Peter J. Morris
President / Presidente

Dr. Morris received his medical training at UNC, Chapel Hill, graduating with a MD in 1978, completing a residency in Pediatrics in 1981, and a MPH in Epidemiology in 1986. He is Board Certified in both Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine. He initially practiced with the National Health Services Corps in rural, Southeastern Kentucky, and has taught in the medical school at UNC. Dr. Morris continues a limited pediatric practice in clinics and as a relief hospitalist. He has received teaching awards from both Duke and UNC residents in pediatrics and family practice.
Dr. Morris serves as Medical Director for Wake County Human Services, in Raleigh, North Carolina. He first came to Wake County as an Assistant Health Director in 1986, then became Deputy Director, Interim Health Director, and now serves as Medical Director for the combined Human Services agency – Wake County Human Services.
Dr. Morris is now seeking a Masters of Divinity at Duke University as both a professional and personal pursuit.
He lives in rural Wake County between Fuquay-Varina and Holly Springs. His wife, Sarah Anna Smith, is a MSW at Dorothea Dix, working in geriatrics, at the opposite end of the age spectrum. Home life is kept active by menagerie of cats and dogs.

Rogelio Valencia
Secretary / Secretario

Rogelio Valencia was born in Mexico. In Mexico he worked as Educational Counselor in Middle School in his hometown Torreón, and later as Assistant Director at “House of Hope” Orphanage in Tijuana. He moved to North Carolina in 1990. He worked for Duke University for several years under the Department of Psychology. Since 1999 he serves as “Hispanic Ombudsman” with the NC Department of Health and Human Services

Pablo Escobar
Treasurer / Tesorero

Pablo is the Director of Operations for Urban Ministries, a not-for-profit organization that alleviates the harmful effects of poverty in Wake County, NC. Urban Ministries runs a shelter, a crisis program, a food pantry and a free clinic. Pablo also serves as the treasure on El Pueblo’s Board of Directors and as Chairman of the Board of the Environmental Education Fund, a statewide organization that promotes sound environmental decision-making.  Pablo’s past professional experience includes budget management with Wake County Government, financial management with Kaiser Permanente, and several consulting assignments in both the public and private sector.  Fluency in English, Spanish, French and Italian and an understanding of cultural differences help Pablo meet the mission of organizations providing services in a diverse community.  Pablo has lived in many different places including Texas, New York, California, Alabama, Mexico, Italy, Belgium and West-Africa, where he was a Peace Corps volunteer.  Pablo holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master in Public Administration from NC State. He is married to Margaret and has two children, Michael and Rachel.

Hilton Cancel
Immediate Past President / Presidente anterior

Hilton Cancel, born in New York City to Puerto Rican parents, is an experienced law enforcement officer, having retired from the Indianapolis Police Department with the rank of Detective Lieutenant in 1985. After his retirement, he was appointed Vice President of Security for the Pan-American games and worked in the corrections field in California until moving to North Carolina in 1997. Mr. Cancel has been recognized for his advocate work on behalf of Latinos, winning the Indiana Jefferson Award. Mr. Cancel was only the 3rd Latino in the U.S. to chair an Urban League affiliate office. Since moving to N.C., Mr. Cancel was appointed as Commissioner of Security for the Special Olympics World Games, and helped write the security plan for the 2007 Pan American Bid Committee. Mr. Cancel was recently elected to the Executive Committee of the National Latino Peace Officers Association North Carolina State Chapter and was appointed to the Board of North Carolinians Against Gun Violence in October 2006.

Taty Padilla
Board Member / Miembro de la Junta Directiva

Taty Padilla, MEMBER AT LARGE, was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and has lived in North Carolina for many years. She has been involved with El Pueblo from its beginning, when she helped plan the first Fiesta del Pueblo. Over the years, she has become a key member of the Fiesta's organizing committee, and has lent her time to many of the other initiatives of the organization. In the Fall of 2000, Lt. Governor Beverly Purdue hired Ms. Padilla as the first and only Latina to work in her office and now Taty works at Wake County Smart Start in the More at Four Program. Taty is an active volunteer member of the community, and is involved with several organizations in the area, including the Latin American Association of North Carolina, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic Democrats of North Carolina, Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies & SAFECHILD Board member, El Centro para Familias Hispanas advisory board, Healthy Wake Coalition, ALPES, Wake County Senior Citizens advisory board, Wake County Gang Prevention Task Force, NC Hispanic Profecionals,Wake County Domestic Violence Task Force, NC Task Force for Healthy Weight in Children and Youth, Women's Health Task Force, WCPSS Community Coalition and participated in the Latino Health Task Force . She is on the Baord of the Red Cross, Urban Ministries, and on Interact's Latino Advisory Board.

Gary Phillips
Board Member / Miembro de la Junta Directiva

Gary Phillips is former Chair of the Chatham County Board of Commissioners. He grew up in Green Creek, North Carolina, born into a family of millworkers and teachers. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a businessman, writer and former United Methodist pastor. Gary is a volunteer for El Vinculo Hispano in Siler City, where he previously served on its Board of Directors. He has participated in El Pueblo activities such as El Foro for the past years and will be El Pueblo's first Board member who has served as an elected official. He lives in a rammed earth cottage in the woods of Silk Hope in Chatham County.

Dan Moore
Board Member / Miembro de la Junta Directiva

Dan E. Moore helps people and organizations increase their capacity to achieve their goals, especially through strategic giving and fund raising.  He is currently senior consultant to NCGives, an innovative initiative to celebrate and inspire giving in North Carolina, particularly among young people, women, and communities of color.  His work draws upon his almost 20 years at the Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan. During that time he served in a variety of roles.  As Vice President for Programs, he provided administrative and programmatic leadership to the following areas: philanthropy and volunteerism, Latin American and Caribbean programming, food systems and rural development, information and communications technology, leadership grant making, the Kellogg National Leadership Program, and the Kellogg International Leadership Program. Before going to Kellogg, Dr. Moore was a faculty member at Cornell University, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has been a visiting distinguished professor at the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara in Mexico, a fellow and faculty member at the Salzburg Seminar in Austria, a research fellow of the Organization of American States, and a resident consultant on issues of technology diffusion in EMBRAPA, the Brazilian Organization for Agricultural Research.  He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and serves on a number of nonprofit boards. His bachelor’s degree is from The Ohio State University. His master’s and Ph.D. degrees in sociology were earned at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Bill Beardall Herrera
Board Member / Miembro de la Junta Directiva

Bill Beardall Herrera, was born in Colon, Republic of Panama. Bill attended the American Schools in the Canal Zone and received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Arkansas. As a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps, he flew over 540 Combat missions in Vietnam receiving, among other awards, the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1977 Bill graduated from NC State University with a Masters degree in Landscape Architecture and is now Assistant Director of the Facilities Operations Department at NC State University, with responsibilities for the Management of the Grounds, the Fleet of Vehicles and collection of Solid Waste and Recycling. He serves on the Governor's Advisory Council on Hispanic and Latino Affairs, and is on the Development Committee; Bill sits on the Boards of the Triangle United Way, the Hispanic Family Center of Raleigh. Bill's idea of fun, for the past 23 years, is going whitewater canoeing with several other insane friends. He is married to Judy L. Smith who works for North Carolina's Division of Aging. They live in Raleigh.

Rebecca Reyes
Board Member / Miembro de la Junta Directiva

Rebecca Reyes grew up in Texas and for the last 20 years has lived in North Carolina. She received a M.Div. from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Austin, Tx. and in 1979 was ordained as the first Hispanic woman ordained in the Presbyterian Church US. In 1993 she received a Master of Social Work from UNC-Chapel Hill. She currently works as coordinator for the Latino Health Project at Duke University Hospital. Rebecca is and has been involved in several state and inter-agency committees and groups addressing Latino issues, health care, and community development. She has served on the boards for the NC Humanities Council, Durham Partnership For Children, Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare Board just to mention a few. Rebecca received the Diversity Award from Duke University and Health System in 2003.

B. David Reese
Board Member / Miembro de la Junta Directiva
Fundraising Committee

Yvonne Cerna
Board Member

Part of Univision 40 since its launch in the market, Yvonne is the station’s Marketing and Communications Director. She is responsible for setting Univision 40 and TeleFutura 26’s marketing and branding strategy and also directs the stations’ Promotions and Community Affairs efforts.  Yvonne directs the promotional and public service campaigns that air on both stations and also serves as a liaison between the stations, local community organizations and media.

Yvonne is a native of Honduras and graduated with a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  She joined Univision 40 in 2003 and previously worked at Long Haymes Carr Advertising in Winston-Salem, McKinney and Silver in Raleigh and Interadnet in Cary and New York City.