Latino Community Fund of Washington State

Chairman of the Board- Peter Bloch Garcia

Peter Bloch Garcia is a Program Officer for the Marguerite Casey Foundation and manages grant making work in the Southwest region of the United States. Prior to joining the Foundation, Peter served as Associate Program Officer in the research and evaluation department of the education division of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Before entering the philanthropic field, he worked as a secondary-level classroom teacher. He is also involved locally with the People of Color in Philanthropy network and the Social Justice Fund Northwest. Peter holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington.

Vice President- Carmen Esparza

Carmen Carrero de Esparza brings her expertise in the areas of marketing and advertising and enthusiasm to give back to the community to the Latino Community Fund. She was the Strategic Planning Director for McCann Erickson and senior marketing officer of ITU/Telecom, the United Nations body responsible for Telecommunications. Carmen has also worked with J. Walter Thompson and Quaker Oats. She is a Psychologist with graduate studies in Social Psychology and Business Administration completed in her native Venezuela and Duke University, North Carolina.

Treasure- Carmen Enriquez Forsman

Carmen Enriquez Forsman's passion and success has been in economic development and international business. Her background includes international business development work for The Boeing Company and AT&T Wireless in Latin America and the Caribbean. While pursuing her MBA at Columbia Business School, Carmen consulting with many Hispanic owned businesses in Manhattan and help to establish a micro lending product administered through a large S&L. As well, she has contributed her business expertise to other international organizations such as the US Peace Corps, the Clinton Foundation, the ICT Task force of the United Nations and the Grameen Foundation. Born in Mexico, Carmen holds a Master of Business Administrative with an emphasis in Finance from Columbia Business School in New York City.

Board Member- Alyson Lara

Board Member- Cristobal Guillen

Board Member- Joaquin Hernandez

Joaquin, fluent in Spanish, is an attorney at the Seattle office of Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt and handles complex contractual issues in the real estate and telecommunications industry. He also sits on the national board of the Hispanic National Bar Association. Joaquin is avidly involved in education initiatives affecting the Latino community. Having had to learn the hard way about access to college, he hopes that all Latinos are made aware about access to college and the importance such education plays their personal lives and in the community as a whole.

Board Member- Joseph Garcia

Board Member- Junior Torres

Junior Torres has years of experience in the legal profession, legal publishing industry, and real estate market. He attended Cornell University and received his Juris Doctor (law degree) from Syracuse University College of Law. At Syracuse, Junior focused on property and tax law. In addition, he studied book and magazine publishing at New York University. A native of the Dominican Republic, Junior moved to New York City at the age of 12, and then to Seattle in 2001. Junior considers Seattle his adopted hometown and is involved with many nonprofits organizations including Alianza Dominicana, Hispanic Federation, Esperanza Foundation, and the American Red Cross.