Cristina Gonzalez Parcell grew up in Peace Corps Family in Ghana and Colombia
Read and comment on this story from the Jacksonville Daily Record about Cristina Gonzalez Parcell who grew up in Peace Corps. Her father, Wilfredo Gonzalez, was country director of the Peace Corps in Ghana, West Africa; chief of operations for Peace Corps' Latin America Region and deputy director of the Peace Corps in Bogota, Colombia. Parcell is fluent in English, Spanish and French. She also speaks conversional Italian and Portuguese. "My dad was director of Peace Corps so I lived overseas until I started high school. I went to school in Nueva, Granada in South America, but the primary chunk of my elementary education was in Accra, Ghana, West Africa." Read the story at:
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Profile: Cristina Gonzalez Parcell
Cristina Gonzalez Parcell
Cristina Gonzalez Parcell is an account executive overseeing client relations for Martinez Communications, a local advertising agency.
WHAT DOES HER JOB INVOLVE?
"My main focus is government contracting. The Small Business Administration 8(a) program [Martinez is 8(a) certified as of last January] reaches out to minority businesses to obtain government contracts. To be a minority business entrepreneur, you have to be minority or woman-owned. We’re 100 percent Hispanic-owned. To keep up with our minority business certification, I go on their website to see what contracts have opened up that might have an interest in using a minority firm. Then, I go after them."
DO SHE HANDLE MARKETING?
"Not necessarily. One federal government contract in the past was the Army Corps of Engineers. We did translations for them."
WHAT LANGUAGES DOES
SHE SPEAK?
Parcell is fluent in English, Spanish and French. She also speaks conversional Italian and Portuguese. "My dad was director of Peace Corps so I lived overseas until I started high school. I went to school in Nueva, Granada in South America, but the primary chunk of my elementary education was in Accra, Ghana, West Africa."
WHERE WAS SHE BORN?
San Juan, Puerto Rico.
HAS SHE WORKED IN
OTHER PROFESSIONS?
Parcell spent several years in the hospitality industry, working as a translator for Marriott and its corporate training programs. Prior to joining Martinez’s firm, she was the assistant director of the now-defunct Chappell Schools on University Boulevard. While living in Washington, D.C., she worked as the youngest campaign employee for former President George Bush’s 1988 campaign. She also worked on the campaigns for President George W. Bush and Mayor-elect John Peyton. "It’s all-consuming, physically and mentally. I have considered running for City Council, but having kids changes everything. My boys come first."
ANY COLLEGE?
"I started at Radford University in Virginia and ended up at Valencia Community College in Orlando. I graduated from the University of Central Florida with a political science degree."
WHY PURSUE POLITICAL SCIENCE?
"I came from a very civic-minded family. My father was the civil rights commissioner during the Reagan administration. My mom is on the library board of trustees here. That’s what drew me to politics."
HOW BIG IS HER FAMILY?
Her husband, also named Chris, is originally from England. They live on the Southside with their two sons, Andrew and Alexander. "My challenge is spending enough time with my children. If I could stay home all day eating peanut butter and jelly and playing with Legos, I’d be in heaven."
WHAT CHALLENGES DOES SHE FACE AT WORK?
"Sometimes it’s hard to put an artist with a client. I act as a liaison, relaying to the client what the artist’s restraints are and, to the artist, what the client’s passions are. I make sure everybody ends up with what they want."
OTHER ACTIVITIES?
On a local level, Parcell is active with the Republican National Hispanic Assembly. She is also a member of the First Coast Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "FSHCC is an umbrella organization incorporating all of the Hispanic chambers in the state. They have an office in Jacksonville."
WHAT DOES SHE FIND
MOST REWARDING?
"Being part of the growth of the Hispanic community in the city and contributing to the city."
HER FAVORITE THINGS
Parcell is glued to the television when the reality show, "The Amazing Race," is on. She just finished reading "Lovely Bones," and prefers her mom’s home-cooked Spanish food to any restaurant.
- by Monica Chamness Wilfredo J. Gonzalez was country director of the Peace Corps in Ghana, West Africa; chief of operations for Peace Corps' Latin America Region and deputy director of the Peace Corps in Bogota, Colombia
District Director U.S. Small Business Administration North Florida District Office
Wilfredo J. Gonzalez was appointed director of the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) North Florida District Office in December 1996.
As district director, Mr. Gonzalez is responsible for directing the activities of 23 permanent employees in support of small businesses in a 43 - county area of northern Florida; oversight of a total business loan portfolio of over $585.3 million, an 8(a) program portfolio of 146 firms, and nine Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) chapters. He is also responsible for the oversight of nine regional Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), located at state universities and a community college, and 10 SBDC subcenters.
Before accepting his position at the North Florida District Office, Mr. Gonzalez was district director of the SBA's Washington, D.C. district. Prior to joining the SBA in May 1994, he held the position of regional director with the Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency in Atlanta, Georgia. He has also served as director of business development and as a government marketing consultant in the private sector, as the staff director with the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights, and as associate director of EEO and Civil Rights with the U. S. Department of State.
From 1985 through 1988, Mr. Gonzalez held the position of associate administrator for Minority Small Business and Capital Ownership Development (MSB&COD) at the SBA, National Office in Washington, D.C.
Entering the Federal Government as an HEW Fellow in 1976, he subsequently served as special assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Department of Labor; country director of the Peace Corps in Ghana, West Africa; chief of operations for Peace Corps' Latin America Region and deputy director of the Peace Corps in Bogota, Colombia.
Mr. Gonzalez's educational background includes a B.A. from the University of Puerto Rico (Magna Cum Laude) and studies at both the University of Puerto Rico Law School and Baruch Graduate School of Public Administration in New York. He also attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass and the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, VA .
Mr. Gonzalez is currently a member of the oversight committee for the Better Jacksonville Plan, the Board of Trustees of the University of North Florida, Habitat for Humanity, Jacksonville (HABIJAX) Board of Directors, the Jacksonville Board of National Council for Community and Justice (NCCJ), the Southside Rotary Club, the Citizens forum of the Florida Bar Association, and the Florida State Advisory Committee for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
He and his wife, Rocelia, are the parents of three children and reside in Jacksonville. Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
Story Source: Small Business Administration
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Colombia; COS - Ghana; Country Directors - Ghana
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Ghana; COS - Colombia; Peace Corps Families; Hispanic Volunteers