Javier Maza, President of Maza Communications, Inc., is a journalist and communications consultant with more than 20 years of experience. He has worked with the most important mass communications media in his country (Peru), producing successful radio and television programs and serving as a journalist and political analyst for the daily newspaper, El Comercio, the dean of the Peruvian press. Maza and his family have lived in Miami since 1996. He arrived in the United States after leaving Peru during a period of political persecution against the press that led to the downfall of President Alberto Fujimori.

In Miami, Maza has developed an extensive career as an international consultant in corporate communications. He has served as a communications manager for multinational firms such as Travel Channel Latin America and Ericsson Latin America, and as a managing supervisor at Fleishman-Hillard, one of the world’s largest public relations firms. He has also lent his services in corporate communications and media training to companies like Procter & Gamble and Cisco Systems, and has advised governments and political parties throughout Latin America. For more information, visit www.mazacommunications.com.

Susan G. Lichtman has worked in the communications field for 25 years. After producing public affairs programs for a Worcester, Massachusetts radio station and later, providing media relations for the University of Miami, in 1986 she founded SGL Marketing Communications, Inc., a public relations and creative services agency dedicated to the writing, design and production of publications and marketing communications collateral for companies and organizations. Her client list has included some of Miami’s major corporations and organizations, such as Burger King Corporation, Florida Power & Light Company, BellSouth, Jackson Memorial Hospital, Mount Sinai Medical Center, National Parkinson Foundation, University of Miami, Miami-Dade College, Florida International University, Humane Society of Greater Miami, Sunrise Community, and many others. She has won many awards for her work. For more details, visit www.sglmarketing.net.

In 2003, Lichtman decided to create SGL Publishing, Inc., a company whose mission is to produce informational products to help improve people’s daily lives. To meet this goal, the company has launched its first series of practical books in Spanish for the Hispanic community, Aprendiendo a Vivir en los Estados Unidos. The first title in this new series is Guía Práctica de Inmigración (Practical Guide to Immigration).

Lichtman earned a B.A. degree from Clark University and a M.A. degree in mass communications from Michigan State University. She was an exchange student to Costa Rica, a university student in Mexico, and a Fulbright-Hays Scholar in Colombia, where she conducted a study on the use of the mass communications media in education and development. Through her travels and studies, she has developed an intimate knowledge of Spanish and an identification with Latin American culture.