The Bush Foundation has announced its 2025 class of Bush Fellows, 29 visionary leaders working to reimagine systems and ignite meaningful change across the Upper Midwest. Among them are three Latino trailblazers from Minnesota whose work reflects the strength, resilience, and transformative power of their communities: Elvis Rivera, Amáda Márquez Simula, and Ma Elena Gutierrez.
Each fellow brings a personal story shaped by struggle and fueled by purpose. Together, they represent a future where leadership is rooted in justice, cultural pride, and collective empowerment.
Elvis Rivera, a financial advisor and first-generation Guatemalan immigrant, knows what it means to grow up without access to wealth or stability. Having experienced homelessness as a child, he now dedicates his life to closing the racial wealth gap through financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and public policy. Based in Brooklyn Park, Rivera blends community workshops, mentorship, and advocacy to help Black, Latino, and immigrant families build generational wealth. With the Bush Fellowship, he plans to deepen his financial expertise, sharpen his public speaking, and expand culturally grounded financial empowerment initiatives.
Amáda Márquez Simula, mayor of Columbia Heights and the city’s first Chicana elected official, is transforming local government into a model of inclusive, equity-driven leadership. A former activist and nonprofit founder, Márquez Simula brings together Somali elders, LGBTQ+ youth, and long-time residents to create spaces where all voices are heard. Her leadership style is both strategic and personal—rooted in celebration, visibility, and service. Her fellowship will support leadership training, language learning, and the creation of a replicable community governance framework for diverse cities.
Ma Elena Gutierrez, founder and executive director of Fe y Justicia, is a powerful voice for immigrant workers across central Minnesota. From the fields to meatpacking plants, Gutierrez organizes Latino laborers facing unsafe conditions and systemic exclusion. Her leadership is built on trust, cultural grounding, and a fierce belief in dignity for all. With the support of the fellowship, she will invest in her own growth while building sustainable cross-cultural movements focused on wellness, collective action, and long-term power.
The Bush Fellowship provides each recipient with up to $150,000 to pursue education, training, and development that will expand their capacity to lead transformational change. But beyond the funding, the fellowship is a recognition: these leaders are building the future, one where equity isn’t just a buzzword but a lived, shared reality.
In a time of deep political division and institutional failure, Rivera, Márquez Simula, and Gutierrez are proof that community-rooted leadership is not only possible, it’s already happening.
Their stories are a powerful reminder: when leaders emerge from the communities most impacted by injustice, they challenge broken systems and create new ones. To learn more about the 2025 Bush Fellows, visit bushfoundation.org.
