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Names Abraham Lopez as Center for Hispanic Policy director

Gov. Chris Christie has approved nine appointments to the Center for Hispanic Policy, Research and Development’s (CHPRD) Advisory Committee, his office announced Wednesday.

Created in 1975, CHPRD and its Advisory Committee serve as a resource for state government on Hispanic affairs. As part of its mandate, CHPRD has sought to increase public-private investment for Hispanic community organizations, administer an annual grant program, and facilitate professional and leadership development for college students through its competitive internship and fellowship program.

The appointees to the CHPRD Advisory Committee include former Whitman administration official and retired professor Roland Alum of West New York; New Jersey Latino Leadership Alliance member Anira Sanchez Clericuzio of Cranford; attorney Daniel R. Guadalupe of Plainsboro; Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Founding President and CEO Daniel H. Jara of Hackensack; New Jersey City University Council for Hispanic Affairs member Kathy G. Monteiro of Westfield; Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Mirtha Ospina of Hoboken; former Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration Regional Director Soraya Rodriguez-Balzac of Andover; Kean University Adjunct Professor Elis Sosa of Jersey City, and Puerto Rican Congress of New Jersey President and CEO Lydia J. Valencia of Lakewood.

The two-year direct appointments do not require Senate confirmation and each member will serve without compensation.

In addition to the Advisory Committee appointments, the governor’s office also announced the selection of Abraham Lopez of Jersey City and Mariella Morales of Elizabeth as the CHPRD’s director and deputy director, respectively. Lopez previously served in the governor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs as director of Hispanic and Faith Based Affairs and Morales was previously in the governor’s Office of Appointments as director of outreach.

In approving the appointments, Christie said, “As our state's largest and fastest growing ethnic group, the Hispanic community is critically important to New Jersey’s continued success as a state and I value the work the Center for Hispanic Policy, Research and Development does. For more than three decades, they have helped hundreds of students and thousands of families realize their very own American dream.

“Abraham Lopez has been a tireless advocate for New Jersey’s Hispanic community and I am pleased he has agreed to take on this new role in the administration,” Christie said. “I have complete faith in his ability and I know he will ensure the center is a national model and continues to have a strong, positive impact on the lives of the thousands of New Jerseyans it serves through its work.”

The new leadership and the Advisory Committee will focus the CHPRD’s work in four areas: Hispanic entrepreneurship, citizenship and integration direct services, workforce development and the continued support of innovative initiatives that provide services throughout the state.

—TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM