Meet this year's Latino Economic Development Award recipients!

LEADERSHIP

Diana Campoamor
President, Hispanics in Philanthropy

Diana Campoamor joined Hispanics in Philanthropy as President in 1990. HIP is the leading Hispanic nonprofit network of donors, with six offices throughout the U.S. and Latin America, and hundreds of passionate funding partners and members. With an innovative philanthropic

model and her design of a multi-site, business-inspired giving paradigm, HIP has thrived even during economic downturns by leveraging results for effectiveness and increased the donors “ROGI,” or “Return on Giving Investment,” while supporting emerging young Latino leaders through a collaboration of local, national, and international funders, while increasing resources for the Latino and Latin American civil sector; as well as for Latino civic engagement, participation, and leadership through capacity-building and involvement in the field of philanthropy.

Under Diana’s leadership, the HIP Collaborative for Strong Latino Communities won the prestigious Scrivner Award for Creative Grant-making, and has been cited by the Monitor Institute as an example of the best practices in Philanthropy, and recognized recently by the Kellogg Foundation for Nonprofit Leadership Award. Diana is currently on the board of International Planned Parenthood and Western Hemisphere. She is a former director of the Council of Foundations and Independent Sector, among other boards. Diana has been recognized by the Latino Leaders 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008´s “The List: 101 Top Movers and Shakers in America,” and last year, they also awarded her with their Maestro Award.

A well-seasoned leader and mentor, she was co-editor of an anthology, Nuevos Senderos: Hispanics and Philanthropy, and is a graduate of the University of Florida with an M.A. in Communications from the University of Miami. Diana lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, and is a doting mother and grandmother.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Paul Dwyer
Chief Executive Officer, Viamericas Corporation

Mr. Dwyer is a co-founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Viamericas Corporation, a consumer remittance company with operations in 28 U.S. states and throughout Latin America. As CEO, Mr. Dwyer has had overall responsibility for the development and expansion of Viamericas since its founding in 2000. Through March 2010, Viamericas has handled money transfers in excess of $3 billion, saving its customers hundreds of millions of dollars in fees, compared to the best known (and more expensive) money transfer companies.

Prior to founding Viamericas, Mr. Dwyer was a partner with the Washington D.C. based law firm Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, where his practice focused exclusively on Latin American business transactions. As a lawyer Mr. Dwyer managed the commercial, financial and regulatory aspects of transactions across Latin America, with a particular emphasis on private equity investments and capital markets issuances. Mr. Dwyer is a graduate of Tufts University, with a degree in Latin American Studies, of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, with a Masters degree in international business and Western Hemisphere diplomatic history, of the Harvard Law School, and was a Fulbright Fellow to Colombia. Mr. Dwyer lives in Potomac, Maryland with his wife Lillian Argilagos and their four daughters.

Mr. Dwyer serves on the Board of Directors of Plan USA, the US affiliate of Plan International, a charitable organization dedicated to funding child centered community development projects around the world, serves on the Advisory Committee of the Spanish Catholic Center in Washington, DC, and is a member of the Credit Committee of the Latino Economic Development Corporation in Washington, DC.

SERVICE

Harry B. Sewell, Jr.
Attorney, Harry B. Sewell P.L.L.C.

Harry Sewell is an attorney who manages a law practice in Kensington, Maryland. His practice specializes in estate planning and administration, working with small business to help them set up and manage their business, helping entrepreneurs purchase or sell their business and working with buyers, sellers and lenders to purchase or sell real estate and to finance or refinance their mortgages. Several of his real estate clients needed loan modifications and he got involved with the Maryland Bar’s loan modification program. His involvement with the state bar’s pro bono program led to a chance meeting with LEDC’s loan counselors and he became involved with LEDC and its loan modification program. He was soon appointed to LEDC’s pro bono panel of attorneys under a program run for the State Bar Association by Civil Justice, Inc. in Baltimore. Since mid-2008, he has been working with LEDC’s staff of loan counselors assisting them when needed to help them work with needy clients in the Hispanic community and in the Wheaton community.

Harry was born in Japan where is father was serving in the US Army and he grew in a military family.  He spent a few years of his childhood years on military based in Japan and Germany and in Denmark and Burma, but spent most of his youth in the DC area.   He spent his high school years in Atlanta and graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in International studies before attending law school at the University Of South Carolina School of Law where he received his Juris Doctor. Harry lives in the Layhill neighborhood of Silver Spring with his wife Sandra who is a nurse at Suburban Hospital. He has lived and worked in the Wheaton-Kensington area since 1978.

ACHIEVEMENT

Fernando Lemos
Member, LEDC Board of Directors

Fernando Lemos serves as the executive director of Mi Casa, Inc., whose current projects include the conversion and renovation of a 357-units, 11 buildings into a limited-equity cooperative, and the development of 43 single-family homes for homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income households. Mr. Lemos has over 20 years of experience working in the D.C. non-profit housing and economic development sector. He has trained in architectural design, and is also certified as a home inspector. Originally from Paraguay, Mr. Lemos is bilingual and has extensive experience working with the Latino community. In addition to his work with Mi Casa, Mr. Lemos serves on the Board of Directors of several area organizations, including the District of Columbia Housing Authority, the Latino Economic Development Corporation, Corner Stone and the National Association of Latino Community Asset Builders.