Our Team

Meet the Festival Organizers

Meet The Committee

Mr. Luis Lopez hails from Peru. He emigrated to the United States as a teenager to seek a formal education so that he can financially assist his family who remained in South America. Luis attended the University of Illinois on a fully paid soccer scholarship, graduating with a degree in Business Administration.

His vast knowledge of Hispanic culture, combined with his financial and business expertise, has given him great success and prestige within the Hispanic community. These intellectual and cultural assets served him well in his continued endeavors in the business of promoting and, an event organizer. Over the years, he established a reputation for being one of the premier Latin music promoters in the Chicago area.

Mr. Lopez has experienced great success in business planning and talent marketing, due to the implementation of promotional programs, concerts, festivals, and events in Chicago that hosted premier names in Latin entertainment.

Corporations such as Anheuser-Busch, Miller Brewing Company, Adolph, Coors, RJ Reynolds,

The House of Seagram's, Pepsi-Cola, and American Airlines, and obtained stellar results, thanks to his efforts and experience in sales marketing and promoting capabilities.

Through his former experience in the entertainment business, Mr. Lopez introduced the idea for the Peruvian Festival Chicago. The Peruvian Festival is now in its 12th consecutive year, and he is hopeful that the event will continue to achieve success for many years to come.

“Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much.” Helen Keller’s quote inspires native Dominican Mercedes Feliz-Matos both as an educator and community activist.

With an Elementary and Higher Education degree from Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU), she serves her community primarily as an educator and has worked with students that span from Kindergarten through high school.

Mercedes vast experience working with the Latino community has been a major contributor to the various non-profit organizations and committees that she has served. Mercedes has participated and coordinated several community events in an effort to raise funds for countries, communities or individuals in need. Her efforts have raised thousands of dollars for the Chicagoland area and the U.S., Haiti, Mexico, Dominican Republic and other areas affected by natural disasters.

Mercedes experiences coupled with her extensive training and certifications in leadership development and her knowledge in community-based programming is what she is excited to bring to Peruvian Festival Chicago. Mercedes loves learning about different cultures, she has a multicultural mind set. She has the ability to function effectively in more than one culture. Her goal is to continue to raise awareness, promote and showcase the Peruvian culture, music and gastronomic in Chicago while strengthening the relationships between Peruvians and other Latinos and Non-Latinos.

Me siento muy orgullosa de tener la oportunidad de promover la cultura peruana en Chicago.