Latinx Motivational Speakers
Hispanic Student Association-HSA
Doctoral Candidates in Criminal Justice
Learn about the keys to their successes
· Maria Hernandez Green – Crime Analyst
· Ron Camacho – Police Chief in Pennsylvania
· Sam Santiago - Police Chief in Massachusetts
Zoom Presentation
Tuesday, October 11th
11:00am-12:00pm
Join Zoom Meeting
https://pennwest-edu.zoom.us/j/91380118797
Hosted by HSA
Questions: Andrea Vergnaud at ver3980@pennwest.edu
Maria Hernandez Green Bio:
Maria Hernandez Green never had a master plan for her education or employment expectations. Instead, her life took a winding, indirect path to the DCJ program at Penn West. She grew up in the South Suburbs of Chicago, the first on her father’s side to complete a bachelor’s degree. Having little guidance on what to do with a BA in Cultural Anthropology, she elected to immediately continue her education at the same university, University of Illinois at Chicago, with a master’s degree in Urban Planning with a specialization in Health planning. Still unsure of her prospects, she continued on, working for a few years on a Ph.D. in Public Policy Analysis. During her time in graduate school, she worked on a project to develop coalitions of social service agencies throughout Chicago focusing on alcohol and drug abuse prevention.
Abandoning hope of completing her degree when life had a different plan, she found work at South Central Community Services, a social service agency, as a quality assurance monitor. There she was also tasked with completing grant proposals, successfully securing an initial award for the agency of $100,000. She took those grant skills, along with her knowledge of community policing through her work with the coalitions to the Joliet Police Department where she secured a position as the first (and only, to date) Special Projects Coordinator.
Initially this position focused on grant writing and completing simple statistics for the community policing unit. Bored with these limited responsibilities, over the next twenty-five years, she consistently shaped and reshaped this role into one which ultimately synthesizes information to enable more efficient decision-making at all levels. During her tenure, she has designed and standardized the crime analysis function, successfully written grant proposals totaling over $7 million, led the transition from UCR to NIBRS reporting, and become the de-facto expert on crime statistics, among other things. Her unique experience and perspective in this law enforcement agency has provided a different voice that insists on the integration of research, evidence-based practice, and equity.
This insight, along with encouragement from the department’s first female chief, led her to return to school and seek out a doctoral degree from California University of Pennsylvania. Her research project focuses on best practices for the hiring and retention of female officers in law enforcement agencies.
Chief Ron Camacho Bio:
Chief Ron Camacho is an accomplished law enforcement executive with 27 years of experience in supervisory and management positions. Chief Camacho has successfully trained all patrol ranks, from corporals to chiefs, on leadership, supervision, discipline, team building, policy development, and mentoring. He retired as the patrol operations captain with the York City (PA) police department, commanding over ninety officers and detectives. Chief Camacho also worked as the patrol commander for the Old Dominion (VA) University Police Department.
Chief Camacho is a nationally published author on Emotional Intelligence, Transparency in Policing, Police Leadership, and Ego-related issues. Since 2018, Chief Camacho has presented at multiple conferences on various police leadership topics, including the FBI National Academy Association (National Conference), IACP National Conference, the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, the Pennsylvania Association of Municipal Managers, and the Pennsylvania Mayors Association.
He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, 239th session, has a Master's of Science in Criminal Justice from Liberty University, and is a Doctoral candidate in Criminal Justice at the California University of Pennsylvania. He became the Chief of the Chambersburg Borough Police Department in July 2016. Chief Camacho owns Camacho Consulting LLC (Camahoconsulting.net), which helps public and private sector companies solve leadership and management issues.
Samuel Santiago Bio:
Samuel Santiago has been a lifelong resident of the City of Worcester, Ma. He grew up in the city’s housing projects and the Main South Areas of Worcester. Samuel attended the Worcester Public Schools. He has been a police officer for over 26 years. He is currently a twenty-year veteran of the Shirley Police Department where he is currently the chief of police. Sam Santiago is also a Criminal Justice Adjunct Faculty at Anna Maria College where he teaches History of Policing and Race, and Foundations of Criminal Justice, and has been a guest lecturer, participated in a criminal justice speaker series on social justice and policing. In 2021, Mr. Santiago participated in a panel discussion regarding policing and civil rights at California University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Santiago has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Human Services/Criminal Justice from Springfield College graduating (Cum Laude), a Master of Public Administration from Clark University, a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from Anna Maria College, and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Criminal Justice at Penn West.