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Award Date
2021
Award Description
Luis Cabrales-Vasquez, MSW graduated from IWU with a major in Sociology as a Gates Millennium Scholar. Luis served as the Philanthropy Chairman for ACACIA receiving personal and collective recognition for their impact. Luis was also in cheerleading bringing school spirit wherever he went all while working five part-time jobs to support his family back home. Luis earned his Master of Social Work and a certification in non-profit management from the University of Illinois in 2018. During his last year of education, Luis worked in refugee resettlement lending his own 1st generation experience and multilingual skill set while working as a translator for a financial institution. Immediately following graduation, Luis joined Year Up in fundraising, having started his own 501c3 registered nonprofit at 16, he wrapped up his decade in development by helping meet a multimillion-dollar goal. Having served as a Program Manager, he has focused on moving the organization into operating in an anti-racist manner by centering Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) policies and practices to help provide opportunity to all stakeholders alike. With a passion for community involvement, Luis utilizes his skills and education to connect people with opportunity. Recently, he was able to fundraise just under 30K and organized his network to bring medical and food supplies to the south and west parts of Chicago during the George Floyd protests. Luis pours his experiences into his writing and has published one book and multiple pieces of work locally and globally in different publications. He has been recognized for his community involvement work by awards from Busey, RefugeeOne, Pilsen Alliance, and Year Up which awarded him the Engage and Embrace Diversity award ’17-’21.
Keywords
Sociology