The following bios were current as of the Sabbatical award date, but have not been updated.
Raúl Añorve founded the Instituto de Educacion Popular del Sur de California in 1991 to educate and organize low-income Latino immigrants concerned with solving problems in their own communities. IDEPSCA's projects include popular education, domestic worker rights, and the operation of four day laborer centers in Los Angeles and Pasadena. Under Mr. Anorve's leadership as Executive Director, IDEPSCA has evolved from an all-volunteer group to an organization with a strong staff and a volunteer force that contributes over 10,000 hours of work each year.
Tomas Benitez is the Executive Director of Self-Help Graphics, the leading visual arts center serving the Chicano community in Los Angeles. Founded in 1973 and located in the heart of East L.A., Self-Help Graphics operates a printmaking atelier, presents exhibitions, promotes work worldwide, provides artists the opportunity to develop professional experience, and serves as a community center. A working artist himself with a background in theater and writing, Mr. Benitez is a strong voice for Chicano arts in Los Angeles and beyond.
Maria Cabildo was raised by immigrant parents in the same community she now serves as the Executive Director of East Los Angeles Community Corporation. ELACC develops and preserves quality affordable single and multi-family housing, organizes residents, and provides homebuyer and financial literacy education in an area with a very low rate of home ownership. Ms. Cabildo returned to East L.A. after receiving degrees from Columbia University and UCLA's Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning.
Neal Dudovitz is the Executive Director of Neighborhood Legal Services, a position he assumed in 1993 after a distinguished career as an advocate for the poor. NLS provides legal assistance to low-income residents in the San Fernando, San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys in areas of health, housing, domestic violence, family, education, welfare, consumer and employment. One of the largest public interest law firms in California, NLS is known for its creative approach to advocacy, commitment to low-income communities, and partnerships with other community-based organizations.
Alva Moreno is the Executive Director of the East Los Angeles Women's Center, (formerly Avance Human Services), which developed the first Spanish language 24-hour crisis hotline for survivors of sexual assault in Southern California over 25 years ago. The Center has expanded its services for sexual assault survivors to include peer counseling, hospital accompaniment, support services to family and friends, advocacy, and self-defense workshops. Counseling services also encompass domestic violence and HIV/AIDS.
Bill Rauch co-founded Cornerstone Theater Company in 1986, and has served as Artistic Director since then. Cornerstone is a multi-ethnic theater company whose professional ensemble of actors produces new and adapted plays with community members in their own neighborhoods. Founded on the belief that everyone is an artist, Cornerstone brings communities together to explore their values, commonalities and divisions through theater. Mr. Rauch has a national reputation as a distinguished director, and was the sole artist recipient of the 2001 Ford Foundation Leadership for a Changing World award.
Sabbatical Program