Founders
The Latina Leadership Initiative of Greater Des Moines, founded in 2013 by Sonia Parras, an immigration attorney in Des Moines, IA, and co-founded by Sandra Sanchez, Paula Plasencia, and Alba Perez. They recognized the need for a program dedicated to empowering the next generation to lead in the community, represent the Latino community in leadership positions, boards, commissions, and other leadership capacities.
Sonia Parras Konrad
Parras was born and raised in Spain and is licensed to practice law in Iowa and Spain. She is the Co-Chair Attorney of Sonia Parras Law Firm. She has worked with immigrant survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault since 1996. Parras is a founder of LUNA, Latinas Unidas para Una Nueva Amanecer and Asista Immigrant Assistance. She has served as an Advisory Board member of the National Network to End Violence Against Immigrant Women and was on the Board of Directors of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG).
Paula Plasencia
Paula Plasencia is the Community & Cultural Liaison of Dowling Catholic High School. She is the founder of the Iowa Latino History Museum. She is co-founder of the Latino College Expo and Latino Student Achievement Awards. Paula is a representative of the Diocesan Hispanic Pastoral Commission.
Sandra Sanchez
Sandra Sanchez is the co-Founder of the Latina Leadership Initiative of Greater Des Moines and the Iowa Immigrant Rights Network & the Latino Political Agenda. Sanchez has been an Advisory Committee for the Polk County Sheriff Citizens. She’s the Director of AFSC’s Iowa Immigrants Voice Program. Sanchez was awarded the 2014 recipient of the Passport to Prosperity Award of Iowa; 2000 – Accredited by the Board of Immigration Appeals to provide legal immigration advice, 2003- Invited by European Union counterparts to speak at the first Round Table of Migration, one of the first Latinas appointed to the Iowa Women’s Wall of Fame. She served on the Latino Affairs Commission & the Iowa Public Safety Commission.
Alba Perez
Alba Perez is the co-founder and past Chair of the Latina Leadership Initiative of Greater Des Moines. Perez worked as a consultant for the Latino/Hispanic Culture – Bilingual and Bicultural. She’s received the 2013 – Women of Influence Honoree, Iowa Business Record, 2007 – Passport to Prosperity Honoree, Iowa Council for International Understanding, 2004 – Latina Business Leader Award, State of Iowa, and 2004 – Forty Under 40 Honoree, Business Record Publications.