Board of Directors

Kenneth I. Trujillo, Esquire, Chair

Mr. Trujillo has been a member of Congreso's board since 1990. He served two years as City Solicitor of Philadelphia. In that capacity Mr. Trujillo was the chief legal counsel to the Mayor, City Council and all Philadelphia agencies and departments. As City Solicitor, Mr. Trujillo managed the 145-lawyer Philadelphia Law Department.  Mr. Trujillo is a member and founder of the firm Trujillo, Rodriguez & Richards, LLC. He received a Bachelors degree in Government from Evangelical College in Springfield, Missouri and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1986.  In 1999 Mr. Trujillo was named one of the Philadelphia Business Journal's "40 Under 40." In October 2005, Mr. Trujillo received the Ohtli Award from the Mexican Government for his efforts in promoting the well-being of Mexican communities abroad.

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Steven Kaplan, Esquire, Vice Chair  

Mr. Kaplan joined Congreso's Board in 1999. A life-long city resident, Mr. Kaplan was born, raised and educated in North Philadelphia.  He graduated from Temple University Law School and is now the Chief of Staff for Mellon Bank where he is responsible for coordinating staff functions for the Mid-Atlantic region.

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Cynthia Figueroa, Secretary

Ms. Figueroa joined Congreso's Board in 2004. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Women Against Abuse Inc., the largest domestic violence agency in the state of Pennsylvania, which runs the only domestic violence shelter in Philadelphia County.  Women Against Abuse also provides legal services and representation and transitional housing services to women and their children. Ms. Figueroa serves as a Board member for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence and was appointed by mayor John F. Street to the Mayor's Task Force on Domestic Violence.  Prior to her tenure at Women Against Abuse, Ms. Figueroa was an employee at Congreso de Latinos Unidos for approximately 5 years serving first as the Manager of the Women's Wellness Department and then as a member of the Executive team leading the Division of Behavioral Health Services.  Before coming to Philadelphia, Ms. Figueroa held several positions in Detroit in human services involving H.I.V. counseling and domestic abuse.   Ms. Figueroa was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Miami, Florida.  She is married and lives in Mount Airy.  She has a degree in Fine Arts from Spring College in Mobile, Alabama.

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Aaron Binder, Treasurer

Mr. Binder is currently the Associate Executive Director of the New Jersey Assembly Majority Office, advising the Assembly Speaker and Democratic Caucus on public policy initiatives. He is the aide for the Transportation, Public Works, and Independent Authorities Committee and also staffs both the Appropriations and the Budget Committees.  Mr. Binder spent the previous six years as Chief Financial Officer for Congreso de Latinos Unidos, helping to manage Congreso’s finances during a period of tremendous success and growth in the organization and spent five years working for the City of Philadelphia in the Rendell Administration.  Mr. Binder graduated from Brandeis University where he attained a bachelors in economics, earned a Masters in government administration from the Fels Center of Government at the University of Pennsylvania and a Masters level certificate of accounting from Temple University.

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José L. Cabrera, Member

José L. Cabrera was named Vice President and Acting Director of Materials Management of Sunoco in October 2007. In his current role, Mr. Cabrera’s responsibilities include the procurement of all non-hydrocarbon materials and services for the business units and the corporation with the exception of capital equipment and engineering services. Prior to this assignment Mr. Cabrera was named Vice President, Product Trading, Sales and Supply in February 2006 where he was responsible for the sale of all products from Sunoco’s five refineries.

Mr. Cabrera was named Vice President, Engineering Services in May 2002. Cabrera joined Sunoco, Inc. as director of Engineering Services in August 2000. In that position, Mr. Cabrera had management responsibilities for overseeing the Central Engineering Services Group that supports Sunoco’s refining and chemicals businesses.

Mr. Cabrera joined Sunoco following a nineteen-year career that began in 1981 at Tenneco’s Chalmette Refinery. He joined Mobil Oil in 1988 with Mobil’s acquisition of the Chalmette Refinery and became an ExxonMobil employee with the merger of these two companies. Mr. Cabrera has held positions of increasing responsibility in the areas of Project Management, Economics and Planning, Maintenance, Human Resources, Financial Services, New Business Development, and in the identification and implementation of Reliability and Maintenance Global Best Practices.

Mr. Cabrera graduated from the University of Alabama in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.

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Roseline Hernandez Marston, Member

Ms. Marston joined Congreso's board in 2005.  Ms. Marston is currently President of A.D. Marble & Company, one of the leading environmental  consulting firms in the Middle Atlantic States specializing in environmental impact studies for clients  such as the Pennsylvania Turnpike  Commission, PennDOT, the transportation agencies of Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware and the U.S. Navy.  A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Ms. Marston came to the U.S. in 1987 to attend college at Cornell University where she received a Bachelors degree in biology.  She also holds a Masters degree in Coastal Zone Management from Nova Southeastern University.

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Esperanza Martinez Neu, Member

Esperanza Martinez Neu is the Director of Compensation at AmerisourceBergen Corporation (ABC), one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical services companies serving the United States, Canada and selected global markets.  AmerisourceBergen ranks #29 on the Fortune list of best performing companies and employs more than 11,500 associates.  In her current role, she has responsibility for overseeing the organization’s enterprise-wide compensation practices and ensuring alignment across a diverse group of businesses.  Ms. Neu has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical services industry in multiple areas of the organization, with the majority of her time spent in Southern California specializing in the area of sales compensation and recognition. Ms. Neu has been in her corporate role since 2001.

Ms. Neu is a Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) and is a member of WorldatWork and the Penjerdel Employee Benefits & Compensation Association (PEBA).

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Fernando Méndez, Member

Mr. Méndez joined Congreso's Board in 2000. He was born in Bogotá, Colombia.  Mr. Méndez holds a Masters degree in Spanish and Portuguese from Villanova University and has taught at Villanova University, Temple University, and St. Joseph's Preparatory School.  Mr. Méndez was Editor of El Sol Latino Newspaper (1996-2002) and presently serves as Editor-at-large.  Mr. Méndez is a founding member of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Mexican Cultural Center.  He is also the host of "En Portada," shown on WWSI-TV 62 - a Telemundo affiliate. The show is dedicated to informing the community about current events and interviewing politicians, community leaders and other individuals in the news.

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Wanda Mial, M.G.A., Member

Ms. Mial joined Congreso's Board in 2004. Ms. Mial has worked in the women's health, youth development, and community services arenas in Philadelphia for the past sixteen years.  Over this period, she has held positions at organizations including Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Maternity Care Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, the American Red Cross, Congreso de Latinos Unidos and, most recently, the Philadelphia Department of Human Services.  In the last four years Ms. Mial has focused her efforts on the protection of children from abuse and neglect, and the development of community based supports and services to strengthen and preserve families. Ms. Mial has recently joined the Annie E. Casey Foundation as the Senior Associate for Child Welfare.   A native Philadelphian, Ms. Mial is a graduate of the Philadelphia High School for Girls, Amherst College, and the University of Pennsylvania, where she received a Masters of Government Administration from the Fels Center of Government.

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Richard Negrin, Member

Mr. Negrin joined Congreso's Board in 2004. Currently he is Vice President, Associate General Counsel, and a member of the Executive Leadership Council of ARAMARK. Prior to joining ARAMARK, Mr. Negrin was a litigator with the global law firm of Morgan Lewis and a prosecutor in the Major Trials Unit of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. He was recognized by the Pennsylvania Law Weekly in their “50 On the Fast Track” supplement as one of “the brightest people under 40 years old practicing law in Pennsylvania.” Mr. Negrin has been designated a Pennsylvania “Super Lawyer” by Philadelphia Magazine and has been recognized as a “Minority Rising Star” by the Philadelphia Legal Intelligencer. He received his bachelors degree in political science from Wagner College. He is a 1995 graduate of Rutgers University School of Law. Mr. Negrin is a former President of the Hispanic Bar Association of Pennsylvania and has served on the Board of the HBA's Legal Education Fund. He has also been active in the Hispanic National Bar Association, where he serves as Co-Chair of the United States Supreme Court Committee. In addition, Mr. Negrin has served as adjunct professor of law in trial advocacy at Temple University School of Law, where he helped coach the National Trial Team. In 2006, Mr. Negrin was appointed by the Mayor of Philadelphia, and confirmed by city council, to be Vice Chair of the new independent Board of Ethics for the City of Philadelphia. The Ethics Board is charged with educating, investigating and enforcing Philadelphia’s campaign finance and ethics laws as well as oversight over financial reporting requirements.

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José Sosa, Member

Mr. Sosa joined Congreso's Board in 2005.  Mr. Sosa entered the political arena in 1986, when he was elected to local Council in the Burlington County community of Mount Holly, New Jersey.  He was subsequently re-elected and served two terms as Mayor.  Upon retirement from his mayoral seat, Mr. Sosa served in the New Jersey General Assembly from January 1992 to January 2004, representing the 7th Legislative District.  Mr. Sosa currently serves as Director of Government & External Affairs for Johnson & Johnson at its World Headquarters in New Brunswick, New Jersey.  In April 2004, Latino Leaders Magazine named Mr. Sosa one of the Top Ten Latino Leaders in Health Care.  Mr. Sosa currently serves on the Corporate Board of Advisors of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute, among others.  A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Mr. Sosa is a graduate of Drexel University in Philadelphia.

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