Northeastern Illinois University’s December 2023 Commencement speaker will be entrepreneur and finance expert Olga Camargo.
Camargo is the CEO of FARO Associates LLC, a Latina/woman-owned/Minority Business Enterprise that provides consulting services to government, corporations and businesses related to engaging today’s diverse workforce. She is also the Co-Head of FARO Advisory — a division of Centric Wealth Management— and provides virtual investment advisory and retirement plan advisory services to clients that include high net worth individuals, business owners, public and private corporations, public sector entities, and not-for-profit entities and foundations.
Through 1871 — a Chicago-based non-profit digital startup incubator — and their LTNtech Founders program with the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Camargo co-founded SHENIX™, a financial technology app that aims to help Latinas close the wealth gap across the United States.
Camargo has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. In witnessing the business acumen and struggles of her mother, the owner of a bridal shop in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, she became an advocate for women and minority communities. Camargo is frequently sought after by national and community leaders as well as some of the fastest-growing businesses to provide her unique perspective.
In 2010, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs selected Camargo for its Emerging Leaders Program, a highly competitive cohort of Chicago’s up-and-coming professionals, leaders who continue to raise the bar for Chicago as a leading global city.
Since then, Camargo has gained local and national recognition for her work, including being named among the Top 100 Women of Influence (Diversity MBA Magazine, 2020), one of Chicago’s Most Powerful Latinos (Crain’s Chicago Business, 2019), one of the 50 Most Influential Latinos in Chicago (Negocios Now, 2017), and a Top 100 Under 50 Executive Leader (Diversity MBA Magazine, 2017). She served as the Chair for Forbes Business Council's Financial Services Industry Group in 2021, and is also an Aspen Institute Ricardo Salinas Scholar (2019).
Camargo earned both Bachelor of Science in Business and Master of Arts in Language, Literacy, and Rhetoric degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).
The UIC’s College of Business Administration inducted Camargo into its Alumni Leadership Academy for raising the standing and stature of the college. Earlier this year, UIC and the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE) established the Olga Camargo Scholarship to help future Latino leaders earn degrees in higher education. She is Board Chair Emeritus for HACE, which includes more than 100,000 members. She also serves on the Illinois State Treasurer's Hispanic Advisory Council, Illinois Latino Legislative Caucus Foundation Economic Development Committee and previously served as a Commissioner on the Board of the Public Building Commission, which was chaired by former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
In 2023, Camargo became the first Latina to serve as Chair of the Northeastern Illinois University Foundation Board.
Commencement will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 10 at Credit Union 1 Arena, 525 S. Racine Ave., in Chicago. Tickets are required and made available only to graduates and their guests. The ceremony will be streamed live at neiu.edu/commencement.
Olga Camargo
