A 1991 graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University, Salgado is an influential civic leader and social innovator. For the past 12 years, Salgado has led the Instituto, a not-for-profit organization which creates educational, training, and community engagement initiatives and workforce opportunities for Latino communities in Chicago, through a period of national award-winning recognition and historic organizational growth.President and CEO of Instituto del Progreso Latino and Illinois Wesleyan University alumnus Juan Salgado delivered the address “You Who” for the University’s Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 5 at 1 p.m. Salgado was one of two recipients of an honorary doctor of humane letters degree during the Commencement ceremony, along with Robert Parris Moses, founder and president of the Algebra Project.
Most recently, Instituto has founded the Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy, a new charter high school aimed at inspiring and preparing Chicago’s youth for success in the growing healthcare fields. In 2009, the Instituto was selected as the National Council of La Raza’s Affiliate of the Year and was also given an Award of Excellence from the United States Department of Labor in 2008.
A significant voice in local and national settings for his work on the educational, political and economic advancement of the Latino community, Salgado was recognized as a 2011 White House Champion of Change for Social Innovation. In 2010, he was the recipient of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund Excellence in Community Service Award. From 2006 to 2009, he served as an advisor to President of Mexico Felipe Calderon on the state of Mexican immigrants in the United States. Salgado was also the recipient of the 2007 and 2009 Aspen Ideas Festival Fellowship, joining top decision-makers, journalists, artists, policy experts and government officials from across the globe. In 2005, he earned a fellowship in the distinguished Leadership Greater Chicago program.
An economics major at Illinois Wesleyan, Salgado grew up in Calumet Park, Ill. After winning a graduate fellowship to study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he earned a master’s degree in urban planning in 1993. He currently serves on numerous boards in the Chicago-land area.