Meet  OUR BOARD Members

María J. Vargas, Ph.D. is a distinguished Professor Emerita, St. Augustine College in Chicago. Dr. Vargas earned a doctorate degree in Educational Leadership from DePaul University, Chicago. Dr. Vargas’ research interest lies in examining policies, services, and programs that impact the educational opportunities of bilingual students. She is a former member of the Chicago Board of Education (1990-1995). Dr. Vargas is an active member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Illinois Early Learning Council, Multilingual Chicago, Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI), World Organization for Early Childhood Education (OMEP), and National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE). Dr. Vargas has participated in and made presentations on topics related to bilingual education at various conferences at the local, state, national, and international level.

Berni Townsley currently works for Capital One Corporate Banking in Chicago as AVP/Senior Manager of Strategic Programs. She is part of the Strategic Investments Group. She works with private funds and their asset managers on middle-market healthcare deals based on investment guidelines. She provides guidance to internal Capital One deal teams based on each Program’s eligibility criteria. She manages co-investment portfolios from deal investment to repayment and is the main point of contact for portfolio needs. Prior to joining Capital One, she was the Agency Desk Manager for GE Capital. She led the creation of the Agency team for GE Capital and managed it for over 8 years. The team grew from 4 team members to 30 under her leadership. The four cross-functional teams across three different sites (Chicago, Norwalk, and Jaipur, India) were responsible for settling and processing all trading activity. They served 8 different Lines of Business under GE Capital. Originally from the Philippines, Berni joined the board in 2006.

Since 2014 he’s been an ensemble member of Chicago’s Aguijón Theater and has served the company in multiple positions. He was the Editorial Coordinator and Co-editor of the Book Aguijón 30 años|Aguijón 30 years, and he currently is a member of the board of directors of the company.

From 2018 to 2020 he was the Editorial Director of  Contratiempo (printed edition).  

Born in Mexico and raised in Chicago. Oliver has a bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts with a concentration in acting from Columbia College Chicago. He is currently also a member of the board of directors of Aguijón Theater Company of Chicago.

Parallel to his theatrical career, Oliver is the Agency Director and a Talent Agent at Lily’s Talent Agency, a prestigious talent agency in Chicago.

Jesse Zavala was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, where he attended Saint Xavier University and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Finance. With an extensive career in the banking industry, he has experience in commercial, business, tax accounting, and retail banking. His deep passion for the arts, and theater in particular, led him to Aguijon Theater, where he is now a member of its board of directors.