Carmen Sonia Martinez
Executive Director / Directora Ejecutiva
Watch the episode of Behind the Woman with Sonia Martinez!
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Carmen Sonia Martinez was born in the Dominican Republic and came to the United States in 1972, settling in South Bronx of New York City. She later moved to Herkimer County, attended Herkimer County Community College, and graduated with an A.A.S degree in Travel & Tourism. Her 27 year career was in healthcare, working at Excellus BCBS until 2013, worked for the Utica City Schools District, as a Spanish Academic Coach until March 2019, and recently accepted the appointment of Executive Director for the Mohawk Valley Latino Association. This has been a goal of Ms. Martinez, since she has been in this role for the past 15 years as a volunteer Chairman/Executive Director.
To address the issues of the lack of educational and cultural support services for area Latino residents, she cofounded the Mohawk Valley Latino Association (MVLA) along with three other Latino colleagues. MVLA unites the Latino community and provides coordinated assistance in navigating education, housing, immigration, healthcare, social services, translation/interpretation, judicial and/or employment issues. Sonia is a member of many community boards, such as; Boys Scouts of America Revolutionary Trails Council Advisor Board, MVCC CSTEP Advisory Board, Mohawk Valley Non-Profit Leaders, NAACP Oneida County Utica Branch, Upstate Family Health Center, SCORE Utica, Upstate Family Healthcare, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica Public Library, YWCA MV, Herkimer College Foundation Board, On Point for College, Advisory Board and the Upstate Latino Alliance. She was named a member of the Utica’s Mayoral Transition Team of the City of Utica by Mayor Robert Palmieri, is a Oneida County History Center Living Legend 2017 award and received a proclamation from NYS Comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli and NYS Assemblyman, Marco Crespo, Chair, Puerto Rican Hispanic Task Force. In the fall of 2017, Ms. Martinez received the Oneida County History Center Living Legends Award. She has also been recognized by the Maranatha Church in Rome as a Latina leader for the 2018 Hispanic Heritage Month, in October 2018, the Genesis Group “Joseph R. Carucci” Legacy award for her dedication to her community, and recently received a NYS Senate Commendation award by Senator Joseph A. Griffo on February 6, 2019. |
Chemy Rodriguez
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Zaida Morell
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Chemirelly Rodríguez, “Chemy” was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Chemy went to Trinity College for an Associate's degree in Accounting. After, she moved to Utica, NY where she started working in retail then changed to pursue a career in banking.
hemy has been in banking for 10 years. She started as a teller and now she is currently working in Adirondack Bank in Ilion, NY. During those 10 years in banking, Chemy has learned many skills as well as customer service. She has a 5 year old son and a 2 year old daughter. On her days off, she likes to spend time with her family and go shopping. |
Zaida Morell was born in Puerto Rico. In 1992, she settled in the Albany area where she attended SUNY and graduated with a Master's degree in Counseling. She built a career by counseling individuals with substance abuse and mental health issues by helping them get reintegrated in the community. She worked as a Psychiatric Rehabilitation Specialist at Northeast Career Planning in Albany. Then she relocated to the Syracuse area where she worked as a Rehabilitation and Vocational counselor at Arise, Child and Family Services helping ex offenders get reintegrated into the workforce.
In 2001, Zaida moved to the New Hartford area with her husband Dr. Martin Morell and their two children, Alexander and Isabel. She became the STEP (Science and Technology entry program) coordinator at Mohawk Valley Community College. During her time at MVCC, she was also an Adjunct Professor in the Psychology department. Zaida has been an active member of the community where she serves in various Board organizations as well as various fundraising committees and mentoring programs. She currently serves in the Arc Board of Directors as the Secretary of the Board. She is also a mentor for Young Scholars and is involved in a new effort to bring high school students from various Mohawk Valley districts to be more involved in the arts- “Arms wide Open”. She is also part of MVCC's Fresh Start program dedicated to removing barriers to employment through the power of education, countering recidivism and preparing individuals for the workforce with stackable credentials and certifications. Zaida is extremely passionate about breaking barriers for individuals of different ethnicity and levels of abilities to achieve inclusion in all areas of their lives whether is education, employment, residential. She is committed to serve others with the goal of not only enriching their lives but that of the community! She is the owner of a Health and wellness franchise with Arbonne International for the past four years and is working towards creating leadership opportunities for young Latina students in the community. Zaida was also Ms. Puerto Rico Turismo 1989 and traveled to represent Puerto Rico in various global events. She enjoys traveling, reading, spending time in nature, exercising, spending time with family, focusing on personal growth, singing and serving her community. |
Jorge V. Maldonado
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Gilroy Alvarez
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Jorge V. Maldonado was born in 1972 and is native from Villalba, Puerto Rico. He is the oldest of 7 siblings. Married with 4 children, he and his family moved to Utica in June 2000. Jorge went to the University of Puerto Rico and completed two years in Business Administration and he also studied to become an Auto Technician. Jorge has an extensive experience in the automobile industry and business.
Jorge is the General Manger for Advance Auto Parts, where he has been working for 14 years. With his knowledge and empathy for others, Jorge has been helping people, especially those in the Spanish-speaking community. Jorge is a member of the MVLA board as a Treasurer and as a Latino. He is deeply committed to helping others. |
Born and raised in Guatemala, Gilroy Alvarez landed in the Bronx, NY 10 years ago. He then went off to Morrisville State College where he graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration. Upon graduation, Gilroy started working for M&T Bank where he is a Branch Manager for their Downtown Utica Branch.
Gilroy is also a NYS licensed Real Estate Agent and has his own YouTube channel where he teaches finances. |
Steicy Perez
Board Secretary / Secretaria de la Junta
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Steicy Perez was born in the Dominican Republic and was raised in New York City. She is a daughter, sister, aunt, wife and mother to twin girls. They are the number one reason to become the best version of herself. Steicy is passionate about helping others, especially those in the community that are non-English speakers. Steicy is also a health insurance agent. She loves cooking new dishes in her spare time and spend quality time with her family. One of her favorite hobbies is traveling. She considers herself an inspiration to many young adults because she came to the United States without speaking any English and had to adapt to a new culture. At an early age, she was the first person in her family to obtain a bachelor's degree in community and behavioral health.
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Kiriantai Cotto
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Deborah Wilson-Allam
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Kiriantai Cotto was born in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico on April 13 1985. She's the oldest of 5 siblings. Kiri is married and is the mother of two wonderful kids.
Kiri attended the University of Puerto Rico and completed four years in Education to become a K-3 Teacher. She is also a certified Restaurant Management and Business Management. Currently, Kiri works at Don's Ford. She has more than 22 years of experience in Customer Services. Kiri loves helping others and giving back to the community. She is delighted to have the opportunity of being part of MVLA. |
Deborah Wilson-Allam is the Executive Director of International Education at Utica College where she has built on her own experience as an international student and teacher overseas to develop programs supporting incoming international students and scholars as well as outgoing study abroad students. She also coordinates faculty-led short-term programs for Utica College and is active in the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Collaborative.
Deborah holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Bucknell University and a Masters in Teaching English as a Foreign Language from the American University in Cairo, Egypt. She has one grown daughter and lives in New Hartford with her husband and three cats. |
Luis David Martinez
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Sonia Marte
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Luis David Martinez was born and raised in the Bronx, NY. He and his family moved up to Utica, NY in 2006 where he attended Thomas R. Proctor High School and after graduating in 2010, he decided to continue his studies at the Mohawk Valley Community College.
In 2011, he transferred to SUNY Buffalo State College to pursue a career in Social Work. During his time there he worked for the Boys and Girls club of America and when he returned in 2013, he became more involved in Health Insurance. Luis is now a Licensed Medicare representative for WellCare by Fidelis Care on Elizabeth Street here in Utica, NY. Luis and his wife love to spend their time cooking or traveling whenever they can. |
Sonia Marte was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic in 1994. Came to the United States with her family in 2009. Settled in the area of Utica, NY where she attended Thomas Proctor High School, graduation class of 2011.
In 2011, Sonia moved to White Plains, New York, where she started her first job at Target White Plains as a cashier. Shortly after, received her first promotion to be a human resources and payroll team member and then promoted to be a supervisor. After many years of career with Target she wanted to give college a try, Norwalk community college in Norwalk, Connecticut. She came close to graduating but did not due to her battle with health issues. In 2018, she began to work with Bill Schmauch State Farm Agency as a bilingual licensed office manager. In her role she discovered her passion, of helping the diverse community and can happily say, after relocating back to Utica, NY in 2022, being part of the community has brought her lots of joy and happiness. She is a mother of three beautiful kids and enjoys traveling, camping, and spending time with her kids. She will continue to pray to god to please continue blessing her this way. |
Mona Lisa Fermin-Fennell
Member-At-Large / Miembro General
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Mona Lisa Fermin-Fennell was born and raised in the New York City community of Washington Heights.
It was in that community that her passion for public service was born. Under the guidance of community trailblazers, Dave Crenshaw & Al Kurland, she served as a youth leader with the 280 Dreamers & Police Athletic League at just 13 years old. In her role, Mona advocated & organized Title IX events, promoting girls in sports and led fundraising efforts for community service projects empowering female youths. At the recommendation of Founder & mentor Andrew Rubinson, Mona later served as a teen board member for the Fresh Youth Initiative program. In her role she represented the youths by engaging in discussions revolving around food insecurities, homelessness, and literacy programs. Eager to continue to make a difference, she arrived in Utica, NY to Major in Sociology, with an emphasis on social change and causes. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from the SUNY Institute of Technology. She returned to New York City to advocate on behalf of families with disabled loved ones who require support. While working with LifeSpire she quickly rose to the role of Facility Director in 5 years. Always missing Utica and the connections she developed during her college years, Mona moved back in 2010, where she later married her husband, Larry Fennell. Mona has delved into community advocacy since her return, most recently serving with:
Mona is most passionate about assisting and empowering vulnerable individuals and their families. In addition to her community work and full-time role as a Quality Management Specialist with ICAN, Mona is a loving mother of humans and fur-babies. |