John Martinez, Executive Director
John Martinez has over 30 years of experience working with community-based organizations, including ten years of national experience and expertise in developing multicultural outreach and capacity-building efforts.
His professional work experience includes leading a community development corporation, guiding a community action agency, directing a rural USDA-supported enterprise community, leading an urban school-to-work initiative, and serving as the National Director of Workforce Development for UnidosUS (National Council of La Raza), a Washington, DC-based Civil Right, and Advocacy Organization.
John is a summa cum laude graduate in political science from the University of New Mexico, holds a Master of Science degree from Louisiana State University, attended the Conexiones International Honors program in Mexico, and in May 2024, completed the 18-month Achieving Excellence Executive Training program at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
He is a member of the South Florida Community Development Advisory Board for Trust Bank, previously a member of JP Morgan Chase, a former Affiliate Council member of UnidosUS, and a Senior Fellow on Mexico for the U.S Mexico Solidarity Foundation.
NADINE LEWIS, DIRECTOR OF PEOPLE & CULTURE
Nadine brings over thirty years of strategic and operational Human Resources leadership and people development experience in both for profit and nonprofit organizations. After graduating from the University of Miami with a master’s in counseling, Nadine decided to apply her professional training to the business world instead of entering private practice. She has had a successful career leading the HR function in financial services, healthcare, and nonprofit organizations, including serving as the SVP, and Chief Human Resources Officer of the YMCA of Greater Miami for over ten years.
Maria Villacampa, Chief Financial Officer
Prior to joining Centro Campesino in 2011, Maria worked in senior accounting positions for both non-profit and profit sectors serving as controller for YWCA of South Florida, including controller for EFC Management and 15 years at Ryder Logistics Systems, Inc. where she was a senior financial analyst/consultant. She has over 20 years of accounting experience. Maria holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Florida and both an MBA and a Masters in Professional Accountancy from Barry University.
Bill Sevilla, Director of Community Development and Asset Building
Bill has more than 30 years of experience working as an accomplished financial services executive in the lending line leadership and large-scale process innovation. He has a proven track record in building and leading high-performance teams (mortgage loan production, CRA lending, underwriting, and foreclosure prevention) leading to business growth and improved customer satisfaction. Team player, leader and motivator. His professional career includes Capital Bank, JP Morgan Chase, BankUnited, and with Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida as a Homeownership Center Manager. He has Master’s Degree in Public Administration from American University, Washington, D.C., and is a certified Financial Coach and a Homebuyer Education Trainer. Fully bilingual (English + Spanish).
Barbara Cesar, Director of Education
Barbara has served in the nonprofit for over 17 years and has extensive experience managing social service programs. She worked very closely with immigrant, migrant and seasonal farmworker populations, and survivors of crime. Currently, she serves as the Director of Education for Centro Campesino, where she oversees youth educational services, AmeriCorps, and emergency response. She holds a M.S. in Public Administration from Barry University and a B.A. in International Affairs from Florida State University.
Jorge Barrios, Director of Construction
Jorge left his work as a private builder in 2008 to take charge of Centro Campesino’s construction services, including homebuilding, land acquisition and rural weatherization/rehab. He is a licensed Florida General Contractor license # CGC1509706, with 29 years of experience in home building and construction management. He holds a B.S. degree in architecture from the University of Jorge Tadeo Lozano in Cartagena, Colombia.
Chris Barraza, Manager, Testing and Quality Assurance
Chris, who came to Centro Campesino as a carpenter’s assistant, has spent 28 years of his career working for the organization in Miami and eight rural counties. He is a master carpenter and supervises field operations, assigning projects and managing contractor compliance. In the state network of weatherization/rehab service providers, Chris is frequently asked to assist new providers in training their staff due to his extensive experience. He loves sports and devotes much of his spare time to coaching girls high school softball and volunteers as a school bus driver transporting children on field trips.
Marvin Diaz, Manager, Properties Maintenance
Marvin Diaz joined Centro Campesino in 1996 as a maintenance technician. In 2008, he assumed responsibility for Centro Campesino’s affordable rentals, the 91-unit Palm Villas apartments and the 31-unit Biscayne Senior Housing and coordinates maintenance operations for all Centro Campesino facilities in Miami-Dade County. Marvin is certified in pool, refrigerator maintenance and A/C repair. He is also certified as an occupancy specialist. He was educated in Costa Rica, where he trained in bank accounting and attained his certification in basic essentials for enterprise development.
Juan Carlos Astigarrabia, Program Manager, Homebuyer/
Homeowner Solutions
Juan Carlos came to Centro Campesino in February 2012 as a housing counselor and was promoted to program manager of Homebuyer/Homeowner Solutions in May, 2013. In this role, he supervises homeownership and foreclosure prevention services and staff, coordinates workshops at Centro Campesino and throughout Miami-Dade County and serves his own caseload of homebuyer clients. Prior to coming to Centro Campesino, Juan Carlos spent twelve years as a certified housing counselor, first with Acorn Housing Corporation, which later became Affordable Housing Centers of America. He has numerous certifications in financial coaching, pre-purchase and homeownership education, fair lending and mortgage lending fundamentals. He holds a Technical Degree from the Economic Institute of Havana from Havana, Cuba.