"Having it all without losing yourself" by Ana Maria Quevedo

Ana María Quevedo Originally from Lima, Perú, Ani is an award-winning author, multicultural journalist and mass media communications professional with more than twenty-five years experience. Her career started in Lima, where she worked as a creative writer and producer in the top advertising agencies in the city. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1988, Ani rediscovered her passion for journalism and its power to be a resource to help immigrants better adapt to the U.S. Throughout her career, Ani has been the publisher of several Hispanic-focus newspapers, books and Web sites; including Contacto Latino, Nuestro Ohio, Fronteras de la Noticia, Mi Directorio Hispano, and Las Páginas Latinas. She has received several awards for her work with the Hispanic and immigrant communities. Most significant are the Hispanic Hero Award (Columbus, Ohio, 2004 and 2006), Hispanic Association of AT&T Employees (HISPA‐AT&T) President’s Award 1994, 1996, 1997, 2000; Texas Diversity Council DiversityFirst Award, 2007; and City of San Antonio Neighborhood Commercial Revitalization Community Excellence Partnership of the Year Award, 2007. She has received a commendation from San Antonio’s Mayor, Julian Castro. She was the founder of Centro Esperanza Latina in Columbus, Ohio. The center serves newly arrived immigrant families in their acculturation process. She has also worked with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and the Ohio Commission on Latino/Hispanic affairs in projects serving the Latino communities better understand their rights and resources available. Ani is the editor, creative director and founder of www.contacto-latino.com, a trilingual site for Latinos; www.livinginadoubleworld.tv, a Web TV site featuring bilingual educational webisodes for immigrants; Contacto Latino Libros a self-publishing editorial for new authors at www.contacto-latino.com/libros and QP Image Builders, a marketing and communications firm at www.qpimagebuilders.com In 2010 she published the second edition of Living in a Double World: a practical guided tour through the immigration experience (first published in 1996), and two novels in Spanish, Nos Vemos En Purgatorio and Plumbago Torres y el Sueño Americano (under her Peruvian name, Ani Palacios). Nos Vemos En Purgatorio won Best Novel in the 2010 International Latino Book Awards in New York City, leaving bestseller author Paulo Coelho in second place. Grupo Editorial Santillana, the largest and most recognizable publisher in Spanish-language literature, published Ani’s first novel under its distinguished Alfaguara label that same year. Living in a Double World: a practical guided tour through the immigration experience and Plumbago Torres y el Sueño Americano also won an International Latino Book Award in 2011 for Best self-help book and Best novel, respectively. Plumbago Torres y el Sueño Americano, which presents the story of the first Latino president of the US, will be published by Grupo Editorial Santillana/Alfaguara in 2012. She has a B.A in journalism from Universidad de Piura and a B.A in mass media communications from Universidad de Lima. Ani lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Félix, daughters Camila and Mariana and son Diego.