Our Board

Maria Guadalupe Martinez

Founder and Executive Director

Maria Guadalupe Martinez, known to her friends and colleagues as Lupita, was born and raised in Mexico City. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Tourism Management from the “Instituto Politécnico Nacional” (Mexican National Polytechnic Institute). After graduation, Lupita was involved in a range of educational settings in Mexico from high school teacher to college professor where she taught Hotel Management for 3 years. For the past 17 years, she has dedicated herself to bettering communities through education in New York City. In 2013 she founded CREA to fulfill her vision of increasing access to education for adult learners from the Latin American and Mexican communities of East Harlem.

Stephan Russo

President 

Has extensive experience in the management and delivery of human services in New York City. He stepped down as the Executive Director of Goddard Riverside Community Center, a highly regarded New York City settlement house, in February 2017 after a career spanning more than four decades. Prior to accepting his first job at Goddard Riverside, he completed a two-year Peace Corps assignment in Colombia, South America and is fluent in Spanish. Russo holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Brown University and an MS in Social Work from Columbia University. He has participated in numerous panels and discussions on the value of multi-service community-based organizations, the benefits of supportive housing, and the impact of non-profit mergers. He is a fierce advocate for building strong communities to combat poverty and address issues of inequity, and has a keen interest in mentoring the next generation of non-profit leaders.

Paulina Concha Larrauri

Is is originally from Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico  and she is passionate about water, education, science, the environment, and dancing.

Paulina moved to the United States in 2011 and joined CREA in 2015 as a volunteer science teacher and later took responsibilities in the advisory board and formed a book club that she still moderates. She was the President of the Board from 2018 to 2022.

In her day job, Paulina is a Senior Program Manager at Microsoft, focusing on corporate water stewardship. 

Isela Herrera

Isela Herrera was born in Mexico City, Mexico, and emigrated to South America at 22, where she discovered her passion for promoting Mexican culture. In 2008, she moved to the United States. She began working closely with the community in various roles, from adult education instructor and photographer to translator and collaborator with organizations such as Cool Culture, Lincoln Center Education, the MET Museum, and Learning Leaders.

Her media production and communications background has enabled her to serve as a substitute TV host for BronxNet’s Mexican Studies Institute Oral History Project and as an announcer for Bolivia and New York City community radio stations. Isela’s versatility extends to serving as a Master of Ceremonies and volunteering with numerous community-focused initiatives.

Currently, she is the Educational Opportunities Initiative Coordinator at the CUNY Mexican Studies Institute and a Facilitator for the Qualitas of Life Foundation, where she has honed her skills as a community organizer. Isela holds a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from CUNY Lehman College and is deeply passionate about literature, music, and the arts.

Norma Benitez

Originally from Veracruz, Mexico. She has lived and worked in the East Harlem community for over 25 years. Her parents always taught her that education should be a priority, a human right, but unfortunately not everyone receives it. She admires the effort of adults who pursue an education and at the same time she is inspired by the commitment of all CREA collaborators. She is glad to share her years of experience in marketing and fundraising with CREA.

Dava Weinstein

MSW, is a retired social worker whose career started in East Harlem. She was an instructor at both Hunter College and Columbia Schools of Social Work, consultant to many community based agencies, and maintained a counseling practice. Special interest areas include addictions, mental illness, gender and sexual identity.

Dorothy Calvani

Has been a nurse for over 40 years, having earned her BSN from Lehman College/CUNY and MSN from Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing graduate program. Now retired, she worked in a variety of community health positions, including the last 10 years of her career with Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Service in East Harlem. She has had, and continues to have, the privilege of learning and growing with strong and hopeful families in East Harlem, no matter how complex their situations. This is a cherished, mutually enhancing, experience. It is an honor and I am most grateful to be a part of CREA.

Michael Chung

As the Director of Community Outreach and Service Learning at Convent of the Sacred Heart, Michael brings over 40 years of experience working in education. Before Sacred Heart, Michael was the Director of Post-Placement Counseling at Prep for Prep, Inc from 1984-1990. 

He has held multiple roles from Computer teacher, to Dean of Students, Director of Campus Ministry to founding the H.E.A.R.T. Summer Outreach Program, which has enriched the lives of hundreds of children over the past 14 years. He is also a certified Level I Track & Field Coach.

Michael has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Marist College. In addition to his full-time position, he has served on the SHCOG (Sacred Heart Commision on Goals), the Network Social Justice Committee, and multiple sub-committees over the years.

Michael and his wife Carol have spent the last twenty years living in Nyack, NY. Their son, Jackson, a recent college graduate, resides in Boston.

Patricia Hayes

A coal miner’s daughter born and raised in the southwestern part of Pennsylvania, S. Patricia Hayes, CSA, entered the Congregation of Sisters of Saint Agnes of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin following high school.  Pat has been a nurse for over 50 years ministering in a variety of health care settings including two brief stints in Nicaragua.  Pat moved to New York City in 2006 and began ministering as a community health nurse with the Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Services certified home health agency.  Her 12 years in that ministry were the best of her professional career.

Currently Pat volunteers in programs which attempt to meet the needs of the asylum seekers arriving in NYC.  She is excited about the work of CREA and being a part of its mission.

Suzanne Deliee

After growing up in Connecticut in a close-knit Catholic family, she entered the Sisters of Mercy 62 years ago. Suzanne’s life has been varied since then, including teaching, nursing, and pharmacy in various place such as 13 years in Nicaragua and most recently, 26 years in New York City. At the Little Sisters of Assumption Family Health Service in East Harlem, Suzanne provided public health nursing with Hispanic immigrant families, especially with mothers and babies. This has been the most treasured part of her life. Her passions include immigration, climate, racism, wherever we find injustice, hatred, and devastation, wherever families cannot live life.

Marguerite Lukes

For more than 25 years, Marguerite Lukes, Ph.D has focused her work on improving public schools and community-based programs serving migrant and refugee children, youth and adults. She is Director of Research and Innovation at Internationals Network for Public Schools, the only US national network of public schools designing innovative educational programs for immigrant youth. Marguerite has been a classroom teacher, program director, curriculum developer, program evaluator, university faculty member, and researcher. She works directly with NGOs to enhance educational equity for migrants and refugees. Her applied research focuses on educational pathways of migrant youth and the intersections of race, language and migration. Marguerite is on the advisory board of the international research project TraMiS, led by University of Bremen in partnership with the German National Teachers’ Union and German Ministry for Education to explore policy innovations on transnational student mobility. Marguerite is also a member of the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) and the American Educational Research Association, and submits editorial reviews regularly for Bilingual Research Journal and Urban Education. Her scholarship and research on second language learning, literacy, and the education of immigrant populations has appeared in International Multilingual Research Journal TESOL Quarterly, Journal of Latinos and Education, Urban Education, Teachers College Record, and Rethinking Schools. She speaks Spanish, German, Italian and English.