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San Jose Mexican
Heritage Plaza Gets New Leader
Marcela Davison Avilés named Executive Director after international
search
Release by Newstream
October 2004 (Newstream) -- The Board of Directors of the Mexican
Heritage Corporation today announced that it has hired Marcela Consuelo
Davison Avilés to serve as Executive Director of the Mexican Heritage
Plaza, completing a comprehensive international executive search. She
succeeds Interim Director Laura Esparza.
"Marcela will bring her passion and business experience in arts and
entertainment as well as in economic development and philanthropy to our
organization as an agent of change," said Dan Perez, Chairman of the
Board, Mexican Heritage Corporation. "We believe her dynamic leadership
will inspire our audience and visitors in San Jose, in the greater Bay
Area, nationally and internationally, with a programmatic vision and
mission that builds a sense of community, celebrates our Latino culture
and further informs our transnational heritage."
Marcela Davison Avilés, J.D., is a senior business and philanthropy
executive, entrepreneur, and attorney. Previously, she served as
Executive Director of the Latino Community Foundation ("LCF") and as CEO
of Blackboard Entertainment, a children's media company. She is a member
of the state bar of New York and California and serves on the Boards of
the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Women's Initiative for Self
Employment, the Coalition for Quality Children's Media and the
California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She is also a member of the
national advisory board for Lee y serás, the Hispanic children's
literacy initiative formed by Scholastic Publishing. Ms. Avilés earned a
Juris Doctor Degree from Stanford Law School and a Bachelor's of Arts in
Fine Arts, cum laude, from Harvard University. "To expand our curatorial
vision and develop programs and services that are economically
sustainable requires a senior executive with the kind of strong
leadership skills, business experience and passion for delivering
results that Marcela displays," said Dan Fenton, Treasurer of the MHC
Board and President and CEO of the San Jose Convention and Visitor's
Bureau. "She has been a driving force in Latino philanthropy and as a
creator of culturally relevant programming."
The Plaza's new Executive Director will lend over 15 years of
experience in the social and private sectors to the $35 million
state-of-the art facility. Over the course of her career, she has built
Emmy® and Academy Award® nominated creative teams and developed results
oriented, innovative programs in economic development.
As Executive Director of LCF and founder of (at the time) one of a
handful of Latino and African American-owned and managed content
studios, Ms. Davison Aviles has established a leading reputation in
creating culturally diverse and relevant social programs and media
content for underserved and low income communities. She is intimately
familiar with both the business and legal aspects of the film, broadcast
and consumer product sector, as well as with venture capital, private
equity and public sector financing.
In her capacity as Executive Director of LCF, she led the
organization's recent re-structuring and positioned the foundation to
achieve financial stability and secured valuable "high impact" strategic
relationships with non-profit and corporate leaders in the areas of
education and economic development, including Scholastic, the country's
largest educational publisher, Union Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, PG&E, the
US Minority Business Development Agency and The Milken Institute.
The mission of the Mexican Heritage Plaza of San Jose is to affirm,
celebrate and preserve the rich cultural heritage of the Mexican
community and showcase multicultural arts within the region and
nationally. MHC was founded by a group of San José's Mexican-American
community leaders led by then-Vice Mayor Blanca Alvarado (now a Santa
Clara County Supervisor) and Fernando Zazueta, a prominent local
attorney. Their original goal was to develop the city's first Mexican
cultural garden. That vision grew into a 55,000 square-foot cultural
center that serves as a vibrant resource for cultural programming and
education. Built in association with the San Jose Redevelopment Agency,
it is one of the largest Latino cultural centers in the nation.
To learn more about the Mexican Heritage Plaza, visit
www.mhcviva.org
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