Name: 

Andres E. Gonzalez, MEd., CCDP/AP

Board Role:

Founder, President

Professional Title:

Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer

Organization:

Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin

Bio:

Andres Gonzalez has worked in the non-profit sector for over 20 years. He has been instrumental in creating culturally and linguistically competent programs. He serves as the Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer at Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin located in Milwaukee, WI. He provides direction to the Office of Diversity & Inclusion where he leads Diversity & Inclusion strategic initiatives that include: Community Engagement, Diversity Action Teams (DATs), Diversity & Cultural Competence Education, Emerging Markets Initiative, Health Equity, Language Services, Leadership Development, Supplier Diversity and Talent Acquisition.

In his previous role, Mr. Gonzalez served as the Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer for Baystate Health in Springfield, MA from November 2012 to June 2015. He provided direction to the Office of Diversity & Inclusion where he led the strategic initiatives system wide that included: Business Employee Resource Groups (BERGs), Diversity Council, Leadership Development Initiative, Diversity & Cultural Competency blended strategy, Supplier Diversity and the Diversity Conference.

Mr. Gonzalez served as the Director, Diversity & Community Outreach and Interim Supplier Diversity Director at Cleveland Clinic Health System from February 2007 to October 2012. He provided direction to the Office of Diversity & Inclusion where he led the strategic initiatives system wide that included: Employee Resource Groups, Diversity Councils, Language Enrichment and Supplier Diversity Programs and Community Outreach initiatives.

Mr. Gonzalez has worked in the community based sector providing leadership as Executive Director for Hispanic Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program (UMADAOP), a chemical dependency prevention, intervention and treatment agency from October 1994 to December 2004. He also led efforts as the Executive Director of El Barrio, a workforce development agency that serves the Hispanic/Latino community in the Near West Side of Cleveland from January 2005 to February 2007.

Mr. Gonzalez holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Cleveland State University and a Master’s Degree in Education with a concentration on Community Agency Counseling from Cleveland State University. He also completed the certification program at Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations Department and earned a Cornell Certified Diversity Practitioner/Advanced Practitioner (CCDP/AP) certification.

Mr. Gonzalez serves on the national board of the American Heart/Stroke Association’s Diversity Leadership Committee and is the President for the newly founded Wisconsin Chapter of the National Association of Latino Healthcare Executives (NALHE).

Mr. Gonzalez is a graduate of Cleveland Public Schools, a 2004 German Marshall Fund Fellow, an alumnus of: Esperanza (Cleveland, OH), Cleveland Bridge Builder’s Flagship Program, Leadership Cleveland and Next Generation Executive Leadership Program (The Partnership, Inc. based in Boston, MA).

Name: 

Alexandra Urrutia-Comas, MHSA

Board Role:

Founder, President-Elect

Professional Title:

Vice President, Operations

Organization:

Aurora Sinai Medical Center

Bio:

Alexandra Urrutia-Comas is the Vice-President of Operations for Aurora Sinai Medical Center. Aurora Sinai Medical Center is a comprehensive community hospital providing state-of-the art services and a strong focus on supporting greater racial equity and civil rights. Sinai is part of Advocate Aurora Health.

Alexa has operational responsibility and accountability for Ancillary Services departments, Support Services departments, and hospital-based departments. She is actively engaged in the development and implementation of the Medical Center’s strategic direction, fostering relationships and collaboration with internal and external partners to determine strategic opportunities and programmatic growth. Alexa is accountable for clinical quality, patient experience, patient safety, team member and clinician engagement, and financial stability.

Prior to her current role, Alexa served as Senior Director Administrator of Clinic Operations for Aurora Heath Care Medical Group in Greater Milwaukee. In this role, she oversaw over 200 physicians and advanced practice clinicians across 20+clinic locations and was responsible for physician practice management, physician recruitment, physician relations, program growth and development, and engagement, among others. Before her journey at Advocate Aurora, Alexa was Director of Operations Improvement at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare. Her healthcare journey in WI began with an Administrative Fellowship at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center, where she then became the Administrative Officer for the Medicine Division.

Ms. Urrutia-Comas is the current president of the ACHE-WI Chapter. Prior to this role, she was the ACHE-WI Chapter Programming Committee Co-Chair. Alexa has been a member of ACHE-WI and on the board since 2008. Ms. Urrutia-Comas received the ACHE-WI Diversity Champion Regent’s Award in 2019 and the ACHE-WI Early Careerist Regent’s Award in 2015. She is also a graduate of the WI-ACHE Chapter’s Leadership Development Program (2013).

Alexa is the President-Elect for the newly founded Wisconsin Chapter of the National Association of Latino Healthcare Executives.

In addition to ACHE, she serves on the Milwaukee Latino Health Coalition Steering Council and the Community Advocates Board of Directors. Alexa is originally from Puerto Rico (where her family still lives), enjoys spending time with her husband (Daniel), her dog (Izzy) and their family and friends, working-out/boxing, trying new restaurants and cuisines, and enjoying everything the city of Milwaukee has to offer.

 

 

 

Name: 

Catarina Colón, JD

Board Role:

Founder, Secretary

Professional Title:

Attorney

Organization:

Husch Blackwell LLP

Bio:

Catarina Colón is a labor and employment attorney in Husch Blackwell’s Milwaukee office. She represents employers through sophisticated labor and employment matters, with a particular focus on healthcare and educations sectors. More specifically, Catarina’s experience includes equal rights, discrimination, and retaliation defense on both a state and federal level, wage and hour issues, Family and Medical Leave Act matters, and client counseling.

Catarina also works on the firm’s Higher Education team, assisting clients with extensive employment, student conduct, and institutional nondiscrimination efforts. This includes NCAA compliance and investigations into Title IX and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act claims, as well as other federal civil rights statutes and regulations.

Catarina is also a board member of the Wisconsin Hispanic Lawyers Association, a Governor on the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Board of Governors, and is heavily involved in efforts related to diversity, equity, and inclusion both within Husch Blackwell and more broadly within the legal community.

In her free time, Catarina spends time with her fiancé – who recently began his psychiatry residency in Portsmouth, New Hampshire – and her three puppies. Catarina is also passionate about mental and physical health and wellness, specifically as it relates to encouraging women to pursue strength sports, such as weightlifting, powerlifting, and strongman.

Name: 

Yvonne Castañeda Renick, MBA

Board Role:

Co-Founder, Treasurer

Professional Title:

Director of Nursing - Women’s Health

Organization:

Aurora West Allis Medical Center

Bio:

Yvonne Renick has worked as a dedicated nurse and health care leader for over ten years. She currently works as the Director of Nursing- Women’s Health at Aurora West Allis Medical Center. Aurora West Allis is the home to the Aurora Women’s Pavilion, where women of all ages and at all stages of health come for comprehensive, respectful care. Aurora Women’s Pavilion is a 5 story facility dedicated especially for women including fertility and reproductive support, cosmetic surgery, prenatal and postpartum care, urogynecology and pelvic floor disorders, incontinence and more. Aurora West Allis Medical Center is part of Advocate Aurora Health. 

Yvonne enjoys building high performing teams, improving employee engagement and working on operational projects that aim to make workflows more efficient. She has been a critical component with initiation and implementation of operational projects such as an international/national second opinion program and the introduction and optimization of telehealth in pediatric cardiology ambulatory clinics.

Prior to shifting into a leadership role, she had experience as a frontline nurse in a pediatric cardiac intensive care unit and in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery. She has traveled to several Latin American countries such as the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Ecuador for medical mission trips to provide lifesaving heart surgery and care for children with heart defects.
Yvonne received an Executive Master’s Degree in Business Administration from University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee and obtained a Bachelor’s Degree of Arts in Psychology and in Spanish from St. Louis University and a Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Nursing from Barnes Jewish College of Nursing.

Yvonne is an active member of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) - Wisconsin chapter and serves on the Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (ID&E) committee and Leadership Development Program committee and received the ACHE-WI Diversity Champion Regents Award in 2021. She is dedicated to helping increase inclusion, diversity and equity in healthcare. She is also a graduate of the WI-ACHE Chapter’s Leadership Development Program (2020).

She enjoys spending her time with her husband and two young children traveling, hiking and being outdoors. She is bilingual in Spanish and English.