Julian Almanza

Julian Almanza is a Business Advisor for the Illinois Small Business Development Center at the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (IHCC). He provides counseling for entrepreneurs in the process of starting and growing their businesses. He is fully bilingual in English and Spanish. His goal and vision are to empower Latino business owners with knowledge of successfully growing their businesses, facilitating and helping them navigate the available resources at the IHCC. 

Born and raised in Mexico, Julian arrived in Chicago in 2011. He has dedicated his professional career to advocating for the community. Julian has extensive experience working for the Mexican government, close to 20 years. In his long career, he served as a consular officer in three different consulates of Mexico: Dallas, Texas; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Chicago, Illinois. During this time, he served the Mexican community living abroad by providing legal services and consular assistance through the Department of Protection and Legal Affairs.

Julian received his Bachelor of Arts in International Relations at the International University in Morelos,  Mexico. In addition, he has also participated in various government certification programs focusing on facilitating resources for disadvantaged communities and providing education and outreach to individuals going through criminal proceedings and deportation by guiding them to understand their basic and procedural rights better.

Julian loves music, and his favorite hobby is playing the drums. In his free time, he is the drummer for a Spanish rock band called Sin Anestesia. With a very successful music career, he has traveled and played many times in Chicago and all over the Midwest for the past 10 years.