Hi everyone!

HHPLIFT is proud to welcome and introduce our three newest Board Members: Luis Gutierrez, Kemper Powell, and Maija Renko. We are so lucky to have them with us and their leadership, expertise, and passion for doing good will serve HHPLIFT for years to come.

Luis Gutierrez is the Founder and CEO of Latinos Progresando. He founded the organization in 1998 to help Chicago’s Pilsen and Little Village communities, where he was born, raised, and continues to live. Since its inception, Latinos Progresando has grown from one to 16 employees, and has provided services in the legal immigration field to families from over 40 countries. Latinos Progresando is committed to hiring, training, and promoting from within the community–seven of its full-time staff are former agency clients and five are Marshall Square/Little Village residents–and has been integral in shaping and celebrating the Mexican identity in Chicago.

Luis has served as a steering committee member of the Chicago Racial Equity Rapid Response Team, Elevated Chicago, and Resilient Chicago; as a member of an AJC delegation of Latino leaders to Israel; as a member of the Public Safety & Accountability Committee for Mayor Lightfoot’s transition team; as the Chief Diversity Officer on the Board of Directors of the ACLU of Illinois; and as a Board Member of the Lincoln Park Zoo, Esperanza Health Centers, and AMPT.

Kemper Powell is the Senior Vice President and Senior Trust Advisor at Northern Trust. He has an extensive background and a wealth of experience in the financial industry: he joined Northern Trust in 1993 where his roles have included Custody Administrator, Officer, Second Vice President, Vice President, and Senior Vice President, among more. Accompanying his work with estate plans, legal questions, family situations, and property transfers, he has also completed National Trust School and is a candidate for a Certified Trust Financial Advisor designation.

Kemper lives on the south side of Chicago where he is a motivational speaker for elementary and high school students in the Chicago Public School system. Additionally, he sits on the Board of Directors of the Community Federal Credit Union and the UNCF Chicago Leadership Council.

Maija Renko is a professor, the Coleman Chair of Entrepreneurship, and the Director, MS of the Entrepreneurship Program at DePaul University (DePaul). Prior to stepping into her role at DePaul, she was a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she received several research and teaching awards, including Favorite MBA Professor. She centers her research around the early stages of business development, the factors that contribute to successful start-ups, and entrepreneurship’s role in generating social change.

Maija’s work has been published throughout management and entrepreneurship journals where she has won numerous Best Paper Awards, including a 2016 award for having the most relevant research in social entrepreneurship. Additionally, she’s received many grants to further her research: notably, a $2.4 million grant to study entrepreneurship as a pathway to employment for those with disabilities.

We are honored to welcome Luis Gutierrez, Kemper Powell, and Maija Renko to HHPLIFT where they join current Board Members Mike Arkes, Lauri Alpern, Helen Arkes, and John Eramo. We are so excited to work together to forge economic independence through workforce and business opportunities for people overcoming barriers to fair wage employment!

Until next time,

The HHPLIFT team

For more information, please contact info@HHPLIFT.com.