Perdue, Bev. Press Release, 2010-01-21, Gov. Perdue Appoints Gabriela Zabala as Director of the Office of Hispanic Affairs

Beverly Eaves Perdue Governor State of North Carolina Office of the Governor 20301 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699-0301 January 21, 2010 Contact: Chrissy Pearson (919)733-5612 ' Gov. Perdue Appoints Gabriela Zabala as Director of the Office of Hispanic Affairs RALEIGH - Gov. Bev Perdue today announced that she has appointed Gabriela Zabala as Director of the Office of Hispanic/Latino Affairs. Zabala will continue to develop partnerships and increase the collaboration of N.C. government offices, private, nonprofit agencies and community organizations. “Gabriella brings a wide range of experience and enthusiasm to this position,” said Perdue. “She will be an asset to this administration.” For the past fifteen years, Zabala has served as a public health consultant for Hispanic health programs and other minorities in the state of North Carolina. In her role as a Senior Public Health Consultant for Latino Policies and Programs at the DHHS Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities, she served as an advocate for effective health programs, policies and services to Hispanic and other underserved populations in North Carolina. She served on DHHS’s Title VI Steering Committee, Obesity Prevention Grant Team and as chair on the Hispanic Health Task Force. She also represented DHHS on the N.C. Hispanic Governor’s Council. Zabala currently serves as a board member of Congressman Bob Etheridge’s Health Hispanic Task Force and she is one of the founders of the N.C. Hispanic Democratic Party. She is a former member and founder of the Coalition against Hispanic Battered Women, N.C. Linguistic Task Force and Voces Unidas, first organization of the Wake County Health and Human Services Center which assisted the diverse ethnic clientele.