 2000, Cynthia has worked closely with youth and community-based organizations throughout New York City and across the country. Most recently, Cynthia served as the Deputy Director at the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights, committed to expanding access to legal immigration services, participating in policy making and community organizing from 2014 - 2018. Prior to NMCIR, Cynthia launched a national youth leadership series, mobilizing and training hundreds of youth behind human rights-centered programming as the National Youth Programs Coordinator at Amnesty International USA. On the international stage, she elevated the role of human rights education, facilitating a side event at the UN High Level Meeting on Youth and served as the Youth Producing Change Coordinator for Human Rights Watch, working with youth activists from across the globe advocating for human rights issues. In addition, she was the Partnerships and Programs Manager for The Urban Assembly, a network of over 20 public schools in NYC ensuring that over 10,000 students had access to quality enrichment opportunities.
Cynthia also served as the Director of Youth Channel, the youth serving division of Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) teaching youth storytelling and producing short documentaries. In 2012, she began “Border of Lights” a yearly volunteer initiative with author Julia Alvarez along the Dominican-Haitian border, working towards restorative justice from the 1937 Haitian Massacre.
Cynthia received her BA from Hunter College with a dual major in Media Studies and Latin America and Caribbean Studies. She studied abroad in Spain, Costa Rica and Puerto Rico. While abroad in Costa Rica, Cynthia backpacked from Mexico to Panama, visiting with student movements throughout Central America. During her senior year she served as President of Hunter’s Undergraduate Student Government. Cynthia also received her MA in International Relations from City College.
Jenny Ovalle
Secretary Treasurer
Jenny was born in the Dominican Republic and migrated to the USA with her family at the age of four. She grew up in Washington Heights and then moved to the Bronx when she started her family. She has been working since the age of 14, working in various jobs within the food industry and clothing industry before landing a corporate job.
She attended Baruch College-Zickiln School of Business, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with an emphasis in Economics and a minor in History. Shortly after that she landed her first corporate job at Fitch ratings as a ratings analyst within the structure finance group. She worked at Fitch for six years before making the move to Kroll Bond Ratings (KBRA). During that time Jenny earned her masters degree in Public Administration from Baruch School- Marxe School of Public and International Affairs. At Kroll Jenny covered many asset types and worked on many sides of the business. She was promoted to a director giving her the opportunity to travel throughout the United States meeting clients and new businesses. Currently Jenny works for DBRS Morningstar as a Vice President.
Jenny is passionate about giving back to the community and is an advocate on education.
Cynthia also served as the Director of Youth Channel, the youth serving division of Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) teaching youth storytelling and producing short documentaries. In 2012, she began “Border of Lights” a yearly volunteer initiative with author Julia Alvarez along the Dominican-Haitian border, working towards restorative justice from the 1937 Haitian Massacre.
Cynthia received her BA from Hunter College with a dual major in Media Studies and Latin America and Caribbean Studies. She studied abroad in Spain, Costa Rica and Puerto Rico. While abroad in Costa Rica, Cynthia backpacked from Mexico to Panama, visiting with student movements throughout Central America. During her senior year she served as President of Hunter’s Undergraduate Student Government. Cynthia also received her MA in International Relations from City College.
Cristina Contreras
Board Member
Born in the Dominican Republic, Cristina Contreras is a proven healthcare leader that is passionate about improving the health of the communities she serves. Embracing the diversity of NYC, Cristina engages and works with different community leaders from all cultures, together with local elected officials, to provide the public with opportunities for health education to improve health outcomes.
Cristina has a Bachelors in Social Work from Herbert H. Lehman College, a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Fordham University and a second Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Baruch College. As of April 2021, Cristina was appointed as the Chair of the National Dominican Day Parade.
In her twenty-seven-year tenure in public health, Cristina has accumulated vast experience in the health care management of inpatient, ambulatory, clinical and ancillary services. She is a career civil servant, having served with NYC Health + Hospitals since 1995. She started her career as a caseworker, and successfully progressed through various positions of leadership with increasing responsibility ever since.
Cristina’s demonstrated commitment to her staff, patients, and the community has made her a well-known and respected leader within the country’s largest municipal healthcare system. As of April 2021, Cristina has been appointed Chief Executive Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan in East Harlem, in Manhattan.
In recognition of her leadership and service to the community, Cristina has been named a Healthcare Hero 2021 Honoree by Schneps Media, awarded the Government Service Leadership Award by 100 Hispanic Women National, honored by the NYC Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as a Hero of Hope and Champion of Inclusion, selected as a Power Woman of the Bronx in 2020 and named to City & State NY's 2021 Manhattan Power 100 List
Wendy Garcia
Board Member
Wendy Garcia is the Deputy Commissioner, Equity and Inclusion for the New York City Police Department. As the Deputy Commissioner, Wendy Garcia is responsible for creating, implementing and evaluating strategies throughout the New York City Police Department to ensure processes and procedures are inclusive, transparent, impartial, free of discrimination and harassment, and equitable for all members of the NYPD.
The Office of Equity and Inclusion promotes awareness, education and outreach efforts to improve the quality of life in the workplace and beyond by fostering cultural understanding of employees and the community.
The Office of Equity and Inclusion oversees the Equal Employment Opportunity Division which is responsible for the prevention and investigation of employment and harassment claims, reasonable accommodation requests and ensuring compliance with regulations related to accessibility of Police Department facilities by members of the disabled community.
Previously, Ms. Garcia served as the Chief Diversity Officer at the Office of New York City Comptroller where she fostered contracting opportunities for women in minority owned business enterprises (MWBEs) and managed the Comptroller’s office’s internal supplier diversity related projects across all bureaus of the agency. In addition, Wendy Garcia also served as the Deputy Chief Diversity Officer at the Office of New York City Comptroller, Director of Community Outreach and Partnerships at the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), Deputy Director of the Manhattan Borough President’s Northern Manhattan Office, and Immigrant Research Analyst for the Rockefeller Foundation through Baruch College.
Ms. Garcia earned a Master’s degree in Urban Policy and Management from New School University with a concentration in Economic Development, and a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Delaware.
Virna Lisy Crespo
Board Member