Jennifer Aguilar is a Community Outreach Specialist at Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Network a role in which she provides public education and awareness on the importance of organ & tissue donation in Illinois and northwest Indiana. For the past six years Jennifer’s work has focused on working in underserved communities to bring much needed information and dispel myths and misconceptions that prevent people from registering as organ & tissue donors. She has led various initiatives in Chicago’s historic Latino communities to create awareness for organ & tissue donation, one of them being the Light it Up Purple! campaign which lit up the iconic Little Village arch and Pilsen’s Plaza Tenochtitlan with purple lights and banners during the month of April to celebrate National Donor Awareness Month.
Jennifer was born and raised in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, where she currently resides. Her biggest passion is giving back to her community though her work with Gift of Hope as well as her service as Board Secretary for the Little Village Chamber of Commerce and Board Director for the Little Village Community Foundation. Jennifer also serves as a Board Director for the Association of Multicultural Affairs in Transplantation and is a founding member of DePaul University’s Latinx Alumni Chapter Committee. Jennifer holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science & History from DePaul University and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Public Policy and a Strategic Writing and Advancement for Nonprofits Graduate Certificate from DePaul University’s School of Public Service