Olson Aguirre, '07CC | President

Olson Aguirre is a graduate of the Columbia College class of 2007.  He is a native New Yorker While at Columbia, Olson played a major role in the founding and management of many student organizations. In addition, Olson was a leader of Grupo Quisqueyano and the Multicultural International Student Association, among others.  After graduating Aguirre pursued and earned his Mastera at New York University. Previously Olson served on the LAACU board as the Events Chair. Naturally his affinity towards Columbia, commitment to the Latino community and creativity moved him to run for Presidency. Currently, Olson is part of the Alumni Recruitment Committee of Columbia University, Inter-Ivy Latino Alumni Council. Mr. Aguirre is an Operations & Research professional in the Marketing and Media industry where he works on the Procter & Gamble portfolio.

Christine G. Ortiz, ‘08CC, | Vice President

Madeline Martinez, ‘08BC | Secretary  

Madeline Martinez is a Bronx native, Barnard College and Georgetown University graduate, seeking to create new pathways to a Columbia University for residents of the Bronx. With this objective in mind Madeline sought to join the LAACU ranks as Secretary. She brought to the secretarial position experiences working for the US Department of State, the US Export Import Bank, and the New York City Council. She hopes that through consistent collaboration with LAACU’s general body, and its Board of Directors, she may be able to assist the association in launching timely fundraisers, social justice campaigns and networking events for Columbia's Latino family.

Jason Tejada, '13CC | Treasurer

Jason Tejada graduated from Columbia College in 2013 and is currently an analyst at JP Morgan Chase & Co within the Chief Investment Office. While at Columbia, Jason studied Financial Economics and History in order to refine his quantitative and qualitative skills. He was involved in numerous executive roles within the Student Engagement Offices: serving as President of the InterGreek & Multicultural Greek Council, Treasurer of Latino Heritage Month, Pre-Professional Representative of the Activities Board at Columbia, the Multicultural Affairs Advisory Board, and President of the Epsilon Delta chapter of Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, Inc. As an executive officer, he pioneered key community events such as: Meet the Greeks, the annual MGC Yardshow, and with the help of Nick Velazquez (CC '11), created a yearly Professionalism Week. He is the recipient of the Dean’s Award for Leadership Excellence (2013), the Stanley L. Fishel/Zeta Beta Tau Prize (2013), and a perennial Dyckman Institute Fund Scholar.

As a lymphoma survivor, he is a strong advocate for increased funding and space for cancer research facilities. Secondly, he advocates for programs that look to reduce education inequity. He currently serves on the Children Scholarship Fund’s Young Leaders junior philanthropy group and as Treasurer of the Latino Alumni Association of Columbia University.

Jason enjoys random conversations, spending time with friends and family, dancing, and Disc Jockeying.

Committee Chairs

Natali Segovia, '08CC | Development Chair

Adriana Villavicencio, '00CC, '02TC | Communications Chair

Adriana Villavicencio, PhD is a Research Associate at the Research Alliance for New York City Schools. Her research has covered a variety of issues pertaining to the city's schools, including charter school policy, middle school turnaround, and small schools of choice. She is currently leading an evaluation of a citywide initiative aimed at increasing college and career readiness of for Black and Latino young men. In addition to her work at the Research Alliance, she currently serves as communications chair for LAACU and as managing editor at Being Latino Online Magazine. 

Prior to pursuing her graduate studies, Adriana served as a department chair at a charter high school in Oakland, California, and as an English teacher in Brooklyn, New York, and worked on the development of a new school in Bangalore, India. She also serves on the board of directors for the Latino Alumni Association of Columbia University. Dr. Villavicencio holds a B.A. in English from Columbia University, an M.A. in English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. 

Patricia Rojas, '11CC | Student Relations Chair

Patricia Rojas was born and raised in New York City where she attended the High School for Environmental Studies. She graduated from Columbia College in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Biology. While she was an undergraduate at Columbia, Patricia was the President Emeritus of Grupo Quisqueyano (GQ), co-founder of the Theta Delta Chapter of Sigma Lambda Gamma, Latino Heritage Month Chair, and also served as a 10th grade Lead Adviser for the Lang Youth Medical Program at Columbia Presbyterian. Patricia was awarded the King's Crown Silver Horizon Award in 2010 and was a Dyckman Institute Fund Scholar.

As Student Relations Chair, Patricia hopes to provide a space where Columbia Latino/a leaders, members and faculty alike can discuss ideas, share personal/professional developments and strengthen our commitment to our alma mater through mentoring, philanthropy and leadership.

Luis Alicea, '09TC | Events Chair

A first generation college graduate, I was awarded my BA in Chemistry in 2000. Upon graduation, I accepted a position as Assistant to the Dean at nearby Joliet Junior College and began part-time graduate work in Educational Leadership at Northeastern Illinois University. While studying, I was awarded an ENLACE Fellowship by The W.K. Kellogg Foundation. In fall 2007 I enrolled at Teachers College Columbia University for the Master of Arts in Secondary Science Education in Chemistry 7-12. There, I participated in a summer research program at The University of California at Los AngelesAlliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program, working with Dr. Miguel Garcia-Garibay’s research group on minimizing solvents use in the synthesis of enantiomerically pure compounds.

In the spring of 2009, I was awarded my Master of Arts in Secondary Science Education in Chemistry 7-12 from Teachers College Columbia University. Since graduation, I have taught for three years at middle and high school programs for the New York City Board of Education. I have been a member of LAACU since Spring 2009. I am currently the event chair of the LAACU board. I joined LAACU becuase  I wanted to served the Latino Alumni Columbia Community to participate in events as well as create a community of professionals.