Latinx Heritage Month 2022: Somos
Latinx Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15th to October 15th. During this month, the City of Chicago honors the diverse Latinx culture and heritage by highlighting significant achievements and contributions made by the Latinx community.




Community Highlights
Carmen Velásquez

Carmen Velásquez is an impressive leader, a tireless campaigner, and a committed advocate of health care policy, Carmen Velásquez has changed community health care for the Latino, predominantly Mexican, working-poor, uninsured, and immigrant community. As a former community activist, social worker, bilingual education specialist and founder of a not-for-profit community health center, Alivio Medical Center, Ms. Velásquez has spent most of her life advocating for universal health care, comprehensive immigration reform, and for workforce development.
Ms. Velásquez was appointed to the Cook County Health and Hospitals System Board of Directors in 2012 and completed a four-year term. Velásquez was notably appointed to the Board of Advisors of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago and has received numerous awards for leadership, vision, passion, community organizing and overall outstanding service and dedication to the community. In 2016, Ms. Velásquez received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Mujeres Latinas en Accion.
Most recently, Ms. Velásquez founded the Healthy Illinois Campaign whose mission is to make quality, affordable health care accessible to all people in Illinois, including the undocumented community. In 2020, the Healthy Illinois Campaign made history when they passed legislation to establish healthcare coverage for low-income Illinois seniors ages 65+, regardless of immigration status.
Sarah Taylor

Sarah Taylor is a first- generation Panamanian American, Founder and Executive Director of Yo Soy Ella, Inc. In 2012, Sarah applied her wealth of public service and personal lived experiences to form the non-profit organization, Yo Soy Ella, which translates to "I Am Her/She." YSE is a multi-generational support system that provides marginalized groups, Domestic Violence victims, and women with Mental Health challenges with counseling services and self-enrichment programs. Because health is comprehensive and trauma is layered with complexities, YSE is co-led with a diverse experienced team of women, with deep compassion and urgency to assist women improve their quality of life.
Angel Novalez

Taina “Tai” Ramírez

Taina “Tai” Ramírez is a visual artist specializing in music, singing and dancing, Tai has been working with the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center for nearly 5 years. The longest-standing Latinx cultural center in Chicago, Segundo Belvis inspired Taina to learn more about her Latina identity. She’s currently a senior at Walter Payton College Prep and hopes to become a teacher one day.
Jaime Fidel Castillo

Originally from Ecuador, Jaime Fidel Castillo opened his Ecuadorian restaurant, La Peña, in Portage Park in 2001. In 2020, Fidel’s business was awarded a grant through the Small Business Improvement with the Chicago Department of Planning and Development. He is a proud father of three and married to Maria Castillo.
Samara Hernandez
Samara Hernandez is the Founding Partner of an institutionally-backed pre-seed stage fund, Chingona Ventures, focusing on investing in tech and tech-enabled companies across the U.S. Before this, she was an investor at MATH Venture Partners; led new investment review, diligence, and execution. Before VC, she worked at Goldman Sachs, continually ranked top 5 in selling financial products, providing market insights, advising on portfolio construction, and consulting business practices. Her career started in the Fixed Income, Currency, and Commodity (FICC) group and led multiple tech-enhancing projects across global exchanges. Actively involved in the Chicago tech community and passionate about helping underrepresented groups get STEM education, VC, and entrepreneurship. Co-founded Latinx Founders Collective to bring together Latinx founders, investors, and community leaders to entrepreneurs.




¿Cómo estamos, Chicago?
At the Mayor’s Office, serving and celebrating our Latinx communities is a commitment we take seriously every month- not just during Latinx Heritage Month. This includes being responsive to the language access for the over 661,000+ monolingual Spanish-speaking immigrants living in Chicago.
¿Cómo estamos, Chicago? is the 3-5 min Spanish language weekly segment hosted by Nubia Willman, Director of the Office of New Americans, and Cesar Rodriguez, Mayor’s Office Press Secretary.The purpose is to give the Spanish speaking community news they can use!
En este episodio de ¿Cómo Estamos, Chicago? compartimos como la cuidad esta ayudando a los imigrantes que recien llegaron a la cuidad y como Ud. los puede ayudar! pic.twitter.com/SzBQQw8qJc
— City of Chicago (@chicago) September 15, 2022
En este episodio de ¿Como Estamos, Chicago? hablamos con el jefe ejecutivo de las Escuelas Públicas de Chicago, Pedro Martínez. pic.twitter.com/IbOXqfC6iB
— City of Chicago (@chicago) September 6, 2022




Want to learn more about why the Mayor's Office uses the term "Latinx"? Watch the video above.