Perspectives Series for In the Heights with Latino Network

Chariti Li Montez is a Mexican American artist, performer, and arts administrator from Portland, OR who builds community through music and cultural events. She currently manages Portland Parks & Recreation’s Summer Free For All program - a program that serves 100,000 free lunches to kids in need and produces 100 free outdoor movies, concerts and cultural events in parks across Portland each summer. 

Chariti plays percussion, stringed instruments and sings. She performed with and managed the popular Brazilian dance band z’Bumba for 8 years and currently supports band management of POPgoji. She promotes and produces events for numerous performers and has worked with Mexican artists Ampersan, Joel Cruz Castellano (Los Cojolites), Semilla, and Son de Madera. Chariti is a founding member of and currently performs with Colectivo Son Jarocho de Portland, a community organization dedicated to learning and sharing the music of southern Veracruz, Mexico. In addition to performing, Colectivo hosts community fandangos and offers free weekly classes for anyone wanting to learn to sing sones, play jarana, and dance zapateado. 

Chariti’s first love was the built environment and she holds a BA in Ecological Design & Sustainability Studies from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. Her specialty was earthen and lime plasters and she designed and built homes and taught earthen construction techniques in Oregon, Washington and Mexico. 

Chariti is passionate about equity in programming and service delivery. She served on the steering committee of the Office of Equity and Human Rights’ Citywide Equity Committee and was recently awarded the Spirit of Portland 2017 Equity in Practice Partnership of the Year Award for her work at Portland Parks & Recreation.

Patricia Vázquez Gómez works and lives between the ancient Tenochtitlán and the unceded, occupied, stolen and colonized lands of the Chinook, Clackamas, Multnomah, and other Indigenous peoples. Her art practice investigates the social functions of art, the intersections between art, politics and ethics and the expansion of community based art practices; and she uses a variety of media to carry out her research: painting, printmaking, video, music and socially engaged art projects. The purpose and methodologies of her work are deeply informed by her experiences working in the immigrant rights and other social justice movements in the US and Mexico. Patricia’s work can be explored at the Cargo Collective website.

Joaquin Lopez is currently an Arts Producer for Latino Network where he produces Ollin: Social Justice Film Series, Voz Alta, and Festival Latino with Portland Parks and Recreation/Summer Free For All. He also coordinates Latino Network’s statewide Latino leadership program UNID@S. 

Previosuly, he served as the Arts & Culture Manager at Latino Network from 2015- 2018 designing after school arts programs and cultural events. He is a recipient of the Bridge Award from Business for Culture and the Arts and was the first recipient of the Espiritu Award presented by Milagro Theatre. He is also the oldest son of the Lopez family who for nineteen years has run La Bonita Mexican restaurant in the Alberta Arts District in Portland, Oregon.

Joaquin received a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts from Southern Oregon University and a Masters in Counseling from Portland State University. Joaquin is a Licensed Professional Counselor Intern with the State of Oregon and a Nationally Certified Counselor. He runs a private practice in the Irvington Neighborhood. 

Latino Network was founded in 1996 by community leaders who grew concerned about the lack of adequate resources to meet the needs of the growing Latino community. Since that time, it has evolved to become an organization that also encompasses transformational programs aimed at educating and empowering Multnomah County Latinos. Low achievement scores, youth violence and high drop out rates undermine the Latino community’s potential. They aim to address these issues by promoting early literacy, encouraging parent involvement, working with gang-involved and adjudicated youth and families, and providing academic support and activities to high school aged youth. They also build leadership capacity for youth and adults.