Sí Se Vota Chicanos Por La Causa Action Fund is a 501(c)4 nonprofit advocacy organization. CPLC Action Fund, which is overseen by an unpaid volunteer board, is operated independently from Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC), a nonprofit service provider with operations in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, California and Nevada. CPLC Action Fund was created to further the CPLC mission to advance Latino success through advocacy on key impact areas, including Education, Housing, Health & Human Services, and Economic and Political Empowerment. Advocacy efforts include community-based activism, events focusing on social justice and equity issues, legal recourse against legislation harmful to the Latino community, and offering input to elected officials and leaders. Voter engagement includes voter registration, voter education and get-out-the-vote efforts, with its “Latino Loud” GOTV campaign honored with the 2023 Congressman Ed Pastor Civic Leadership Award. In favor of a nonpartisan approach to politics, effective October 2023, CPLC Action Fund PAC does not endorse candidates but does provide a scorecard on political stances regarding key issues.
Advocacy. Action. Advancement.
Sí Se Vota CPLC Action Fund is dedicated to advocacy, action and advancement of Latinos and other underserved communities via empowerment, engagement and elections. The CPLC Action Fund focus mirrors the five Areas of Impact of Chicanos Por La Causa: Health & Human Services, Housing, Education, Economic Development, and Advocacy.
Joseph Garcia is Executive Director of Sí Se Vota CPL Action Fund, a 501(c)4 nonprofit advocacy organization. He also is Vice President of Public Policy at Chicanos Por La Causa, a 501(C)(3) nonprofit social services organization he joined in 2019. Previously, Garcia was at Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University, where he was Director of Communication and Community Impact and founding Director of the Morrison Institute Latino Public Policy Center. He had an extensive career as a award-winning newspaper editor, reporter and columnist at The Arizona Republic, The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.), Tucson Citizen, USA Today and The Associated Press. He was an adjunct professor at ASU Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Phoenix, as well as The University of Arizona School of Journalism in Tucson. He serves on the boards of Arizona Children’s Action Alliance, and Friends of Public Radio Arizona. Garcia was honored nationally by the New York City Independence Clubs in 2016 for research on independent voters. He received the Valle del Sol Daniel R. Ortega Jr. Public Service Award in 2018, the Arizona Capitol Times 2022 Public Service Leader of the Year Award, and was recognized by Axios news as one of the Valley’s Five Most Influential Leaders for 2023. Garcia earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Arizona and his master's degree at ASU.
Alicia Nuñez serves on the Executive Board of Sí Se Vota CPLC Action Fund, a nonprofit advocacy organization. She also is President & CEO at Chicanos Por La Causa, a 501(C)(3) nonprofit service provider. She has been with CPLC since 2006 and has 25 years of financial and operational management experience in both for-profit and non-profit businesses. Nuñez previously was Assistant Director of Finance for The Ritz Carlton, Huntington Hotel and Spa in Pasadena, California. At CPLC, she also has served as Executive Vice President & CFO, Director of Business Enterprises and as President of CPLC Insurance, Inc., where she helped develop the infrastructure, process, and business model for the successful launch of the program. She served as Vice President of Business Enterprises for CPLC and has managed several for-profit entities within the organization. As Vice President of Accounting, she managed the accounting department at CPLC. In 2022, Nuñez was selected as one of 12 nonprofit leaders from Maricopa County for the prestigious Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust’s 2022 Class of Piper Fellows. Nuñez earned a BA in English Credential Program from California State University Northridge and received her Executive MBA from The University of Arizona in 2017.
Max Gonzales serves on the Executive Board of Sí Se Vota CPLC Action Fund, a nonprofit advocacy organization. He also is Executive Vice President of Strategy & Relationship Management at Chicanos Por La Causa, a 501(C)(3) nonprofit service provider that is one of the nation’s largest Latino community development corporations. Prior to joining CPLC, Gonzales spent more than 20 years at SRP, a water and power utility based in Tempe, Arizona, where he provided marketing, direct marketing, market research, public relations, advertising, and strategic planning to the Hispanic Market. He has held board positions with Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Friendly House, and Valle Del Sol. He currently serves on the advisory board for ASU Morrison Institute for Public Policy and The Arizona Chapter of the American Heart. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Management and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Arizona State University. He recently completed the NeighborWorks America, Achieving Excellence Executive Leadership program at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
John Ramirez serves on the Board of Sí Se Vota CPLC Action Fund, a nonprofit advocacy organization. Ramirez retired in 2020 as Vice President for Business Enterprises at Chicanos Por La Causa, a 501(C)(3) nonprofit service provider that is one of the nation’s largest Latino community development corporations. Over the years, he served in various management positions for CPLC including oversight of the Real Estate Development, Economic Development, and Residential Housing/Housing Counseling. Prior to CPLC, Ramirez worked in various consumer and commercial lending positions, Vice President for Commercial Lending with financial institutions in Arizona, and Oversight Manager with The Resolution Trust Corporation. In 2014, he completed a nine-year term as a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank, Advisory Board for the 12th District (San Francisco) for affordable housing interests for Arizona, California and Nevada. Ramirez graduated from Arizona State University, College of Business, (Business Administration) and from the National Commercial Lending School in Norman, OK.
Daniel Ortega serves on the Board of CPLC Action Fund, a nonprofit advocacy organization. He is a practicing attorney with the Ortega Law Firm and is a member of the Arizona State Bar, American Trial Lawyers Association, American Bar Association, Maricopa County Bar Association and Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Cesar Chavez Foundation and Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association. He previously served as chairman of the Board of Directors of UnidosUS (formerly National Council of La Raza) and the Board of Directors of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Chicanos Por La Causa. An activist in high school who went on to become an attorney, as part of his pro bono practice, Ortega participates and litigates a host of cases involving civil and voting rights, and employment law. He credits his father, who was a farmer worker, and labor leader Cesar Chavez as inspiration for his legal efforts to improve the working conditions of farm workers. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and a Juris Doctorate from Arizona State University.
Solomon “Sol” Trujillo serves on the Board of CPLC Action Fund, a nonprofit advocacy organization. He is a global business executive who has uniquely served as CEO in three large market-cap global companies in three different corridors of the world, driving unprecedented growth in communications, media, and technology companies. Mr. Trujillo was named one of the 100 Most Influential Latinos in the world. He has served as a board director for several major firms including Bank of America, PepsiCo, and Target, and is currently on the board of Western Union. He is founder and chairman of the Trujillo Group, LLC; co-founder and chairman of the Latino Donor Collaborative; co-founder of L’ATTITUDE, and the co-founder of L’ATTITUDE Ventures, a purpose-led venture fund that invests in early-stage US Latino-led and owned businesses.
Maria Morales Spelleri serves in non-voting capacity as General Counsel of Sí Se Vota Action Fund, a nonprofit advocacy organization. She also is General Counsel & Executive Vice President at Chicanos Por La Causa, a 501(C)(3) nonprofit service provider. At CPLC, Spelleri oversees CPLC’s legal, compliance, internal audit, human resources; risk management, insurance corporate services, and advises the CPLC Board of Directors on all legal matters. Prior to CPLC, she was an equity owner and partner at Lewis and Roca LLP. She is a member of the Board of Directors for The Industrial Development Authority of Maricopa County and has served as Chairwoman of Valle del Sol, Inc.; the Phoenix Residential Investment Development Effort (PRIDE); and the Secretary of New Arizona Family, Inc. She previously served as a member of the Phoenix Commission on Housing and Neighborhoods. Spelleri received her law degree from Boston University School of Law and an MBA from Boston University School of Management. She is a fellow in the Jesse Marvin Unruh Assembly Fellowship program at Sacramento State University.
María Jesús Cervantes
Fidelis Garcia
Emilio Gaynor
Lydia Guzman
Bill Irwin
Tony Moya
Rudy Zamora