“Don’t ever be satisfied. Always look for ways to make things better and don’t be afraid to take risks.”

¿Qué Pasa, OSU? recently met with Ezra Escudero to talk about his past, present and future plans. Like many Latinos in the United States, Ezra has a very interesting family history. He was raised by Mexican parents who moved to Mansfield. His two younger sisters attended Ohio State, a tradition that Ezra himself started in his family.

He graduated with a Bachelor in International Studies from Ohio State in Spring 1996 and began working with Unisys Corporation that September, as an Account Executive. After a winding journey that brought him back to Columbus in 2000, this October 2003, Ezra started to work with the Commission on Hispanic/Latin@ Affairs as its Executive Director.

Ezra has as a motto he likes to share with everybody: “Don’t ever be satisfied. Always look for ways to make things better and don’t be afraid to take risks.” He also puts his words into action.

From participating in speech and debate to being a member and president of Alpha Psi Lambda, and the Executive Editor of ¿Qué Pasa, OSU?, Ezra was very involved since his freshman year at Ohio State. About a year after his graduation, Ezra moved to Pittsburgh to work with Unisys for three years. While in Pittsburgh, Ezra was involved with the Latin American Cultural Union, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Western Pennsylvania, the World Affairs Council, and Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

Three years ago, he moved back to Columbus to help his father open a jewelry store, but those plans were put on hold, so he continued working with Unisys. In 2001, Ezra started a bilingual newspaper called Nuestro Ohio with the idea of filling the gap that exists in connecting Latin@s with their new community in Columbus, connecting non-Latin@s and Latin@s, and informing the community-at-large about news, ideas, and events taking place here in Central Ohio and around the state. The first edition of the newspaper was published in April 2002.

Although he continues to be involved behind the scenes of the newspaper for design and strategy purposes, Ezra has left the newspaper in the good hands of his team, including Editor-In-Chief Ana Quevedo, and Special Events Coordinator Guadalupe Velasquez. His new initiative is his work as the Executive Director of the Commission on Hispanic/Latin@ Affairs. “The legal mandate of the Latino Affairs Commission is broad in its scope, and that gives the Commission the flexibility to best serve the interests of the Hispanic community and all the Ohioans”, Ezra explained. In order to better focus attention and resources on the different areas of need, Ezra has suggested the categories of Health & Public Safety, Economic Development, Immigration & Labor, Education & Youth, and Culture. Apart from building an awareness of the different problems affecting the Latino community, his duties as the new Executive Director include educating the public, building public safety and helping in its economic development.

¿Qué Pasa, OSU? wishes Ezra great success in this new stage in his career and hopes that he accomplishes all the goals that he has as he begins his duties as the new Executive Director of the Commission on Hispanic/Latin@ Affairs. We are very proud to have Ezra as one of our Alumni.