Meet the Team
Rebekah Rosen-Gomez
Executive Director
Rebekah Rosen-Gomez, a native of New York, moved to Rhode Island in 1991 and has worked with families in Newport for 16 years. Rebekah returned to school as an adult and earned a BA in Social Work from Rhode Island College. Rebekah is employed by the East Bay Community Action Program as the Family Services Manager at Pell Elementary School. She is a founding member of Conexión Latina Newport an organization that seeks to educate, support, empower, and advocate for Hispanics in Newport, as well as partner with local agencies, government, and schools, to better serve this population. In her spare time, Rebekah is a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician and Spanish / English translator on medical missions to Central America.
Yolanda Macías
Director of Operations
Yolanda Macías, a native of Mexico City, moved to Newport in 2014. Yolanda obtained her Bachelor of Business Administration, specialist in tourism at “La Universidad del Valle de México” in Mexico City. Yolanda has been an office assistant at San José Church since 2015 and has been working with the Latino community for 6 years. Yolanda is a founding member of Conexión Latine Newport, an organization that seeks to educate, support, empower and advocate for the Hispanic community in Newport.
Marisa Portillo
Early Childhood Family Navigator
Marissa Portillo, a native of San Salvador, moved to Newport in 2000. Marisa is the Family Navigator for Conexión Latina Newport with 15 years of experience working with and for the Latino community of Newport. Marissa links families with children aged 0-5 to educational opportunities and resources as well as accessing social services, and is responsible for working directly with young families to provide them the necessary services they need to meet a good quality of life in the Newport area. She is inspired by her husband and her 4 children, who are all students in the Newport public schools.
Joyce Hunter
Community Health Work
Joyce Hunter, a native of California, moved to Rhode Island in 1993 and has spent several years working in human services at Child & Family working with Latino families for 13 years. Joyce is returning to school as an adult and hopes to complete a degree in Social Work. Joyce is employed as a Community Health Worker for Conexión Latina Newport and will work directly with families to help link them in accessing resources through the community of Newport.