Mujeres Giving Back
Presented by The Women's Fund Miami-Dade
The Women’s Fund Miami-Dade will honor eight spectacular Hispanic women philanthropists at the Second Annual Mujeres Giving Back Recognition Luncheon on Friday, November 6, at Jungle Island. Mujeres Giving Back highlights the philanthropic impact of Hispanic women leaders in Miami-Dade. Nominated by South Florida residents and selected by an independent judging panel of community leaders, these women give back to our community through time, talent or treasure. Luncheon tickets are $150. For more information, please call The Women’s Fund at 305-441-0506.
Rosa Alvarez
Mujer Giving Time
Rosa Alvarez (Rosi) loves children! She is a mother of two adult sons, grandmother of three and has been married for 33 years. Since 2000, Rosi has been a Guardian Ad Litem, representing abused and abandoned youth. She is a community advocate who volunteers for numerous organizations, always focusing on improving the quality of life of youth and their families. She has dedicated countless hours of legislative advocacy to further worthwhile causes. She is an active resident of the Town of Cutler Bay; an appointed member of the Cutler Bay Advisory Committee and chair of several town committees.
Rosi also served as the appointed inaugural Chairperson of the Jackson South Community Advisory Committee. During her tenure as an executive committee member of Drug Free Youth in Town, she established the Parent to Parent Connection. She also volunteered on the board of The Miami Coalition, an umbrella organization dedicated to substance abuse prevention.
Always involved in her sons’ school, Rosi established its inaugural Chapter of the Boys Scouts of America, and served the Boys Club of America in many capacities. A born advocate, Rosi has been a volunteer since the age of 14.
Karyl Argamasilla
Mujer Giving Time
Karyl Argamasilla is an Of Counsel Attorney in Bilzin Sumberg’s Real Estate Commercial Group, focusing her practice on large commercial real estate transactions. Her professional and community involvement extends well beyond that.
She is actively involved with Commercial Real Estate Women – Miami (CREW-Miami) and is their Immediate Past-President. In addition to leadership positions, she is active in CREW Careers, a program to mentor high school girls to increase gender and ethnic diversity in the commercial real estate industry and UCREW, a mentoring program for college graduate students as part of a CREW national project
Another organization for which she volunteers her time is the United Way of Miami-Dade: she is a member of the Women’s Leadership Council Executive Committee as a Young Leader, a member of the Policies and Procedures Task Force and a participant in Street Law, a Law Firm Diversity Pipeline Program.
Karyl has received numerous awards and honors for her work in the community. For six consecutive years, from 2009 through 2014, Florida Super Lawyers identified her as a Rising Star.
Diana Brooks
Mujer Giving Talent
Diana Brooks is co-CEO of VSBrooks Advertising, a Coral Gables-based integrated marketing firm, which she co-founded in 1996 with two computers and a $10,000 loan. Today, VSBrooks has over 25 full-time employees, $15+ million in billings, and services that encompass all marketing disciplines. Diana leads the firm, heading client services and business development, and serves as chief of strategy. She takes pride in having led brand-building teams at regional, national and global levels in categories that span Fortune 100 companies, health care, real estate, retail, education, non-profit, government and finance industries.
In addition, Diana is a dedicated philanthropist in the Miami-Dade County community, having served as board chair of Feeding South Florida™ from 2012–2015, and serving as immediate past board chair of Feeding South Florida until 2016. Also, she was selected to serve on the Board of Advisors for the Florida International University (FIU) Center for Leadership.
Born and raised in Miami, Diana attended Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Communications from the University of Miami.
Katherine Fernandez Rundle
Mujer Giving Talent
Katherine Fernandez Rundle has served as State Attorney for Miami-Dade County since being appointed in 1993, having been re-elected six times. State Attorney Fernandez Rundle has dedicated herself to every cause imaginable in her relentless commitment to keep our streets safe. Recognized as a pioneer in the creation of numerous programs dealing with issues that affect our community daily such as teen truancy, domestic violence, child support, human trafficking, and victim’s rights, she prides herself in being a career crime fighter and in her office, attaining the highest percentage of convictions in cases involving public corruption in the State of Florida.
Her office is the only prosecutor’s office in the state protecting the rights of children with the creation and enforcement of a strict child support program that annually processes over 100,000 cases.
The State Attorney believes in sharing with the community her time, influence, and resources that she is passionate about. She is a founding member and Vice-President of Women of Tomorrow and is also very active in organizations such as the American Heart Association, Amigos for Kids, 5000 Role Models, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), and numerous others.
Laura Munilla
Mujer Giving Treasure
Laura Munilla, in addition to owning and managing a consulting firm specializing in data analysis and report development, Laura is involved with several charitable and faith-based non-profit organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters as a Miracle Maker; the Jackson/Holtz Children’s Hospital as a Guardian Angel; Tracy Mourning’s Honey Shine as a Lady Bug; and St. Jude Hospital as a Partner in Hope. She sits on the Executive Board of Trustees at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens and co-chaired their Sixth Annual Preservation Luncheon and the 2014 Vizcaya Ball.
Laura is a member of the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders, serves as volunteer ambassador in her children’s schools and has been involved in St. Louis Catholic Church for over 10 years where she serves in the Humanities Ministry which provides food and essential services to under-privileged families.
The Munilla brothers and their wives created the Munilla Family Foundation, a philanthropic organization supporting many charitable causes such as the United Way of Greater Miami, Habitat for Humanity, Hands on Miami, YMCA, the Diabetes Research Institute, the Miami Rescue Mission, South Florida After-School All-Stars, History Miami, and various educational scholarships programs. They are members of the United Way’s Tocqueville Society, the Jackson Memorial Foundation Platinum Angels and the American Cancer Society’s Laureates.
Rachel Eugenia Pinedo
Mujer Giving Treasure
Rachel Eugenia Pinedo’s philanthropic leadership in our community started with Foundation of the Americas in 1993. As a Philanthropist with expertise in Charities and Foundations, Transnational Philanthropic Giving, Fundraising, Communications, Public Relations, Social Media Marketing and Publicist roles in charitable settings, Rachel fills the expectations of those working with her by dynamically improvising and responsibly enhancing the activities and or programs, of any project, in the areas of human and social services.
Rachel’s extraordinary business abilities and successful fundraising, event planning and publicist roles are utilized through Foundation of the Americas Human Trafficking Project, Seniors’ Hispanic Coalition, APOGEO Foundation (Art in Public Places), World Textile Art, Michele Fontaniere Pop-Up Gallery, Victims of Crime Advocates, Miami-Dade Commission for Women, Miami Dade Alliance Against Domestic Violence. ABC Global Forum, Latin Billboard Showcase Event, American Red Cross. International Polo Events Palm Beach and others.
As a former Executive Committee Member of the Miami-Dade County Commission for Women for over seven years and presently as Friends of the Commission, Rachel has received Commendations and Awards for outstanding contributions to women’s issues in our Miami-Dade community, nationally and internationally.
Cristina Mas
Joven Giving Back
Cristina Mas was born and raised in Miami, where she grew up engaging with her community. An effective fundraiser, the former UM Associate Director of Development is putting her knowledge of the South Florida business community to work as the Director of Marketing and External Affairs at Colliers International.
She currently sits on the Board of the Coral Gables Museum, as well as the Board of Trustees for the Cuban American National Foundation. Mas is the founding president of the Young Associates of the Coral Gables Museum, founding member of the World Economic Forum Miami Global Shapers, founding president of Pause for a Cause fundraiser, and an active member of Miami’s civic and social communities.
In 2013 she was honored with the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce Rising Star Award, Miami Children’s Hospital Volunteer of the Year, PhilantroGuia’s Hispanic Philanthropist of the Year, Miami Dolphins South Florida Inspiration Award, and Outstanding Project of the Year award for the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Miami initiative.
Rachelle Metcalfe
Joven Giving Back
Rachelle Metcalfe serves as the Assistant Director of Enrollment Services in the Honors College at Florida International University. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology and a Master’s of Science of Counselor Education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and has served FIU in multiple roles throughout her ten years of employment at the Honors College and the College of Business including, development, advising, recruitment and scholarships.
Recently, Rachelle gave the Honors College a $100,000 planned gift, becoming the youngest donor to give a gift of this magnitude. Rachelle graduated from the Honors College in 2008, and after working with its students for over 10 years, made the decision to personally give back and make a difference in their lives. Rachelle’s donation will go towards Honors College scholarships, half of which will be specifically allocated to first generation students – students who are, like she was, the first in their family to attain a college degree. With her gift, Rachelle hopes to shed light on this special group of students and continue to support their educational pursuits. As a first generation scholarship, Rachelle’s donation will be matched 100% by the state of Florida, doubling the impact of her gift.
