Ms. Tallman is the President & CEO of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She is a former partner at Morgan & Morgan, P.A. where she served as liaison to the Latino community.  Her practice areas focused on employment law. 

She is the former Southeast Regional Counsel of MALDEF, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a national Latino non-profit organization.   She opened the southeast regional office in 2002 – the first regional office to be opened in over 20 years.  There she coordinated, supervised and lead the litigation, public policy advocacy and community outreach for 11 (eleven) states.  While at MALDEF, Ms. Tallman was also the Interim D.C. Regional Counsel where she worked on national public policy issues affecting the Latino community.

In these capacities, she has appeared on panels, and international, national and local television and radio shows such as the BBC World Service, National Public Radio, Tavis Smiley MSNBC, Court TV, Fox Live, CNN Lou Dobbs and CNN en español, to discuss a wide range of legal and public policy issues affecting Latinos.  She has also been quoted in national and local media print outlets such as Time, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the National Journal, and has authored editorials and articles.

Ms. Tallman has served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Minnesota.  In that capacity, she served as a member of the Civil Rights Working Group Committee, an advisory committee to the then Attorney General Hubert “Skip” Humphrey III.  In 1996, she became an Assistant St. Louis County Attorney where she prosecuted felony and homicide cases.  In 2001, she became an adjunct law professor at the University of Minnesota Law School.  She also served as a research and policy analyst while a Fellow at the Institute on Race & Poverty at the University of Minnesota Law School.  As a public policy analyst, she worked on developing a theoretical framework for building sustainable coalitions between communities of color.  She presented on the framework at the Aspen Institute Roundtable on Comprehensive Community Initiatives.  In this capacity, she also served as a non-governmental organization delegate at the United Nations Conference Against Racism held in Durban, South Africa in 2001.

Ms. Tallman has a Juris Doctorate from the University of Iowa College of Law and a dual degree in Political Science and Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Iowa. 

She has been and continues to be affiliated with a number of organizations and institutions including: a member of the Emory University Board of Visitors; a member of the National Latino Initiatives Advisory Committee of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America; former Executive Board Member of the Harvard Journal of Hispanic Public Policy; and a former board member of Dia de la Mujer Latina.

 

 

Joanna Lindsey, Director, Business Development & Executive Assistant to the President

Joanna is a native of Sinaloa, Mexico.  She has primarily resided in the United States and is fluent in both English and Spanish.  She brings to the GHCC extensive nonprofit background and Hispanic community relations. Primary duties will consist of spearheading both the Legislative and Economic Development Committees for the GHCC under the supervision of the Vice President. Joanna will also provide support to the CEO and participate in the planning of Annual Awards Gala and Annual Hispanic Caucus Breakfast.

 

Rodrigo Infante, Membership Director

 

Rodrigo will be in charge of recruiting new companies and developing new strategies to reach not just the Hispanic Business Community but any company who wants to do business in Georgia. Previously, he was working as a Membership Representative and Community Initiative for the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, where he developed different events for the Hispanic Community, including Red Gwinnett and Hispanic Community Connection. He earned his Bachelors Degree in Communications from Universidad Santo Tomas de Aquino in Bogota, Colombia in 2002. Rodrigo was born in Brooklyn, New York, and then later moved to Colombia with his family at the age of 3.

Rodrigo is a graduate of Gwinnett Neighborhood Leadership Institute 2006. 

 

 

Juanita Rivera, Administrative Assistant 

Born in Guayama, Puerto Rico she has an associates Degree in Business Administration from Caguas City College, PR. Juanita and her family moved to Atlanta in 1988. Juanita has been working at the Chamber since August 2002. 

 

 

 

 

HACED STAFF

 

Luis E Izaguirre – Executive Director - HACED 

Luis Izaguirre has a bachelor's degree in Business Administration, specializing in Marketing from Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia, where he graduated Cum Laude. His experience has made a tremendous impact in HACED's success with our community. Luis’ experience includes assisting entrepreneurs on the procedure to open a business; counseling entrepreneurs on business development; conducting research; overseeing and implementing marketing strategies not only for the first Hispanic business incubator in the state of Georgia (HACED’s business incubator) but for the business community as a whole . Also, Luis has a proven record in planning and coordinating business programs and seminars; promoting products and/or services to new markets; preparing and presenting proposals to companies and foundations; and providing information to members on Import/Export from and to Latin American countries. Luis also serves as a member of the Hispanic Committee for Dekalb Technical College. Luis is fluent in English, Spanish, and Italian and has been with the Chamber since January 2000.

 

 

Monica Valdez – Programs Coordinator – HACED

Born in Monterrey, Mexico, Monica Valdez moved to Atlanta in March 2003. Monica has a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design from Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Diseño in her native Monterrey. Having established a small business herself, Monica brings a good deal of experience in what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur in this market coming from another country. Monica is fluent in English and Spanish.

 

 

Gabriela Marulanda-Programs Coordinator- HACED

Gabriela Marulanda has a bachelor's degree in Human Resources from Instituto Universitario de Tecnologia Antonio Jose de Sucre, Maracay (Venezuela). She came to the United States in 1996 and has taken several seminars in customer service. Gabriela brings six years of experience in coordinating and organizing different types of programs to help Hispanic entrepreneurs. She is fluent in both English and Spanish.