PAREDES, Mario

Mario ParedesMr. Paredes serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders (CALL). He is also the President of the North American Chilean Chamber of Commerce and the Vice President of the Gabriela Mistral Foundation. He is on the Board of the National Pastoral Life Center (NPLC) and he currently works for the American Bible Society as Presidential Liaison on:  United Nations Initiatives, Roman Catholic Projects as well as Hispanic Ministries.

Formerly from 2001 to 2008, Mr. Paredes was appointed to the Corporate Division of Merrill Lynch having served initially as   Vice President and then National Director of the U.S. Hispanic Market for the Multicultural & Diversified Business Development Group.  His responsibilities included hiring, training and retraining Hispanic American Financial Advisors as well as building relationships in the Hispanic American communities.

Prior to working for Merrill, for 25 years Mr. Paredes directed the operations of the Roman Catholic Bishops of the Northeastern USA were he was the founder and Director of the Northeast Hispanic Catholic Center.  Under Mayor Ed Koch, he was Commissioner for the Charter Revision of New York City and, a Personal Advisor to Cardinal John O’Connor of New York.  

In both national and international roles he acted as a Consultant to the US Hispanic Secretariat and the World Justice and Peace Committee at the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops. He additionally served as a Consultant to the Vatican Commission of Latin America. Under President Reagan, as a White House appointee and special Latin American envoy he acted in the capacity of observer of the democratic process and elections in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Surinam and Haiti.

Mr. Paredes studied at the Catholic University of Chile and graduated from the Catholic University of Argentina with an M.A. in Philosophy.  His Post Graduate studies were at Georgetown University, New York University and Loyola University.

He has served as Editorial Board Member of El Diario-La Prensa, Catholic New York, The Tablet, El Pregonero. He has also served as a trustee on boards including the Salvation Army, the Catholic Medical Mission Board, the Instituto Cervantes and the Ibero American Orchestra.  He is the Founder of the national weekly El Visitante Dominical in USA and El Visitante de Puerto Rico.  Awards received include a Papal Knighthood, a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the Universidad Mar del Plata in Argentina, and from the National Catholic Press Association.