EVS Communications was founded by Eduardo López and Arturo Salcedo Martínez in 1994 as the culmination of their groundbreaking work in the D.C. Mayor‘s Office on Latino Affairs, where they created the award-winning Spanish-language television series, Línea Directa.

The producers joined forces in 1985, when they discovered a shared passion for public education, and for the use of commercial television as an effective vehicle for change in the lives of Latino families. Both Mr. Salcedo Martínez and Mr. López are long-time residents of the Washington metropolitan area whose work in public education has been profoundly shaped by their experience as immigrants from Latin America.

Eduardo López received degrees in Marketing and Photojournalism from Syracuse University in 1979. He serves as the Executive Director of EVS and is the Producer of the Línea Directa series. Mr. López was born of Salvadoran parents in Monterrey, Mexico, and has lived in the U.S. since 1967.

Arturo Salcedo Martínez graduated in 1981 with a Social Communication degree from the Universidad Javierana in Bogotá, Colombia. Mr. Salcedo Martínez is an award-winning author of Spanish-language fiction. His collection of short stories, “El Viejo Anselmo,“ was published in 1993.

EVS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Mr. Roland Roebuck is the Hispanic Program Manager for the D.C. Government’s Department of Human Services, and a founding member of Encuentro, an Afro-Latino organization dedicated to furthering cultural understanding and education.

Mr. Roebuck is currently a member of the Washington Hospital Center Community Relations Council, the Global Afro-Latino and Caribbean Initiative, and the National Puerto Rican Coalition. He is a former Board member of the Latino Civil Rights Task Force and the National Hispanic Council on Aging.

Ms. Jeannette Noltenius, Ph.D. is the former Executive Director of the Latino Council on Alcohol and Tobacco, and is a national leader in the fight to improve the health of Latino families through the reduction of dependence on cigarettes and liquor products.

Ms. Noltenius is currently working at the Pan American Health Organization, and is a Board member of Clinica del Pueblo, the National Multicultural Institute, and the Intercultural Cancer Council. She is a founder of the National Capital Coalition to Prevent Underage Drinking, and is a member of the Hispanic Health Coalition, the American Public Health Association, and the D.C. Tobacco Task Force.

Mr. Carlos E. Soles is a National HIV/AIDS Training Specialist for the U.S. Office of Minority Health Resource Center. In this capacity, he conducts seminars, organizes skill-building workshops, and provides technical assistance to community-based organizations throughout the country.

Mr. Soles is a former Peace Corps volunteer who served in Nicaragua. He is the President and Co-Founder of the United Colombian American Association, and an active volunteer with the National Association of Colombian American Organizations. In addition, Mr. Soles is a Board member of the Northern Virginia AIDS Ministries, and Advisory Board Member of the American Red Cross Hispanic HIV/AIDS Education and Prevention Skills Program, a member of the Health Advisory Board for CASA de Maryland, a member of the American Public Health Association’s Latino Caucus, and Vice President of Latinos Unidos en Acción.

Mr. Arturo Salcedo Martínez is the co-founder of EVS and the former Host of the weekly public education television series, Linea Directa. He is an award-winning writer of Spanish-language fiction, and is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the National Writers Union. He is also the founder of Para Eso La Palabra, a successful literary collective based in Washington, D.C. that each month brings together some 200 members in order to celebrate Latino art and culture.