Speakers

Dulce Maria Cortina Born in Mexico, came to Texas at the age of six, she navigated the complexities of being an immigrant, later becoming a DACA recipient in 2012—a turning point that propelled her career skyward.

Life's challenges didn't deter her; they fueled her. As a young mother, she faced marriage, divorce, and the responsibilities of parenthood. Undeterred, she pursued education in Business and Finance, all while working full-time and caring for her children. In 2014, she became a licensed insurance agent, joining New York Life in the financial sector. Her entrepreneurial spirit thrives as the owner of a teeth whitening business established in 2018, which transformed into a successful mobile service amidst the challenges of the pandemic.

Today, Dulce stands as the Director of Membership for the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce TX, where she's the initial point of contact for small business owners, entrepreneurs and business professionals, fostering connections and where she has increased the membership base by an impressive 30% in just one year.

Beyond her professional achievements, Dulce's heart beats for small business owners—driven by her firsthand understanding of their struggles. Her commitment to this cause led her to serve on the board of Somos Palmview, a non-profit small business advocacy organization. As the VP of Public Affairs with Somos Palmview, she continues to make an impact, championing the growth and success of small businesses in her cherished hometown of Palmview, TX.

A native of Southern California, Maite Salazar specializes in new business development, public/private partnerships, grassroots informational campaigns, and bilingual/bicultural marketing. Maite has owned, and operated successful small businesses in Costa Rica, California, and Nevada.

Maite received a Bachelor of Arts, Magna Cum Laude with Distinction, in International Business with an Emphasis in Finance and Spanish from San Diego State University.

Maite Salazar has been actively engaged supporting special projects for the Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce and the Latin Chamber of Commerce Community Foundation since 2005. She has served on numerous marketing committees with other local business, health, and educational organizations.

A fervent supporter of small business development and youth initiatives, Maite was a member of the
Governor’s Workforce Investment Board and served as Chair of the Youth Council. She voluntarily taught bilingual business planning, marketing, and cross-cultural seminars for the Nevada Microenterprise Initiative. In 2009, Maite was certified as a NxLeveL Entrepreneurship Instructor, which allowed her to teach the very first Spanish NxLeveL course offered in Southern Nevada. Maite also is the founding President of Toastmasters en Español, Nevada’s only Spanish-language Toastmasters Club, now known as “Gente de Voz.”

Maite recently launched 3F Initiatives LLC, a family-based company, focused on the promotion and preservation of Faith, Family and Freedom, the fundamental core values she endeavors to help secure for her children and grandchildren.

CEO of Glue Up, an all-in-one cloud-based CRM engagement platform for event and membership management, is the leading platform in emerging and developing markets and North America.

As CEO of Glue Up, Eric L. Schmidt is focused on delivering cloud solutions that transform the way professional communities enable and enrich relationships. Glue Up has offices in 14 countries and clients in over 70. Eric’s focus is to continue building the best product for Glue Up’s clients and expanding the company’s presence in emerging and developing markets around the world. Over the last 18 years, Eric has founded and incubated several companies from the ground up; including China Entrepreneurs which was the top community organization for more than 50,000 entrepreneurs, hosting more than 100 conferences annually.

Eric was an elected member of American Chamber of Commerce in China's Board of Governors for three years (2017, 2018 & 2019) and is recognized as an authority on digital transformation and business in emerging markets. He has been featured in media such as The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Baron’s, BBC, CCTV, China Daily, and numerous other outlets.

Eric once traced Marco Polo’s route from Beijing, China to Venice, Italy, 100 days by bicycle – he was appreciatively sponsored by Nike and Philips. He also previously lived in China (17 years) and Guatemala.

Born and raised in La Union, El Salvador, Juan learned the value of hard work at a young age. Despite the adversity of growing up in a small rural community, Juan excelled as a student and took advantage of his education, so that he could improve the lives of his family members and loved ones. After graduating from high school and attending his first year of college, Juan recognized that his career prospects were very limited in El Salvador and made the decision to immigrate to the United States to fulfill his dream of becoming a successful businessman. In 1996, Juan arrived in the D.C. metropolitan area and started on his path to real estate success.

After arriving in the U.S. Juan took classes part-time at Montgomery College in Business Administration and General Studies while working full time in the restaurant industry. In 2003, Juan became a licensed real estate agent and joined Long and Foster Real Estate, officially starting his career as a highly recognized agent in the D.C. metropolitan area. As a top-producing Realtor for 19 years, Juan is ranked among the top 1% of agents nationwide. Over the years he has built a successful team, Umanzor and Associates, which serves clients all throughout the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. Juan is a skilled negotiator with in-depth, expert knowledge of local real estate markets and is adept at handling the most complex of real estate transactions.

In 2005, Juan also became a real estate investor and developer. In furtherance of this aspect of his real estate career, Juan assembled his own construction crew, which to this day helps him develop and maintain his growing real estate portfolio. In 2006, Juan and his team joined the top-producing Bethesda Gateway Office at Long and Foster, where he quickly rose to become one of the top producing teams in the company. Currently, Umanzor & Associates is the number one selling team in the number one-billion-dollar real estate office of Long & Foster. Umanzor is in his second year as the president of the Salvadoran-American Chamber of Commerce where he helps educate and empower the Latino community to achieve success. Juan believes that the key to succeeding in real estate is simple: treat everyone like familia.

Juan is a devoted family man. When not working, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Andrea, and three children, Nicole, Samuel, David and his loving dog Chase.

Marcelo is a seasoned leader with an eye for operations and marketing. With a career spanning over 27 years, he has honed his expertise in international markets, financial management, and strategic planning. His most notable stint was with Varig Brazilian Airlines, where he navigated the company through intricate negotiations and restructuring, saving it from bankruptcy. While there, he also catapulted the market share from 18% to 55% and cut costs by 25%, or a staggering $500 million. Today, he's the Regional Director at Aerolineas Argentinas, overseeing operations across several continents. Marcelo is not just fluent in the language of business; he's also trilingual, speaking English, Spanish, and Portuguese.