NAHCC Board of Directors 2013-15
Loraine Segovia-Paz
Loraine Segovia-Paz, CASA Segovia-Paz Foods
Board Chair
Loraine studied towards her bachelor degree in accounting at the University of Mayor de San Simón of Cochabamba in Bolivia and is owner and co-founder of La Noticia Newspaper. Her work has allowed her to get involved in a variety of Hispanic outreach and business projects including festivals, forums, training sessions, legislative conferences and community events. She is a member of the American Red Cross and has served on the Comprehensive Care Center Board of Directors. Loraine received the SBA Business Advocate Recognition in 2007 and the NAHCC Outstanding Leadership and Service Award in 2008. Loraine Segovia-Paz completed a Mini-MBA program at Belmont University in 2012. She recently launched Casa Segovia-Paz a gourmet food service/catering business venture, and serves in Metro Nashville Human Relations Commission as a Commissioner appointed by Nashville Mayor Karl Dean.
Board Chair
Loraine studied towards her bachelor degree in accounting at the University of Mayor de San Simón of Cochabamba in Bolivia and is owner and co-founder of La Noticia Newspaper. Her work has allowed her to get involved in a variety of Hispanic outreach and business projects including festivals, forums, training sessions, legislative conferences and community events. She is a member of the American Red Cross and has served on the Comprehensive Care Center Board of Directors. Loraine received the SBA Business Advocate Recognition in 2007 and the NAHCC Outstanding Leadership and Service Award in 2008. Loraine Segovia-Paz completed a Mini-MBA program at Belmont University in 2012. She recently launched Casa Segovia-Paz a gourmet food service/catering business venture, and serves in Metro Nashville Human Relations Commission as a Commissioner appointed by Nashville Mayor Karl Dean.
Mario Ramos
Mario Ramos, Attorney, Law Office of Mario Ramos
Vice-Chair
Member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Mario received the Juris Doctor degree from California Western School of Law, and his LL.M.from The London School of Economics and Political Science. He received a Scholarship and Diploma from Hague Academy of International Law and earned a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Mario is former Chairman of the Nashville Bar Immigration Committee and served as past chairman of the Hispanic Achievers Program of the YMCA of Middle Tennessee. He is a member of Leadership Nashville, Class of 1995-1996. Mario is AILA Advocacy Director for the Mid-South serving on the Grassroots Campaigns / Immigration Works Committee and on the US-Mexico Plus/Essential Workers Committee and the Hispanic Interest Committee. Mario Ramos is the recipient of the NAHCC 2008 Hispanic Entrepreneur Achievement Award. Mario was elected to the board of directors of the NAHCC in the 2011 election and has served one term as Chairman of the
Vice-Chair
Member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Mario received the Juris Doctor degree from California Western School of Law, and his LL.M.from The London School of Economics and Political Science. He received a Scholarship and Diploma from Hague Academy of International Law and earned a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Mario is former Chairman of the Nashville Bar Immigration Committee and served as past chairman of the Hispanic Achievers Program of the YMCA of Middle Tennessee. He is a member of Leadership Nashville, Class of 1995-1996. Mario is AILA Advocacy Director for the Mid-South serving on the Grassroots Campaigns / Immigration Works Committee and on the US-Mexico Plus/Essential Workers Committee and the Hispanic Interest Committee. Mario Ramos is the recipient of the NAHCC 2008 Hispanic Entrepreneur Achievement Award. Mario was elected to the board of directors of the NAHCC in the 2011 election and has served one term as Chairman of the
Shawnta Lang-Idoko
Shawnta Lang-Idoko
Treasurer/Secretary
Shawnta is a Retail management/Creative Development/Strategic Planning professional. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree, Organizational Management, Langston University, Oklahoma 1997 - 2001, a Master of Business Administration Degree, University of Phoenix Online 2005 - 2008 and a Doctorate of Management in Organizational Leadership, University of Phoenix May 2009.
Shawnta's past experience include serving in the management team of Walmart stores in Nashville, TN, Wichita KS and Gainsville, FL.
Treasurer/Secretary
Shawnta is a Retail management/Creative Development/Strategic Planning professional. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree, Organizational Management, Langston University, Oklahoma 1997 - 2001, a Master of Business Administration Degree, University of Phoenix Online 2005 - 2008 and a Doctorate of Management in Organizational Leadership, University of Phoenix May 2009.
Shawnta's past experience include serving in the management team of Walmart stores in Nashville, TN, Wichita KS and Gainsville, FL.
Jorge Mendoza
Jorge Mendoza, Quipus, Fine Art
Jorge was born in Bolivia (1954) and lives in USA since 1989 and currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee. Mendoza’s visual art work has been selected to be showcased in important art shows nationally, and
internationally in Mexico, South America and Europe, winning several awards. He holds a M.F.A. Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences, University of Arkansas; B.F.A University of San Andres, La Paz, Bolivia; Colonial Art Painting Restoration, Bolivian Culture Institute, La Paz, Bolivia; Círculo of Bellas Artes (Fine Arts Circle) Madrid, Spain; Taller de Grafica Popular, Mexico, DF.
In 2013, during the celebration of the Hispanic Heritage month he developed a partnership between the NAHCC and the Tennessee Art League to showcase the artworks of the Hispanic/Latino visual artists living in the Nashville area. This successful partnership activity was repeated in 2014. Jorge Mendoza is an active member of the Int’l Association of Paper Makers and Artists (IAPMA). He is associated artistically with the new Tennessee Art League performing as the Education Chair from the Board of Directors developing many visual arts workshops to offer to the community of this area.
Jorge was born in Bolivia (1954) and lives in USA since 1989 and currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee. Mendoza’s visual art work has been selected to be showcased in important art shows nationally, and
internationally in Mexico, South America and Europe, winning several awards. He holds a M.F.A. Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences, University of Arkansas; B.F.A University of San Andres, La Paz, Bolivia; Colonial Art Painting Restoration, Bolivian Culture Institute, La Paz, Bolivia; Círculo of Bellas Artes (Fine Arts Circle) Madrid, Spain; Taller de Grafica Popular, Mexico, DF.
In 2013, during the celebration of the Hispanic Heritage month he developed a partnership between the NAHCC and the Tennessee Art League to showcase the artworks of the Hispanic/Latino visual artists living in the Nashville area. This successful partnership activity was repeated in 2014. Jorge Mendoza is an active member of the Int’l Association of Paper Makers and Artists (IAPMA). He is associated artistically with the new Tennessee Art League performing as the Education Chair from the Board of Directors developing many visual arts workshops to offer to the community of this area.
Luis Parodi
Luis Parodi, Fifth Third Bank
Luis Parodi is the Community and Economic Development executive for Fifth Third Bank in Tennessee. As a member of the senior management team his role is to lead the Com-munity Reinvestment Act and Fair Lending strategies including responsibly empower un-derserved individuals, families and communities through the delivery of responsive and innovative financial solutions. Luis has a strong history of success in delivering key strate-gic initiatives around the world and multimillion results while building strong relation-ships. Luis led the Tennessee affiliate team to the #1 CRA Scorecard performance in 2014 among 16 affiliates. He received his undergraduate degree from Indiana University and his MBA in Finance from Butler University. He graduated from Leadership Middle Ten-nessee in 2014. Luis received many recognitions and awards including Distinguished Cit-izen of the City of Indianapolis by the Mayor of Indianapolis Bart Peterson in 2005, and Outstanding Professional Leadership Award from the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He sits on the board of the Urban League of Middle Tennessee, NAHCC, New Level Community Development Corporation, Mid-Cumberland Area Development Corporation, and Board Trustee of the Catholic Community Investment and Loan.
Luis Parodi is the Community and Economic Development executive for Fifth Third Bank in Tennessee. As a member of the senior management team his role is to lead the Com-munity Reinvestment Act and Fair Lending strategies including responsibly empower un-derserved individuals, families and communities through the delivery of responsive and innovative financial solutions. Luis has a strong history of success in delivering key strate-gic initiatives around the world and multimillion results while building strong relation-ships. Luis led the Tennessee affiliate team to the #1 CRA Scorecard performance in 2014 among 16 affiliates. He received his undergraduate degree from Indiana University and his MBA in Finance from Butler University. He graduated from Leadership Middle Ten-nessee in 2014. Luis received many recognitions and awards including Distinguished Cit-izen of the City of Indianapolis by the Mayor of Indianapolis Bart Peterson in 2005, and Outstanding Professional Leadership Award from the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He sits on the board of the Urban League of Middle Tennessee, NAHCC, New Level Community Development Corporation, Mid-Cumberland Area Development Corporation, and Board Trustee of the Catholic Community Investment and Loan.
Paul Van Cotthem
Paul Van Cotthem, Poleo Publishing
Paul Van Cotthem is of Belgian descent, born in Colombia and US citizen since 1995. He has a BA in Marketing Communication and has worked in advertising agencies and media in Latin America. He is fluent in English, Spanish and French. Upon his arrival to Tennessee he created BUENOS DIAS, the first publication in Spanish in Nashville. Later, he joined Vanderbilt University Library where he retired in 2005 and became an interpreter for the Tennessee Foreign Language institute. While doing interpretations, Paul saw the need to provide the refugees, asylees and new arrivals with a civic education tool to familiarized them with the rules and regulations on how this country functions in every day life, creating The Immigrant's Manual / El Manual del Inmigrante, a publication cataloged by the library of Congress.
Paul Van Cotthem is of Belgian descent, born in Colombia and US citizen since 1995. He has a BA in Marketing Communication and has worked in advertising agencies and media in Latin America. He is fluent in English, Spanish and French. Upon his arrival to Tennessee he created BUENOS DIAS, the first publication in Spanish in Nashville. Later, he joined Vanderbilt University Library where he retired in 2005 and became an interpreter for the Tennessee Foreign Language institute. While doing interpretations, Paul saw the need to provide the refugees, asylees and new arrivals with a civic education tool to familiarized them with the rules and regulations on how this country functions in every day life, creating The Immigrant's Manual / El Manual del Inmigrante, a publication cataloged by the library of Congress.
Roland Yarbrough
Roland Yarbrough, FedEx/Kinkos
Roland is experienced in marketing, sales and media. He is a market based Executive with FedEx Office focused on business development. Early in his career he was a daily newspaper reporter, then columnist, and later was named advertising director for a daily paper. His marketing and sales experience includes working with The Ritz Carlton Hotel Group, AFLAC, AT&T, BellSouth, and Callaway Gardens Resort. Roland was awarded the prestigious FedEx Purple Promise Award, the only FedEx
corporate-wide program publicly honoring outstanding performance.
Roland is a public education advocate and vice chairman of the Metro Nashville Public Schools’ Director’s Parent Advisory Council. He is the recent recipient of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce 2014 Spirit of the Chamber Award.
Roland is experienced in marketing, sales and media. He is a market based Executive with FedEx Office focused on business development. Early in his career he was a daily newspaper reporter, then columnist, and later was named advertising director for a daily paper. His marketing and sales experience includes working with The Ritz Carlton Hotel Group, AFLAC, AT&T, BellSouth, and Callaway Gardens Resort. Roland was awarded the prestigious FedEx Purple Promise Award, the only FedEx
corporate-wide program publicly honoring outstanding performance.
Roland is a public education advocate and vice chairman of the Metro Nashville Public Schools’ Director’s Parent Advisory Council. He is the recent recipient of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce 2014 Spirit of the Chamber Award.