Pilar Rocha-Goldberg is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of El Centro Hispano, Inc., a nonprofit organization that helps the Latino community to integrate in the community-at-large in Durham and Orange counties.
A native of Bogotá, Columbia, Rocha-Goldberg earned a college degree prior to her arrival in the United States in 2004. She had worked as a dietician-nutritionist and in similar occupations for 30 years for various companies in her native homeland. When she arrived in the United States, Rocha-Goldberg immediately began working in programs designed to help Latinos. In collaboration with Duke University, she developed and operated a Spanish-language program for hypertensive Latino individuals, which she later implemented at El Centro.
Rocha-Goldberg’s community involvement includes leadership positions and seats on the Unidos Us Board of Directors, Health Equity Council for Orange County, Health Advisory Board for Duke University Chancellor, and Pathways to Change Board of Directors. She is also a member of Triangle Columbian Resources Association, The Durham County Project Access Board of Directors, Northeast Central Durham Leadership Council, The Governor’s Advisory Council of Hispanic/Latino Affairs, Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors, Lincoln Community Foundation Board of Directors, and the Durham YMCA Board of Directors.
Rocha-Goldberg was previously featured in the 150 Faces of Durham exhibit at the 2011-2012 Woman of the Year by the National Association of Professional Women and, in 2011, as One of the Five Successful Women in Durham by the City of Durham. She has also received the Latin American Women’s Excellence Award from the Latin American Women’s Club and the Goodman Fellow Award from Leadership Triangle.
Moreover, Rocha-Goldberg represented Columbia at the White House for the 15th anniversary of the Plan Columbia initiative. She was recently appointed to the Durham Technical Community College Board of Trustees, thereby becoming the Board’s first Latino member.