Yai Vargas, National Marketing Manager, Latino Market, New York Life Insurance Co.
Yai Vargas is the National Latino Marketing Manager for New York Life. Charged with implementing strategic marketing and recruiting initiatives, Yai currently travels to 40 cities around the US where she drives local community initiatives promoting financial literacy and planning for the Latino community. Yai has corporate and agency experience in the diversity, public relations and multi-cultural communications industries.
Prior to joining New York Life, Yai was Diversity Manager at the United States Tennis Association, the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the United States. She managed organizational relationships, outreach within minority communities including LGBT, African American, Asian, and the disabled while developing a robust Hispanic strategy in efforts to grow the game and promote inclusion.
Yai also spent time as Senior Account Executive at Arcos Communications, an integrated multi-cultural public relations agency; Yai managed client initiatives by educating Spanish-speaking communities nationwide on programs for clients such as Pfizer and Prudential Financial. Her career began working within corporate communications and public relations at Mercedes-Benz USA where she focused on philanthropy, media reporting, journalist relations, product launches and event planning.
Yai holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Advertising and Marketing Communications from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.
Joseph DeLaGarza, Senior Business Counselor, Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Joseph DeLaGarza is the Senior Business Counselor for the MBDA Business Center - Chicago (Chicago MBC), operated by the Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council in partnership with the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. In this role, he assists Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) in obtaining certification as an MBE, connecting to Fortune 500 companies in order to sell their goods and services, exporting to other countries and identifying financing opportunities to expand their business or refinance existing debt.
Mr. DeLaGarza has had a passion for working with and assisting entrepreneurs grow or start their companies since 2001. Joseph’s extensive experience across various segments has equipped him with the unique ability to comprehend and assist in a wide variety of business challenges in order to derive solutions. Joseph DeLaGarza is the former Vice President of Client Relations at Quantum Capital Investments (QCI), where he assisted individuals and companies in selecting the best investments for their short and long-term financial goals. Prior to joining QCI, he worked as the Director of the Small Business Development Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) where he provided one-on-one business consulting, loan packaging, business plan preparation and seminar training to entrepreneurs. He also served as an advisor/senior consultant for the Entrepreneurial Student Teams Program in which UIC student consulting teams assisted entrepreneurs in solving real business issues.
Joseph DeLaGarza received his Bachelor of Science in Finance at DePaul University and completed his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in International Business and Entrepreneurship at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has been an active member of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs and was a two-time scholarship award recipient in 2004 and 2005. In May 2005, Mr. DeLaGarza graduated from a one-year leadership program, Metropolitan Leadership Institute, which provides training to emerging leaders that are Hispanic Professionals and have an interest in public leadership. In 2002 and 2003, he served as President of DePaul’s Hispanic Alumni Association (HAA), an organization that provides alumni with leadership, professional and career development opportunities.
Joseph has been an active participant in the business community through his leadership within planning committees and speaking engagements. He has also volunteered on numerous occasions to speak at events motivating the Latino youth to pursue higher education. Additionally, Mr. DeLaGarza has also volunteered for organizations and programs such as Tax Assistance, Junior Achievement, and the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute.
Karla Mina, Broker Consultant, Coldwell Banker, TV & Radio Host
A real estate professional since 2005, Karla always looks out for the best interest of her clients. She has attained a strong track record in her business because she focuses on building long-term relationships with everyone she works with. For Karla, she feels the only way to have a successful real estate transaction is to look at the clients’ big picture. She takes everything into consideration. From location, to surrounding schools to finances, she’s always thinking about the long term implications of each of her client’s real estate investments.
Education
After graduating with a degree in broadcast journalism and a minor marketing from Purdue University, Karla started her career at the assignment desk for Telemundo, Channel 44. She researched story ideas and gave assignments to reporters, but soon after decided to pursue marketing full time. She worked at Leo Burnett on high-level clients like Kelloggs, focusing on 17 Million dollar marketing budgets. She built marketing strategies and gained a great deal of insight into the world of marketing, experience still very valuable today. Her first experience with real estate came when she purchased a two flat building to rent out as a landlord/investor. It wasn’t long before she realized real estate was a perfect fit.
Personal Background
A Chicago resident since 1988, Karla has extensive neighborhood knowledge. Although she works all over Chicago, she focuses her business on Garfield Ridge, Bridgeport, Canaryville, Old Irving, Avondale, Portage Park, Lincoln Square, Ravenswood, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Bucktown, West Humboldt Park, Wicker Park, Rogers Park, Andersonville and even surrounding suburbs like Parkridge, Naperville, & Elmhurst. When not focused on her business, Karla enjoys volunteering. She is active on WTTW Channel 11 Community Advisory Board supporting learning programs for children, and she is a board member in the Chicago Association of Realtors Young Professionals Network and is a National Association of Hispanic Realtors representative.
In her personal time, Karla enjoys traveling and has been to many countries all over the world. Originally from Honduras, her passion for travel began when she studied Journalism in Madrid, Spain. Today, she and her family live in Chicago’s Old Irving neighborhood, but go out exploring the world whenever possible!
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