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Bryan L. Crenshaw, Chair

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Bryan is Chair of the Ingham County Board of Commissioners and represents District 4. He is a member of both the  Commission's Law and Order and Finance Committees.

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Bryan L. Crenshaw is a lifelong resident from Lansing, MI. Educated in the Lansing Public  Schools and a graduate of J.W. Sexton High School in 1992, Bryan has been involved in many  organizations and activities in the Greater Lansing community his entire life.  

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Bryan began his service to the community in 1997 when he ran for a seat on the Lansing Board  of Education, making him at that time the youngest person to seek a seat on this board. While he  was unsuccessful, Bryan sought and was appointed to a seat on the Lansing Board of Education  in 1999 when a vacancy occurred due to a member resigning. He served for a year then began  service on the Lansing Educational Advancement Foundation Board of Directors in 2000 where  he helped raise funds to enhance educational opportunities for Lansing School District students  and teachers. He served on the foundation board until he was appointed to the Ingham County  Board of Commissioners in 2013. 

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In September of 2013, Bryan followed the footsteps of his grandmother Maria R. Velasquez, the  first Hispanic to serve on the Ingham County Board of Commissioners and was appointed to  serve as a County Commissioner representing Northwest Lansing, the same district his  grandmother represented when she was elected and served. Bryan has served on the County  Services, Finance and has chaired the Law & Courts Committees during his tenure on the Board.  In 2019, his colleagues elected him as Chairperson of the Board, making him the first Hispanic  ever to serve in this capacity, and have re-elected him to serve as Chairperson in 2020 and 2021.  

 

Bryan currently works as an Attendance Specialist with the Lansing Public School District and  has worked in the Office of Former Governor Jennifer M. Granholm as an Appointments  Specialist and Legislative Liaison for the Michigan Department of Corrections during her two  terms in office. He has been an active member of the Michigan Democratic Party since he  turned 18 and was able to cast his first ballot in the presidential election of 1992, when Bill  Clinton was elected as President of the United States.

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Veronica Beltran, Vice Chair

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Veronica Beltran, Esq. has a history of being involved with partisan/non-partisan campaigns and GOTV efforts in West and Southeastern Michigan. Beltran was born in raised in Holland, MI, and has been involved in advocacy-based work since she was 10 years old.  Beltran volunteered for her first Democratic congressional campaign during her senior year in high school and has not stopped since being politically active.

 

Beltran moved to Detroit to pursue a career in law after graduating from Grand Valley State University with her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Spanish. She graduated from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in May of 2020 and has continued her work in public interest as an immigration attorney. 

 

Beltran is also a member of the Hispanic Bar Association of Michigan, MANA-Metro Detroit, and serves on the Alumni Board for the National Latina/o Law Student Association. She also continues her passion and love for Mexican folkloric dance as a dancer with Ballet Folklorico de Detroit.

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Belda Garza, 2nd Vice Chair

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• Former State Representative, Detroit

• President, MANA DE METRO DETROIT

• Board Member, LASED (Latin Americans for Social and Economic Justice)

• Board Member, SER Metro Detroit

• Member, Mexican Patriotic Committee

• Member, CHA (Consortium of Hispanic Agencies)

• Member of Protect Michigan Commission Latinx work group

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Belda has a wealth of experience in politics, management , and 40 years of community organizing. She has worked with federal, state, city and local organizations in a variety of capacities, including as Assistant Executive Director of Michigan Metro Girl Scouts, and Assistant to the Mayor of the City of Detroit. She was also a Community Specialist for the 2010 Census.

 

Belda has been appointed to several Boards and commissions: the Detroit School Board; City of Detroit Workforce Development Board; Sinai Grace (Hospital) Board of Trustees; and the State Commission of Spanish Speaking Affairs. Nationally, she has served as a Member of NALEO and as a National Board Member of  MANA.  Internationally, she represented the City of Detroit at Mexican Government Parliament Conferences in Mexico City.

 

Belda is retired but does consulting work with PMA Consultants LLC.

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Eva Garza Dewaelsche

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Eva Garza Dewaelsche has served as President of SER Metro-Detroit, Jobs for Progress, Inc., for nearly 20 years. She also became its CEO in 2007. SER Metro is a multi-state workforce development organization established 50 years ago by the American G.I. Forum and LULAC to provide job training and employment services to Hispanics and other minority and under-represented communities in Detroit. In addition to overseeing operations in Detroit, including the Samaritan Center on Detroit’s east side, she is responsible for workforce center operations and programs in Texas and Illinois with 35 plus locations and over 330 employees.

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Ms. Garza Dewaelsche has been employed with SER Metro for over 38 years where she established

a nationally accredited, post-secondary technical school in Detroit and Chicago and later served as Principal of the SER Casa Academy, a charter school serving at-risk youth from the city of Detroit. Prior to SER Metro, she worked at National Bank of Detroit, as a market research analyst for 10 years. A former police officer, she has also served on the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners for 9 years under Mayor Archer (1999-2003) and under Mayor Duggan (2015-2020).

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A lifetime resident of Detroit, Ms. Garza Dewaelsche has been actively involved for over 40

years in pursuit of her personal goal to help enhance the quality of life for Detroiters through

her career and by serving on numerous boards and commissions. Her current board affiliations include: Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, Wayne County Community Development Entity

(CDE), Detroit-Wayne County Integrated Health Network (DWIHN), New Detroit, Inc., Comerica Community Development Advisory Council, LA SED, SER National Board, Wayne State University President’s Advisory Council, Detroit Regional Workforce Alliance, and DTE Community Advisory Council.

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Ms. Garza Dewaelsche is a graduate of Western High School in Detroit. She obtained her

Bachelors in Sociology and Masters in Education from Wayne State University and is a

fellow of the Michigan State University Political Leadership Program. She has also

completed the Harvard Executive Training in Community Leadership, Detroit Regional

Chamber’s Leadership Detroit Program, and New Detroit’s Hispanic Leadership Program.

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Ms. Garza Dewaelsche resides in Detroit with her husband Robert. They recently acquired

El Central Hispanic News in Detroit….she is the majority owner and publisher, and he is the

managing editor and runs daily operations. They have two daughters, Lisa who lives in New

Orleans and Christina who lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children.

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Alicia Juarez, Treasurer

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• Past President, and current member, of The Mexican Patriotic Committee (MPC)

• Vice President of MANA DE METRO DETROIT

• Advisory Board member, Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan

• Founding member of Plaza del Sol Cultural Center

• Family Advisory Board member for Southwest Solutions (Detroit)

 

Alicia is a life long resident and advocate of southwest Detroit. Alicia retired from Comerica Bank after 47 years of service, including as Banking Auditor and Assistant Branch Manager; she was also a member of Comerica's Hispanic Network. Alicia has served as campaign treasurer for several state and local political candidates.

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