INDUCTEES

INDUCTEES

Three people dressed in formal attire standing on stage in front of green curtains, with an audience in front of them. One man in the center is holding an award and smiling, flanked by a man wearing a blue hat and glasses on the left, and a woman with glasses and a necklace on the right.

Guerrero spent the last 25 years as the state director of programs for language minority students at the Arkansas Department of Education. Beginning with his work with migrant Mexican American children in the lower Rio Grande Valley, his career has focused on promoting equitable educational opportunities in marginalized communities.

Throughout his career, he worked as a VISTA volunteer, served as a foundation officer, directed an education graduate program at Antioch College in Ohio and served as commissioner of Spanish-speaking Affairs in Ohio.

Dr. Andre Guerrero

A man in a tuxedo and bow tie speaking at a podium with a microphone, with a woman and a man in colorful attire smiling behind him, in front of green curtains at Wyndham Riverfront Little Rock.

Roberto Martinez

Martinez moved to Arkansas from Chicago in 1980, inspired by Arkansas’ “Land of Opportunity” slogan to make the switch from city to country life. Overcoming hurdles to establish their place in the community, his family was named the Sevier County Farm Family of the Year in 1987, winning the district title the same year. He is the owner of Rancho la Esperanza in De Queen.

He currently serves on the Little Rock Federal Reserve Board of Directors, the CHRISTUS St. Michael Hospital Board of Directors, the University of Arkansas Cossatot Board of Visitors and the Cossatot Community College Board of Visitors. He helped spearhead the integration of the community college into the university system. He is also active in the Arkansas Farm Bureau and the Sevier County Farm Service Agency.

A man in a black suit and glasses stands at a podium with a microphone, speaking at an event at Wyndham Riverfront Little Rock. A woman with glasses, gray hair, and a black dress stands nearby holding a glass award, against a backdrop of green curtains.

Medina-Bolivar is a professor of plant metabolic engineering at the department of biological sciences at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, as well as the director of the environmental sciences and molecular biosciences graduate programs. He conducts research at the Arkansas Biosciences Institute. 

Working to promote leadership and higher education in the Hispanic community, Medina-Bolivar is president of the A-State Latina/o Faculty and Staff Association and a member of the Executive Committee for the Northeast Arkansas Hispanic Professional Network, for which he is a past president. He is also a former board member at the Centro Hispano in Jonesboro, which named him Outstanding Hispanic Achiever of the Year in 2011, and co-advised Hermana y Hermano, a Hispanic-based student mentoring association. In 2024, ASU awarded him the Excellence in Community Diversity Award.

Dr. Fabrico Medina-Bolivar

Three people, two women and one man, posing on stage with a dark green curtain background. The woman in the center holds an award and a white envelope. All are dressed in formal attire, smiling for the photo.

Yang came to Little Rock in 1997 and soon recognized a need for more accurate communication between the Spanish-speaking population and service providers, collaborating with Arkansas Spanish Interpreters and Translators to interpret at hospitals and district courts. In 2005, she became the first Latino Victim Advocate in Arkansas, and in 2012, she became the first bilingual child forensic interviewer at the Children’s Protection Center in Little Rock, where she was later promoted to lead/senior forensic interviewer. 

Last year, she became the first bilingual administrator of the Arkansas Department of Public Safety Crime Victims Reparations Board, which named her the CVRB Advocate of the Year in 2011. She has also served with a number of community organizations dedicated to assisting victims of crime, including the first Arkansas State Task Force for the Prevention of Human Trafficking.

Lisette Yang

A woman holding a glass award, standing between a man in a teal blazer and hat to her left and a woman with gray hair and glasses to her right, on a stage with green curtains in the background.

Founded by Sister Elaine Willett at the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Jonesboro in 1997 as an outreach program for the largest growing minority community in the region and incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2003, El Centro Hispano serves as a hub for trustworthy investments, community collaboration and cultural understanding. The organization provides programs and services in six areas: education, health, social, cultural, legal and civic engagement. In response to the needs of the community, El Centro Hispano has provided Hispanic populations across the state with mental health awareness, psychoeducational interventions and professional referrals. The organization also prioritizes education and access to oral health resources.

El Centro Hispano