leadership
Linda Xóchitl Tortolero
President & CEO
Linda is delighted to serve as President and CEO of Mujeres Latinas en Accion, the nation’s longest standing Latina organization. She has dedicated much of her professional career in fundraising, building strategic relationships, and organizational and program management in the nonprofit sector. Linda is responsible for carrying out Mujeres’ strategic programmatic and advocacy work to address effectively the immediate needs facing Latinas and their families. Under Linda’s leadership, Mujeres is a fierce advocate on key issues such as gender-based violence, women’s health and economic security, immigration, and reproductive justice.
During her tenure, Mujeres’ annual budget size has grown to close to $7M and with nearly 70 employees. In 2019, Mujeres opened its third office in Brighton Park with its partner Esperanza Health Centers, a Federally Qualified Health Center, and expanded its second office in North Riverside, Illinois. Moreover, Mujeres became a national Culturally Specific Sexual Assault Center under the FVPSA program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. With this work, Mujeres provides training and technical assistance to Latine communities and organizations across the U.S. In 2023, Mujeres celebrated its 50th anniversary and to mark this historic moment, Mujeres is in post-production of a documentary about Mujeres’ history and legacy and the establishment of an advisory trust.
Linda serves on the Action Council of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the Women’s Advisory Council and Gender Based Violence Taskforce of the Mayor’s Office for the City of Chicago and Illinois’ Behavioral Health Workforce Center Advisory Council. Linda has a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University in Political Science and History of Modern Latin America and a Juris Doctor from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. In 2019, Chicago Community Trust presented Linda with its inaugural Fellowship Award for the Leadership Greater Chicago Signature Fellows program. She was awarded the 2020 Public Service Award from the National Association of Women Lawyers. Linda serves on the Board of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice.
Sandra Magallon
Board Chair
Sandra Magallon is responsible for leading the Great Lakes Government & Nonprofit Senior Relationship Managers who cover IL, IN, WI, MN, IA, SD, ND, NE, and TN. Her team has deep industry knowledge and years of experience and are uniquely equipped to support mission driven organizations and municipalities.
Sandra has also served as the Commercial Bank’s Business Development Director at JP Morgan Chase and most recently was responsible for launching the Minority Entrepreneurs Development program which was launched in Chicago. She has also presented in the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Annual Conference, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Leadership Conference, NYSE Entrepreneurs Bootcamp, City of Chicago BACP small business series, and World Business Chicago Black and Latino Summit.
To help create a more sustainable future for businesses, nonprofits, and communities, Sandra volunteers with several nonprofit organizations focused
on developing programs to help advance the economic growth of businesses in her community. Presently, she is serving as an advisor for the University of Illinois Systems Diverse Supplier Development Program.
Sandra holds a M.A. from Forbes School of Business & Technology at Ashford University, completed Kellogg’s Nonprofit DEI certification, B.A. in
Communications & Marketing from DePaul University and is a certified business coach.