Board of Directors

Diana has a degree in Business Administration with a specialty in Gestalt Psychology.

Her passion for helping the community began when she came to live in the United States, she learned what a resilient community is. Being part of the immigrant community has made her feel and live the opportunities, but also the challenges that we all face.

Being a Health Promoter, she has the pleasure and pleasure of being able to learn more about the Latino community every day and to be able to help in whatever capacity she can.

She has been a Health Promoter for 20 years, and thanks to her experience and passion founded Vuela for Health, where every day she is grateful for the beautiful opportunity to work alongside the incredible team she has formed; a team with all the passion, creativity, integrity and dedication that works together every day to represent and bring the best to our community.

Lilia Cervantes, MD is an Associate Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Colorado, Department of Medicine, Denver Health.

Dr. Cervantes’ personal reality as a first-generation Latina who speaks English as a second language has directly informed her deep commitment to caring for the underserved. Her investigation into end-stage kidney dialysis was highlighted on NPR and then in August 2018 when she was interviewed by CNN’s Sanjay Gupta.

Elisa (“Lisa”) Zúñiga Ramírez is a Principal and Senior Portfolio Manager at Segall Bryant & Hamill, who received her BSBA from the University of Colorado Denver and her MBA from Regis University.

Lisa has served on several Boards in a variety of sectors. Lisa, a philanthropist and supporter of community organizations, received the 2016 “Forgotten Hero” award from the Latinas First Foundation for her work in the Latino community.

Maria Milagros Kneusel-Rivera is a registered nurse with a master’s degree in nursing education, a master’s degree in health care ethics, and a doctorate in nursing practice with an emphasis on quality improvement.

Maria has worked in various clinical settings, from critical care to public health. She is currently a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Consultant at Centura Health. Maria is also an Affiliate Professor of Nursing at Regis University, where she teaches Health Policy.

Her professional interests focus on dignified care for underserved populations and the use of Promotoras (Latino community health workers) to improve access to care for Latino communities.

Kim Benson, MBA, is a retired healthcare business executive whose 35-year career has focused on timely data collection, intelligent process design, and interdisciplinary care delivery; all with the goal of improving patient safety, clinical outcomes, and practice effectiveness.

Ms. Benson’s community volunteer commitments are in the areas of public education, youth mentorship, and non-profit health care.

Araceli del Carmen O’Clair was a dedicated educator in Denver Public Schools. She has served the children of Denver and their families as a teacher, curriculum specialist, and elementary school principal at a dual language Montessori school. Currently, she has returned to the classroom as a reading intervention teacher. Additionally, she is a Whole School Leadership Trainer where she continues to grow and help others grow in all leadership capacities.

She is especially passionate about helping others grow and evolve in their cultural mindset while consulting with and supporting school leadership teams using the Intercultural Development Inventory.

As a proud Latina connected to her roots, she treasures the gift of being bilingual and bicultural. Furthermore, he fully understands the need for a leadership movement based on respect for humanity.

She attended the University of Denver’s Ritchie Program for School Leaders: Executive Leadership for Successful Schools to earn her elementary school principal’s license. Araceli has a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education from the University of Colorado, Denver. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from Worcester State University in Massachusetts.

Elizabeth Rumbel is a Senior Workforce Development Specialist at the Denver Health Institute of Public Health (PHIDH). In this role, Elizabeth coordinates and leads strategic support initiatives for PHIDH’s unique services, with an emphasis and expertise in workforce development, engagement, education, client experience, and quality improvement.

Prior to joining PHIDH, Elizabeth served as the Healthy Living Coordinator for the Denver Housing Authority’s Mariposa Neighborhood, a nationally recognized redevelopment initiative, and worked to ensure that health equity was improved within the natural and built environment, social and mental well-being, and transportation, access, and safety.

Elizabeth earned a Masters in Social Change from Iliff School of Theology and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Rider University.

Dr. Pereira has been a practicing physician and researcher for over 15 years. She is currently an Endocrinologist at Denver Health, Associate Professor at the University of Colorado.

As an immigrant, Dr. Rocio Pereira, MD focuses on the prevention and treatment of diseases related to diabetes and obesity in underserved communities, particularly Latinos.

She is the Director of the National Diabetes Prevention Program for Latinos, implemented through a partnership between Denver Health and VUELA.