Reverend Victor Aloyo
• Pastor of United Presbyterian Church of Plainfield and Nuevas Fronteras
• Director of Multicultural Relations, Princeton Theological Seminary
• Was organizing pastor of La Promesa Presbyterian Mission, an outreach effort of the Redeemer Church in Flushing, New York and interim pastor at the Home Presbyterian Church in the Bronx
• Was director of vocations at Princeton Seminary, and for fifteen years he was program director of the Hispanic/Latino(a) Leadership Program under the auspices of the Center of Continuing Education.
• Member of the board of trustees at New York Theological Seminary
Edward Beglin
• Lawyer and New Jersey Superior Court Judge (retired)
• Adjunct professor at Seton Hall and Kean University
• Graduate of Wesleyan University, Middletown CT and NYU School of Law, NYC
• Born and educated in Elizabeth, NJ and now lives in Westfield, NJ
Esther Chavez
• Immigrated from El Salvador where she was a teacher and worked with Archbishop Oscar Romero
• El Centro Executive Director, 1988-1994
• Worked as community organizer with the American Friends Service Committee, 1999-2007
• Lives in Asheville, NC
Jeffery LaCross
• President of Saint Vincent DePaul at Saint Joseph’s RC Church in North Plainfield
• Community activist and organizer
• Resides in North Plainfield.
Denis Johnston
• Director at Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ in NYC
• Worked as Director of Immigrant Rights Program, American Friends Service Committee
• Co-founder of PeaceWorks, supporting peace and social justice in Central America
• Member, El Centro Board of Directors 1989 to mid 1990’s
John Ripton
• Chairperson, History Department, Gill St. Bernards School, Gladstone, NJ
• PhD in History, dissertation “Salvadoran Peasants and the Global Market”
• Adjunct instructor at Rutgers University
• One of the founders of El Centro Hispanoamericano
• Lives in Lebanon, NJ
J. Brooks Smith
• Pastor, Watchung Presbyterian Church for 29 years (retired)
• Interim Pastor, Bound Brook Presbyterian Church (retired)
• One of the founders of El Centro and served on the Finance Committee
• Helped create Central New Jersey/Masaya, Nicaragua Friendship Cities Program
• Serves on the national advisory committee for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
• Lives in North Plainfield, NJ
Rosa Soy
• Immigration attorney with office in Montclair, NJ
• Served on Board of El Centro Hispanoamericano
• Served as El Centro’s supervising attorney
• Leader in arguing the case in American Baptist Churches v. Thornburgh, which won fairer treatment for Guatemalan and Salvadoran immigrants
Diane Stanley
• Bilingual in Spanish and English
• Served on El Centro Board of Trustees 2009-10
• Works as a social worker in her own private practice
• Bachelors degree from New York University, Mastersin Social Work from Rutgers
• Lives in Cranford, NJ
• Loves to travel, swim and bike