Born and raised on the North Side of Chicago, Esther J. Cepeda started writing before her scribbles adequately conveyed her musings. She attended Lane Technical High School then went on to Southern Illinois University, earning a Bachelor's degree in Journalism with minors in Music and Psychology. After being awarded a full scholarship to the Medill School of Journalism, she studied Integrated Marketing Communications there before going into direct marketing and public relations for a variety of Chicago companies.

In 2002 Ms. Cepeda began teaching as a bilingual teacher in low-income grammar and high schools in the suburbs of Chicago while working toward a Master's degree in Special Education from Roosevelt University.

Before joining the Chicago Sun-Times in 2006, then becoming Chicago's first Latino metro columnist, Ms. Cepeda wrote about national and local politics and social issues for Illinois newspapers and magazines across the country.

Selected as a Columbia University "Next Generation Project" American Assembly Fellow in 2007, Ms. Cepeda was recently named a National Fellow and in June 2008 convened with over one hundred nationally-selected young leaders at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars to strategize on U.S. Global Policy and the Future of International Institutions.

She self-syndicates the "600 Words" column on www.600words.com, is indexed by the Newstex Company, and distributed nationally by Scripps-Howard News Service and BlogBurst.

Ms. Cepeda is currently the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission which makes college possible for Illinois students and families through grants and student loans.

She serves on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Headline Club, the largest chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, The Chicago Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the Executives' Club of Chicago.

Ms. Cepeda is a musician, singer, dancer and an artist and continues her commitment to the arts by serving on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Sinfonietta – America's most diverse symphony, and the official orchestra of the Joffrey Ballet. She also the Chair of the Chicago Arts & Business Council's 2008 Gala. She lives with her family and two tan Chihuahuas in a suburb of Chicago.

She can be found on LinkedIn and Facebook and WILL email you back: eejaycee@600words.com

Blog Entries by Esther J. Cepeda

One Chicago Cellist Plus One Dalai Lama Equals a World of Compassion

Posted December 9, 2009 | 09:48 PM (EST)


Picture an idealistic Northwestern University cello student, circa 1993, playing a tune for a crowd of colorfully-robed monks from all over the world and you'll have visualized Michael Fitzpatrick.

Since his years in Chicago, Michael -- golden-curly-haired, tall, and possessed of a chill-axed surfer dude vibe -- has been featured...

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Terror Fears Scarier Than Guantanamo Bay Suspects in the Heartland

2 Comments | Posted November 19, 2009 | 04:14 PM (EST)


What's far scarier than the thought of Guantanamo Bay terrorism suspects cooling their heels behind maximum security bars in Thomson, Illinois?

Fear-mongered people -- already stretched to the limits due to the ravages the economy has inflicted -- acting out against anyone who looks like a foreigner because the TV...

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Economic Tier Scheme for CPS Selective Enrollment Schools: Go Back to the Drawing Board

10 Comments | Posted November 12, 2009 | 10:37 AM (EST)


Looking back on it, I just don't know how I made it in.

Growing up at Addison and Lincoln there was no question where I wanted to go to high school: the gorgeous, ivy-covered walls of Albert G. Lane Technical High School up the street at Addison and Western.

The...

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Women and Minorities Bit Players, But Gaining in Selling to America's Biggest Customer -- the Federal Government

1 Comments | Posted November 6, 2009 | 10:46 AM (EST)


It's been about a year since I last wrote about women's economic advancement and diversity initiatives in the context of the Great Recession.

Things were starting to get rough back then and they're still not great. Despite some nice indicators of national economic health, for the most part,...

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Halloween Pet Pimp Costumes: Not a Good Gauge of the Economy's Strength

1 Comments | Posted October 29, 2009 | 10:54 AM (EST)


You're thinking things are going to the dogs?

Nah, things went to the dogs well before the Great Recession, and -- as if to prove that Americans have no capacity to learn from their own hubris -- we're already on our way back.

The first sign I saw was the...

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College From Pennsylvania to Chicago's South Side to the Future, With Fish

Posted October 22, 2009 | 10:28 AM (EST)


Let's celebrate! And let's celebrate fish! And fishing!

Yes, you heard me right.

Between the shootings that happen steps from school boundaries and the domestic violence that splatters on the very kids who are supposed to grow up and lead us to a brighter, better tomorrow, it seems like...

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Savoring the End of the World As We Know It!

1 Comments | Posted October 15, 2009 | 11:28 AM (EST)


I went to see the movie Zombieland on Saturday, right in the middle of what seemed like a ferociously cold day, what it being early October and us on the verge of perishing from this global warming and all.

You might imagine that a post-zombie-apocalypse-survival movie might bring a girl...

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Rio in 2016: A Great Consolation Prize for U.S. Hispanics With South American Ties

17 Comments | Posted October 2, 2009 | 03:09 PM (EST)


Yes, it was a shock when Chicago was so easily, so cavalierly knocked out of the bid. After all the years put into making a Chicago 2016 Olympics a reality, the dream faded away in a matter of moments.

But then later, when the final winner was announced tears...

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No Good Times for Big Business -- They're Mad as Hell and Not Gonna Take It Anymore

56 Comments | Posted October 1, 2009 | 12:19 PM (EST)


Regular Joe and Jo-ettes don't spend enough time thinking about how federal policy shapes their lives on a day-to-day basis. Even in good times, most people are just too busy trying to keep their heads above water and makin' a wave when they can -- and these times are far...

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Chicago Boxer David Diaz: Facing His Future in the Ring Saturday

1 Comments | Posted September 24, 2009 | 10:03 AM (EST)


There's really only one good reason to watch a boxing match: ass-kicking.

Face it: you can talk about sportsmanship, you can talk about guts, grit and determination, you can talk about technique. But when it all comes down to it, there are two men in a ring and one of...

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Will He or Won't He? Obama the Key to Chicago's Olympic Dream

17 Comments | Posted September 17, 2009 | 11:22 AM (EST)


There really shouldn't be much suspense here - the man said it plain-as-day during Wednesday's White House rah-rah for Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid.

"I would make the case in Copenhagen personally, if I weren't so firmly committed to making -- making real the promise of quality, affordable health care...

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Who's a Liar? In Search of the Million Dollar Illegal Immigrant to End All Health Care Reform

110 Comments | Posted September 9, 2009 | 11:31 PM (EST)


The health care debate has been hijacked by angry people who have health insurance, don't want their applecart upset, and thusly have resorted to spreading out-and-out lies about the current attempt at reform.

Some so angry, they'll catcall the president during a nationally-televised address to congress. Thanks for being so...

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Add This Health Care Solution to the Debate: Mexican and Latin American Folk Remedies for the Ultimate Do-It-Yourselfer

2 Comments | Posted September 1, 2009 | 08:07 PM (EST)


I am not a curandera -- healing woman -- nor do I play one on TV.

Also, I am not an abuelita -- granny -- old world to me means fax machines.

But seeing how the health care debate the country is having with itself has devolved into shouting...

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Bob Novak and Me: A Journalistic Journey From Old School to New School and Back

1 Comments | Posted August 19, 2009 | 09:41 AM (EST)


There was no "me and Bob Novak" per se, it's not like we'd walk out of the Chicago Sun-Times building together -- back when it wasn't the basement of the Trump Tower --
and head over to the Billy Goat for a cold one after deadline had passed...

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The Language of Paying Respects: The English-Spanish Connection at a Chicago Business Who's Who

1 Comments | Posted August 13, 2009 | 07:37 PM (EST)


I had never noticed it in all the years I've been attending the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's annual Business Expo breakfast, but about five minutes into the remarks I started keeping score of each speaker's use of the Spanish language.

Last week's event started off with ABC 7's...

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2010 U.S. Census? Count me in to Bring Home the Money, Honey

1 Comments | Posted August 6, 2009 | 08:43 PM (EST)


I love numbers. A lot.

I am a geek, a closet demographer, and a sucker for statistical analysis. I've accepted this and those who dare engage me in conversation know enough to nod politely when I go all Cliff Clavin on them - they understand I must eventually come...

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Dispelling the Hispanic Chicago Pilsen Myth: We're - GASP! - Everywhere

3 Comments | Posted July 30, 2009 | 12:33 PM (EST)


At approximately noon Monday I got so angry I sent out this Tweet:

"Note to the world: as lovely as it is, ALL of Chicago's Hispanics DO NOT live in Pilsen!"

Not five minutes after that, my Blackberry started going crazy -- my Tweet had hit a nerve.

Let me...

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Women, Caucasians, Hispanics: The Changing Face of StreetWise

Posted July 23, 2009 | 11:25 AM (EST)


"StreetWise, StreetWise, getcher StreetWise right here!"

If I'd heard it once, I'd heard it a million times. But never before like this.

In the sixteen years that StreetWise has been around, helping people "help themselves to self-sufficiency through gainful employment," its street sellers have historically been mostly African-American men on...

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Are Some Children More Valuable Than Others? Colorblindness Necessary to Fix Education

6 Comments | Posted July 16, 2009 | 06:39 PM (EST)


Let us, for just a moment, remember back to oh, let's say, the year 1980.

The U.S. boycotted the summer Olympics, Jimmy Carter bailed out Chrysler, Mt. St. Helens erupted in Washington state, and Bruce Springsteen's latest hit "Hungry Heart" was playing on seemingly every radio across the country....

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Chicagoan Isai Madriz Riding the Rails in Argentina

Posted July 3, 2009 | 06:18 PM (EST)


Let's see, it's been a whopping 22 months since my favorite cyclist, Isai Madriz, mounted his rickety bicycle -- the one with the picture of his girlfriend, Danielle, taped to it -- to pedal from the suburbs of Chicago to Argentina and back up to Venezuela to raise money for...

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