“My mom never went passed eighth-grade; my father was a factory worker,” remembers Cesar Rolon. “That’ll always be my drive.” Rolon, President of Imagen Marketing Consultants, says his parents’ strong work ethic inspires him to do more personally, professionally – for the Hispanic-Latino community.
Rolon shared career highlights that include music, fashion, and community service in an interview on the Latino News Network (LNN) podcast, “3 Questions With…”.
Rolon just finished the latest edition of the Latina Expo, Chicago earlier this month. The annual event is billed as “Chicago’s largest Latina lifestyle conference and expo.”
LNN participated in the event and was invited to announce the launch of ILLatinoNews.com.
SUGGESTION: Latina POWER shining in Chicago
Rolon was a consultant for The Black Women’s Expo, an event he says is supportive, exciting, and empowering when he asked himself, “Why aren’t we (Latinos) doing this for our own community?” That started the journey which would eventually become the Latina Expo, Chicago.
“To see people come together, have that one-on-one, support their business, promote what they do – it’s wonderful,” Rolon said about the event returning to being in-person. Last year’s expo was virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Adding to his long list of accomplishments is as co-founder of Illinois Unidos, a coalition of over 100 health professionals, community-based organizations, elected and appointed officials, and interested professionals. The organization first came together to advocate for Hispanics-Latinos when the COVID-19 pandemic overwhelmed the community. Now the group’s mission includes championing for the social determinants of health: an individual’s physical, social, political, cultural, and economic environment.
Illinois Unidos was among 40 awardees across 20 U.S. states that received a grant from Direct Relief’s Fund for Health Equity last month to mobilize financial resources for organizations focused on non-clinical interventions that affect a person’s health. The funding will go to support initiative aimed at presenting one united voice in stopping the spread of COVID-19 in the Hispanic-Latino community while addressing related public health issues and the devastating economic impact of COVID-19.
“I’m just so proud that we collectively speak in one voice,” said Rolon. “It’s remarkable.”
