Mary Quezada grew up in Caracas, Venezuela. Her family roots are from the Bolivar and Yaracuy states. Mary earned her degree in Social Work in Caracas and a master in International Management in Raleigh.  In 1991 Mary and her husband decided to explore other horizons and moved with their kids to Raleigh, North Carolina. 

After working for more than 11 years in the field of HIV/AIDS education in RTP, then in 2004, Mary continued working in the health sector focusing on women’s health for five years as a Study Recruiter for a national breast cancer research study. During those years Mary and her husband became members of the Venezuelan Cultural Association of North Carolina, inspired by its mission of maintaining Venezuelan values and culture, and by their strong desire to pass those values to her children. 

Mary is currently working at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, as the Director of North Carolina Women’s Health Education Center. She loves to spend time outdoors with family and friends and enjoys the artistic creativity of the Venezuela Cultural Association’s members!

Meralis is originally from Caracas where she obtained her degree in Architecture from the Central University of Venezuela in 1991. She moved to North Carolina with his family in March 2000. She has been part of the ACVNC for more than 15 years and currently holds the position of Vice President within the board of directors.  In 2013 she graduated with high honors from the Fayetteville Technical Community College obtaining the Associate of Science degree in Speech and Language Pathology Assistant. She now works as Speech and Language Assistant Therapist providing services to Hispanic children with speech and language development problems enjoying at the same helping others in the community by educating the families and the little ones with whom she works. 

Meralis has been dedicated to achieve the Association’s mission by promoting and keeping the Venezuelan traditions alive in the community through the events that the Association organizes. 

Meralis has a passion for dance and in recent years she has also dedicated herself to being a Zumba® instructor helping others achieve their fitness goals.

Carlos was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela in 1958. During his childhood he moved to San Antonio de los Altos, then he returned to Caracas, and finally moved to La Guaira. He came to the United States as a student in 1975, finished the last years of high school, studied at a technology college and finally went to the University of Ohio where he obtained a degree in Milk Science.

He returned to Venezuela in 1981 and remained there until 2000 when he returned to the United States and has lived here since.

Carlos became a member and treasurer of this organization since its inception in 2001, a position he still occupies, and has collaborated in the planning, organization and execution of the Association´s events over the years. In addition of being a member of the Venezuelan folk musical group "Los Tepuyeros”, he has also collaborated with the group "Danzas Venezolanas" on several occasions to promote Venezuelan dances and culture.

He currently works as an insurance agent. His hobbies are music, reading, fishing, movies, making minor repairs to the typical Venezuelan instrument, the "cuatro," and spending free time with his friends and family. He currently lives in Raleigh, NC with his family, who has also participated, over the years, in the Venezuelan dance group.

Miguel was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1967 and he grew up in the heroic city, La Victoria, Aragua State at the northwest of Venezuela. Although Chirinos’ career is in Computer Science, he constantly sought out opportunities to visit historical sites in his country of origin especially related to Simón Bolívar.

Even though Chirinos moved with his family to the United States in 1996, his passion for Bolívar’s life never ceased. He has taken a special interest in Bolívar’s trip to the United States in 1807 specifically to the east coast. As a result of this research, he is the author of the book entitled “Simón Bolívar in the United States: Bicentennial visit (1807-2007).” The purpose of this work was to provide more detailed information about that specific part of the Liberator Simón Bolívar’s life when he visited the U.S. territory.

In 1999, he was one of the original members of the then called Venezuelan Committee, which organized humanitarian help for mudslide victims in Vargas state and surrounding areas. In 2001, became the first president of the Venezuelan Cultural Association of NC, holding that position for the following four years. Lately, he had been organizing historical events, including the celebration of Francisco de Miranda’s death anniversary at the NC History Center in New Bern, NC (2016).

In 2009, he participated in a Book Fair in Cary, NC presenting his book in both versions (English & Spanish). He also has been traveling and researching about cities and towns named ‘Bolivar’’; also monuments and statues of Simon Bolivar in the United States. In 2011, he organized an exhibit entitled ‘Bolivar Blvd’ at Duke University, showing the legacy of Bolivar in the U.S. territory. Lately, he has been compiling information about Bolivar Post Offices, which is a work in progress.

Currently, he lives with his family in Durham, North Carolina, where he began to write articles about notable Latin Americans who have been portrayed on Latin American paper money, including Francisco de Miranda and Simón Bolívar. These articles have been published in specialized magazines and journals and some are available online. At the same time, he has participated in annual conventions, international congresses, currency shows, and educational programs for young people in public schools and local universities.

Olivia Riera was born in Yaracuy, Venezuela. In 1985, she emigrated to the United States, specifically to Dallas, Texas. In 1989, she moved to North Carolina, where she worked as a designer for 12 years. She currently serves as a subcontractor for a boutique. In the year 2007, she joined the Venezuelan Cultural Association of North Carolina to help spread Venezuelan culture.

Zaida was born in the cost of Colombia and at 7 years old she moved with her family to Margarita Island in Venezuela. Her father, a Colombian-Libyan, was pursuing what was considered at the time the best commercial flow in Latin American in 1976.

Zaida grew up in a very strict family environment, influenced by the Middle Eastern culture. She learned good selling skills by spending most of her time helping her parents with clients and with the administration of the business. However, regardless of the strictness of her upbringing, Zaida rapidly adopted Venezuelan traditions and cultural values. At the age of 21 she married and moved to Caracas to initiate a new life, and three years later decided to start a family. Zaida has two sons who have been raised with a strong Venezuelan identity.

In 2009, after 20 years living in Caracas, she and her family moved to Cary, North Carolina. Even though she misses her beautiful Caracas and its people, she enjoys the opportunity of living in this great country, appreciates what life has to offer, and values the better quality of life they have given to their children. She has learned to appreciate concepts like respect, consideration, and responsibility towards others, values that make life and living with others a much more pleasant experience.

By the end of 2016, Zaida became part of the Venezuelan Cultural Association of North Carolina, since then, her participation in the activities to preserve Venezuelan culture and values alive, makes her feel closer to her beloved Venezuela. For her, sharing with other Venezuelans and people from other nationalities who enjoy our cultural traditions is like experiencing our homeland in the way we all dream to relive it.

Graciela was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. She graduated from the Pedagogical University of Caracas with a degree in Special Education in 1986. She worked for five years as a program coordinator in a school for children with mental retardation in Caracas and as a psychopedagogue at the Child Development Center in Los Teques, State of Miranda for four years. 

In 1994, she decided to move to the United States to continue her studies. In 1998 she earned her master´s degree in Speech and Language Pathology from Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida. Since then, Graciela has practiced her career working with adults and children in different settings; including schools, hospitals, nursing homes and private clinics and has developed a great experience working with children with problems in the area of articulation, expressive and receptive language, voice problems, stuttering, oral / motor difficulties, and with adults who suffer from aphasia and swallowing difficulties. Currently, Graciela is the director of Bilingual Therapy, her private practice in downtown Cary, offering bilingual services to children and adults with communication disorders. Her professional interest is to assist and support Hispanic children and their families. 

Graciela joined the ACVNC in 2015 not only out of the desire to stay tied to her Venezuelan roots but also to teach her children and grandchildren about Venezuelan culture and values. She has also been a member of folk-dance groups for more than 16 years and currently dances with the group “Folklore and Dance”, a dance group belonging to the Venezuelan Cultural Association of North Carolina. In addition to her love to dance, Graciela also loves to travel and see new places. She likes to read, cook, watch movies and TV series, and spend time with her husband, her three children, and her two grandchildren.

Agustín was born in the city of Maracay, Venezuela. There, he completed his high school and university studies and also worked for more than

18 years in the textile industry. He is a self-taught musician and his main instrument is the Venezuelan Cuatro which he has played for more than 20 years. He had toured a great part of the country with different Venezuelan folk groups interpreting joropos, gaitas, cumbias, etc. In 1999 he participated in a great tour of Spain and the Canary Islands and then in 2006 he participated in a tour of Cuba starting at the great Tascón theater in Havana.

He currently resides in the city of Raleigh, North Carolina where he offers musical presentations in Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, and close-by cities in the company of the renowned harpist Pavelid Castañeda who has been his mentor. He has also worked on musical collaborations with music personalities like Larry Bellorín and Teocrito Brito.

Agustín has owned the prestigious Kiwi Cafe and Smoothies in the city of Raleigh since 2017 where he offers multiple options of healthy, organic, and natural food.

Alejandra has been an active member of the Venezuelan Cultural Association for over 4 years. She grew up in Maracaibo, Zulia, and also spent 12 years in the city of Mérida, Mérida state where she studied fine arts in graphic design obtaining a BA degree from Los Andes University. After graduation, together with her son, they relocated to the United States to explore new opportunities and experiences making roots in Raleigh, NC.

Alejandra has held several career positions within the health care field, most notably helping the Hispanic community as a technical translator and medical interpreter working side by side with physicians who specialize in pediatrics to ensure the highest quality of care.

Currently, she is employed by Duke’s Primary Care within the Duke Health System in Durham as a medical interpreter and translator project leader. In addition to being an interpreter, she has the honor to instruct new physicians about Latin American cultures and customs during their internship. She has been recognized in 2020 and 2021 as “Best interpreter to work with” and has been invited as a guest of honor to their graduation celebration of the Medicine-Pediatrics Residency groups.

She is currently married and loves art in all its forms, she also likes to travel and takes advantage of every opportunity to be an advocate for the Hispanic community.