EMPOWERING LATINAS IN THE IE

Maria Diaz has over 20 years of experience working in various roles from sole HR practitioner to leading an HR team up to Regional level support. She is a Certified Senior Human Resources Professional, PHRCA and SHRM-SCP. Maria worked in industries such as Healthcare, Distribution, Manufacturing and Retail. She is a Self proclaimed HR Nerd that enjoys the people side of doing HR services. Holds a BS in Business Management from the University of Phoenix. Advanced Certified Practitioner through Assessments 24x7 with Dr. Tony Alessandra (Core Assessments: DISC, EIQ-2, Learning Styles, Motivators and Critical Thinking). Bilingual (English/Spanish). In November 2019, she founded Level Up Human Resources LLC to provide employment and life skills for positive leadership development. More than ever and for the future of workplaces cultures people need to strengthen their skills in accountability, effective communication, self-respect and personal development.

Maria loves networking and community involvement in various professional groups. Been involved from the beginning of her HR career with Professionals in Human Resources Association (PIHRA) and currently acting as the Vice-Chair Board Member for PIHRA-Riverside. Also, the Vice-Chair Board Member for the Greater Riverside Employers Advisory Council (GREAC). Hold membership for Trusted Business Partners as Assistant VP for Canyon Lake and proud member of the NLBWA-IE.

In January 2020, joined the EIQ-2 Learning Centers as an Associate Director of EIQ-2 Community Services to collaborate in building education for Emotional Intelligence. This collaboration led to a partnership side project with Life Transformation Coach and created an online course on Race Relations.

Received in 2020 the Women/Minority Business Enterprise (WMBE) Certification.

Maria is also a Wife and a Mom of three kids and three pets. She enjoys reading personal development books, watching movies with the fam and going on long walks. 

Laura Palafox is the President and CEO of Market Design, along with her son Dan Guzman Lara. They created a Consulting Firm with more than 25 years of combined experience, offering state of the Art Marketing services for new lifestyles that come as a result of the modern challenges in the marketplace. Their mission is to make a better world for all by increasing people's happiness and prosperity.
At Market Design, Laura provides her expertise to organizations or individuals, helping them to reach their business goals by providing customer insights and sharing market updates. Laura and her son craft personalized strategies, allowing the business owner to focus on product development and overall operations.

 Their services include:
•  Study the companies profile and operations to understand its marketing needs
•  Conduct marketing research to identify industry trends and commercial opportunities
•  Develop and implement a marketing strategy according to objectives and budget
•  Prepare detailed proposals and marketing plans
•  Advise on branding, positioning, communications and other marketing issues
• Help monitor results and tweak campaigns as they go to ensure that companies get the best results from their marketing efforts.

Laura was born in Mexico and lived in the states of Puebla and Querétaro. She moved to California with her two sons, Max and Dan, more than sixteen years ago. In 2006 her daughter was born, and with her a new life began again, in new lands. 

In her spare time,  she volunteers to teach computer science to adults, gives tutoring in Spanish and teaches piano. Mother, professional and volunteer, finishing a difficult year full of challenges with a positive attitude towards the future: "2021 begins with a promising future to reach every goal, to make a better world for all!"

Crystal Lopez is the President and CEO of Carter Bradley Insurance Solutions, an agency offering wide-ranging, comprehensive insurance coverages specifically tailored to the unique, personal and business needs of her diverse client base. The company is the namesake of her now seven-year-old son. Crystal’s emphasis is on providing solutions to protect families financially, especially their children, during the most trying and often unexpected situations. She balances her commitment to her family and profession by also fulfilling her passion to help others, diligently serving the community through various causes and organizations.

At the age of 17, Crystal lost her father to a drunk driver. The mental, emotional and financial avalanche of this event was devastating. However, while still mourning but grasping the urgency at hand, Crystal was determined not to allow this tragedy to define her life. With her family having no financial resources, she left high school to help support her mother and siblings. While Crystal sustained two jobs and found her way into the insurance industry, under the tutelage of a gentleman and his wife helping the community with life insurance. Ultimately, rather than define her life, the loss of her father provided the impetus to leverage her empathy to help families avoid a similar fate. Giving birth to Carter along the way only intensified her passion to educate, serve and protect families. Crystal’s passion for her profession is only exceeded by her passion to be an exceptional mother for Carter.

Carter Bradley Insurance Solutions, allows for competing firms to offer her clients solutions to meet their industry-specific and business-specific needs. Such an arrangements ensures all recognized business coverages are available in a timely manner, with expectations for the best quality and prices.

Crystal’s community involvement provides good symmetry with her professional objective of helping others. She has served as Ambassador for the Corona Chamber of Commerce since 2018. Moreover, she was recognized by the Chamber as the “Rising Star of 2019” and is currently serving on its Board of Directors. She is also an Ambassador with the National Latina Business Women Association, a member of the Eastvale Chamber of Commerce and NAWBO. Crystal enjoys volunteering at the Corona Public Library where she reads books to small children during story time. 

Lala Castro is an entrepreneur and digital marketing consultant with a wide array of expertise in Online Marketing. Lala is also the co-founder of #LatinaGeeks, with a mission is to empower and inspire Latinas by sharing technical knowledge, business skills, and entrepreneurship resources through hands-on workshops and community events.

In 2017, #LatinaGeeks designed the “Latinas Learn to Code” program to help bridge the gender gap in the tech programming industry by providing an introduction to the foundations of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — the three building blocks of the web. The workshops have expanded to additional technical skills workshops like cloud computing, digital marketing, data analytics and more. In the last two years they have successfully built strong partnerships with tech companies like Microsoft, Intuit, Eset and others to encourage technology adoption within the community and increase the number of Latinas in technology-related careers.

In 2016, Lala launched a consulting company that leverages online media and marketing for mid-size companies, along with Digital Marketing hands-on workshops and programs for small business owners, executives, and local Universities. Her passion and curiosity for technology not only has provided her with a successful career that she loves, but it has also created a path for other Latinas to grow, learn and embrace their own inner geek.

With 15+ years of experience in digital marketing, Lala has led and created digital strategies for brands like Knott’s Berry Farm, Johnny Rockets, Patina Restaurant Group, El Gallo Giro, Northgate Markets, Toshiba USA/Latin America and more.

Lala has been featured in Latina Magazine, LatinaStyle Inc Magazine, and has appeared in tech news segments on Univision 34. Lala was also recognized by Digital LA – Silicon Beach Fest: Top 50 Digital Women list in community leaders who have made outstanding contributions to LA’s startup tech ecosystem and community.

When Lala is not working, she enjoys her time with her family, husband and three golden retrievers.