The Arkansas Latino Hall of Fame recently hosted inaugural induction ceremonyduring which the first inductees were honored. The four included are Andre Guerrero, Roberto Martinez, Fabrico Medina-Bolivar and Lisette Yang.

Guerro spent the past 25 years as the state director of linguistic minority student programs at the Arkansas Department of Education. Beginning with his work with Mexican-American migrant children in the lower Rio Grande Valley, his career has focused on promoting equitable educational opportunities in marginalized communities.

Throughout his career, he has served as a VISTA volunteer, served as a foundation officer, directed a graduate program at Antioch College in Ohio, and served as Ohio’s commissioner of Spanish-speaking businesses.

Martinez moved to Arkansas from Chicago in 1980, inspired by the Arkansas slogan “Land of Opportunity” to make the transition from city life to country life. Overcoming obstacles to establish a place in the community, his family was named the Sevier County Farm Family of the Year in 1987, winning the district title that same year. He is the owner of Rancho la Esperanza in De Queen.

He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Little Rock Federal Reserve, the Board of Trustees of CHRISTUS Hospital St. Michael, University of Arkansas Cossatot Board of Visitors and Cossatot Community College Board of Visitors. He helped lead the integration of the community college into the university system. He is also active in the Arkansas Farm Bureau and the Sevier County Farm Service Agency.

Medina-Bolivar is a professor of plant metabolic engineering in the department of biological sciences at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, as well as director of the graduate programs in environmental science and molecular biosciences. He conducts research at the Arkansas Bioscience Institute.

Working to advance leadership and higher education in the Hispanic community, Medina-Bolivar is president of the A-State Latina/o Faculty and Staff Association and a member of the Executive Committee for the Northeast Arkansas Hispanic Professional Network, for which he is past. president. He is also a former board member of Centro Hispano in Jonesboro, which named him the 2011 Hispanic Award of the Year, and co-advised Hermana y Hermano, a Hispanic-based student mentoring association. In 2024, ASU awarded him the Excellence in Community Diversity Award.

Yang came to Little Rock in 1997 and soon recognized the need for more accurate communication between the Spanish-speaking population and service providers, partnering with Arkansas Spanish interpreters and translators to interpret in hospitals and district courts. In 2005, she became the first Latino victim advocate in Arkansas, and in 2012, she became the first bilingual child forensic interviewer at the Child Protective Services Center in Little Rock, where she was later promoted to lead/senior forensic interviewer.

Last year, she became the first bilingual administrator for the Arkansas Department of Public Safety’s Crime Victim Reparations, which named her the 2011 CVRB Advocate of the Year. She has also served with a number of community organizations dedicated to assisting crime victims, including the first Arkansas State Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force.

The Arkansas Latino Hall of Fame was organized by the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce. North Little Rock Tourism was the presenting sponsor. To make nominations for the 2025 Arkansas Latino Hall of Fame, click here.

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