Board of Directors

Maria Hinojosa

President of Futuro Unidad Hinojosa, Founder of Futuro Media, Anchor & Executive Producer of Latino USA

As a reporter who was the first Latina in many newsrooms, Pulitzer Prize winner Maria Hinojosa dreamt of a space where she could create independent, multimedia journalism that explores and gives a critical voice to the diverse American experience. She made that dream a reality in 2010 when she created Futuro Media, an independent, nonprofit newsroom based in Harlem, NYC with the mission to create multimedia content from a POC perspective. Futuro does this in the service of empowering people to navigate the complexities of an increasingly diverse and connected world.

As the Anchor and Executive Producer of the Peabody Award-winning show Latino USA, distributed by PRX, as well as Co-Host of In The Thick, the Futuro Media’s award-winning political podcast, Hinojosa has informed millions about the changing cultural and political landscape in America and abroad. She is also a contributor to the long-running, award-winning news program CBS Sunday Morning and a frequent guest on MSNBC.

Hinojosa’s nearly 30-year career as an award-winning journalist includes reporting for PBS, CBS, WNBC, CNN, NPR, and anchoring the Emmy Award winning talk show from WGBH Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One. She is the author of two books and has won dozens of awards, including: four Emmys, the John Chancellor Award, the Studs Terkel Community Media Award, two Robert F. Kennedy Awards, the Edward R. Murrow Award from the Overseas Press Club, and the Ruben Salazar Lifetime Achievement Award from the NAHJ. She has been honored with her own day in October by New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio and has been recognized by People En Español as one of the 25 most powerful Latina women. Additionally, Hinojosa was the first Latina to anchor a PBS FRONTLINE report: “Lost in Detention” which aired in October 2011 and was the first to explore abuse at immigrant detention facilities, garnering attention from Capitol Hill as well as both the mainstream and Spanish-language media.

As a reporter for NPR, Hinojosa was among the first to report on youth violence in urban communities on a national scale. During her eight years as CNN’s urban affairs correspondent, Hinojosa often took viewers into communities rarely shown on television and continued that work longform on Now on PBS. At Futuro Media, Hinojosa continues to bring attention to experiences and points of view that are often overlooked or underreported in mainstream media, all while mentoring the next generation of diverse journalists to delve into authentic and nuanced stories. In 2018 she was a Fellow at Shorenstein Center at the Harvard Kennedy School and is a frequent speaker across the country. In 2019, she was named the inaugural Distinguished Journalist in Residence at her Alma Mater, Barnard College. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children.

Deepa Donde

Board Chair and Secretary, Writer, Independent Producer, AUSTIN, TX

Deepa Donde is an independent film, television, and radio producer based in Austin, Texas. Her work has appeared on the following outlets: NPR, Huffington Post, PBS, BBC, CBS and NBC. In addition to her work with the Futuro Media Group, Deepa also serves on the board of The Austin Film Festival. She has in the past served on the advisory boards of Fusebox: Contemporary Multi-Disciplinary Art Festival, Youth Radio (NPR’s premier provider for youth-orientated content), Girls Impact The World Film Festival, as well as on the board of Ballet Austin.

Deepa received her Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honors in Medieval History from Brown University. She is close to completing her first independent narrative feature film, PERIPHERY, and is developing a documentary feature.

Theresa Barron-McKeagney

Board Vice Chair, Associate Dean, College of Public Affairs and Community Service at the University of Nebraska

Dr. Barron-McKeagney’ areas of teaching at the university are human behavior and the social Environment; diversity (Latinos, American Indians, minority elderly); social welfare policy; institutional oppression; administration; and social welfare planning. Her scholarship interests include qualitative research and diverse populations, specifically Latinos. She has authored several articles in the area of mentoring with diverse populations. She received her Ph.D. in Community and Human Resources from Teacher’s College at The University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1993; her M.S.W. from the School of Social Work at The University of Nebraska Omaha in 1986; and her B.S.W. from the School of Social Work at the University of Iowa in 1981.

In addition to serving on the Futuro Media board she serves on many others in Nebraska and Iowa, including, The Nebraska Families Collaborative, The Iowa West Foundation (Executive Committee-Secretary/Treasurer), Alegent Creighton Health Foundation, and the Douglas County Re-entry Council. Married to Don McKeagney, Theresa loves to watch college football and basketball and playing with two grandsons, Eli and Xavier.

Phillip Schreiber

Partner, Holland & Knight

Based in Chicago, Phillip is experienced in employment discrimination and wage and hour class and collective action litigation before federal and state administrative agencies and federal and state courts. He is also experienced in issues relating to drug and alcohol testing, the WARN Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act, military leave, wrongful discharge, employee handbooks, employment contracts, covenants not to compete, separation agreements, unemployment compensation benefits claims and various other employment related matters. He also has expertise in traditional labor matters, including union elections, contract arbitration and proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board.

During his legal career, Phil has litigated a variety of complex commercial litigation matters. He also has gained significant experience counseling clients on a wide range of issues involving contract disputes and fraud claims.

Phil has appeared as a panelist on Chicago Tonight, a local television news program. He also has made numerous presentations to the Chicago Chapter of SHRM on a wide variety of employment law issues.

Mariano Díaz

ENTREPRENEUR, FOOD INDUSTRY LEADER, NEW YORK, NY

Mariano Diaz is an independent entrepreneur and life-long leader in the food industry. For over ten years, Mariano served as the only Latino on the Board of Directors of the Food Industry Alliance. He was also the President of the National Supermarkets Association (NSA), which is the largest independently-owned supermarket association in the US, representing over 600 supermarkets in the tri-state area and throughout the eastern seaboard. Over the past forty years, Mariano has acquired and developed numerous supermarket, commercial and real estate properties in New York, New Jersey and Florida. He has also mentored his own employees, some of whom have opened supermarkets of their own.      In 1992, Mariano was featured in a New York Times article, “Thriving Where Others Won’t Go.” He was also recognized by the Boy Scouts of East Harlem,   the Catholic Institute of the Food Industry, and many other charitable and community-based organizations, for his mentoring and personal philanthropy.

 

Mariano graduated Cum Laude from Lehman College in 1978. He was later accepted to the Master’s program at George Washington University to study International Relations. He is fluent in five languages, and he had to use all of them, in raising his four children.

 

Jonathan García

Chief of Staff, Portland Public Schools

Jonathan serves as the Chief of Staff for Portland Public Schools (Oregon). In his role, he leverages the power of student, family and community voice with the generosity of business and philanthropy to strengthen PPS’s mission of providing a rich and dynamic learning experience for every student. He also serves as President of The Fund for Portland Public Schools, PPS’ nonprofit fundraising arm. He’s led similar initiatives in Los Angeles and San Francisco, creating strong movements in support of youth and public education.

A son of undocumented immigrants, Jonathan graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology & Philosophy and a Master of Arts in Management from Azusa Pacific University. He has earned multiple professional accolades, including being named to the 2018 Forbes’ “30 Under 30 in Education” list. Jonathan lends his thought leadership to the Board of Directors of two nationally-based nonprofits: Futuro Media Group and Arte Público Press. At the local level, Jonathan serves on the Board of Directors of the Portland Trail Blazers Foundation, is the Co-Chair for the 3 to PhD Collaborative at PPS’ Faubion K-8 School and serves on the Latino Partnership Program Statewide Advisory Council for the Oregon Community Foundation. He is a “big brother” to a PPS 6th grader through the Big Brother Big Sisters of the Columbia Northwest.

Maria Teresa Rojas

Management Consultant

Maria Teresa Rojas is a senior executive with extensive experience building institutions, developing programs, and implementing grantmaking strategies. She specializes in startup programs. Among them, founding and directing the Open Society Foundations’ International Migration Initiative, creating a funder collaborative in Central America and Mexico, and building a television network for the City of New York. She recently concluded her long career with the Open Society Foundations. She is working now as a management consultant and serving as associate director of the Herstory Writers Network, where she leads strategic planning and the carceral justice programs. She also serves on the Proteus Fund Board of Directors.

In her earlier career, Maria Teresa worked as a journalist, filmmaker, radio correspondent, and television producer. She currently serves on the board of Ayiti Demen|Haiti Tomorrow. Previously, she served on several boards, including Hispanics in Philanthropy, New York Women’s Foundation, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, and the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at the University of New South Wales. Maria Teresa was born in Bogota, Colombia. She has traveled extensively on all seven continents and considers New York City and New Jersey my home.

Brenda Camacho

Board Treasurer | Chief Financial and Operations Officer, Center for Disaster Philanthropy

Brenda Camacho is a seasoned executive with over two decades of experience and has been a stalwart leader in the non-profit sector.

With a diverse background spanning various facets of organizational management, including operations, finance, accounting, HR, and IT,

Brenda has left a mark on every institution she has been part of. Her inclusive leadership approach has helped steer organizations toward achieving their missions, amplifying their impact, and driving positive change.

As a DEI leader, she has contributed significantly to shaping organizational diversity and inclusion policies and strategies, advocating for equity in all facets of operations, and championing equitable hiring practices.

She has been awarded nonprofit CFO honors by the Washington Business Journal and DCA Live.

Brenda holds a Master’s of Accounting from the HW Huizenga Business School of Nova Southeastern University and lives in Leesburg, VA.

Bill Ong Hing

Professor of Law and Migration Studies

Bill Ong Hing is a Professor of Law and Migration Studies at the University of San Francisco, and Professor of Law and Asian American Studies Emeritus, at U.C. Davis. He founded the Immigrant Legal Resource Center in San Francisco 1979 and helps to direct the USF Immigration & Deportation Defense Clinic. Professor Hing teaches Immigration Law & Policy, Introduction to Migration Studies, and Rebellious Lawyering. Throughout his career, Professor Hing has pursued social justice by combining community work, litigation, and scholarship. His books include Humanizing Immigration: How to Transform Our Racist and Unjust System (2023), American Presidents, Deportations, and Human Rights Violations (2019), Immigration Law and Social Justice (2018); Ethical Borders—NAFTA, Globalization and Mexican Migration (2010); Deporting Our Souls—Values, Morality, and Immigration Policy (2006), Defining America Through Immigration Policy (2004), and Making and Remaking Asian America Through Immigration Policy (1993). He was co-counsel in the U.S. Supreme Court asylum precedent-setting case INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca (1987) and also represented the State Bar of California before the California Supreme Court in In re Sergio Garcia (2014) involving bar membership for undocumented law graduates.

Yolette García

Higher Education/Journalism

Yolette García joined SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development in 2008 as Assistant Dean for External Affairs and Outreach, where she developed strategies for communications and promotion. In 2020, she became Assistant Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, and Communication. She recently retired from her position. Yolette is a veteran public broadcasting journalist and previously served as manager for KERA television and radio, the North Texas public broadcasting stations. She was the co-recipient of a 1994 Emmy for KERA’s national documentary, After Goodbye, an AIDS Story and she served the public broadcasting organization in various capacities for 25 years. She was honored by the Press Club of Dallas in 2017 with the North Texas Legend Award for a distinguished career. She received her B.A. in Art History at Wellesley College in 1977 and graduated Summa Cum Laude from SMU with an M.A. in Art History in 1983.