Hope Leadership
Our Mission
HOPE® is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that has focused on empowering our communities through advocacy, Latina leadership training, and increasing knowledge on the contributions Latinas have made to advance the status of women for the past 30 years. To date, HOPE’s innovative programming has served 56,000 Latinas statewide and touched the lives of several thousand more.
Chair of the Board

Vanessa Cajina
KP Public Affairs
Vanessa Cajina is based in Sacramento and is a lobbyist with KP Public Affairs, with over 15 years of lobbying and advocacy experience in health and human services and the state budget. Vanessa has been with KP Public Affairs since 2012 and leads the firm’s health care practice. She also has extensive experience in public health, natural resources, including water, and planning and local government, and has carved out a specific niche representing clients with state budget needs.
Prior to joining KP, Vanessa worked with nonprofit advocacy organizations to protect and promote critical health and human services programs, including the Western Center on Law and Poverty, the California Immigrant Policy Center, and the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California.
Vanessa took on the office of HOPE Board Chair in January 2022, where she leads strategies to advance HOPE's mission of ensuring economic and political parity for Latinas.
Board Officers

Helen Iris Torres
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & CEO
(Non-Voting Member)

Elizabeth Atlee
HOPE BOARD 1st VICE CHAIR
CBRE | Legal

Laura Arciniega
HOPE BOARD 2nd VICE CHAIR
The Raben Group

Erica Cabrera
HOPE BOARD SECRETARY
PG&E

Anabel Giron
HOPE BOARD TREASURER
California Wellness Foundation
Board of Directors

Maribeth Annaguey
Ellis George Cipollone O'Brien Annaguey LLP

Sandra Magana Cuellar
Charter Communications

Nora Dominguez, Ed.D.
University of La Verne

Lennies Gutierrez
Comcast

Nicolina Hernandez
Sempra Energy

Evelin Martinez
Bank of America
FOUNDING MEMBERS
Maria Contreras-Sweet
Founding HOPE President
Former Administrator for the U.S. Small
Business Administration
Carmela Locayo
National Association for the Hispanic Elderly
Minnie Lopez-Baffo
SoCalGas (Retired)
Olga E. Moreno
Former Deputy Secretary
Health & Welfare Agency, State of CA
Maria Salinas
President
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
In loving memory of Gilda Bojorquez-Gjurich
CHAMPIONS OF HOPE (advisory board)
Luisa Acosta
360 Agency
Dolores L. Arredondo
City National Bank
Rosie Arroyo
California Community Foundation
Elmy Bermejo
SBA Region IX Administrator
Karime Sanchez Bradvica
Karime Bradvica Consulting
Olivia Campos-Bergeron
Anita Gabrielian
CG Benefits
Lupita C. Garza
White Memorial Medical Center
Mónica Gil
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises
Lorena Hernandez
Comcast
David Lizarraga
TELACU
Carrie Lopez
Consultant
Lidia S. Martinez
Southwest Airlines (Retired)
John Mendez
Mendez Strategy Group
Clara Potes-Fellow
Nonprofit Consultant
Brissa Sotelo-Vargas
Valero
Cecilia Soto-Loftus, MPH
Elaine Treviño
Almond Alliance of California
Lupita Sanchez-Cornejo
AT&T
Susan Sifuentes Trigueros
SoCalGas
Arturo Vargas
NALEO
Nora E. Vargas
San Diego County Supervisor
Peter R. Villegas
Actum