Susie Jaramillo

When the Latina artist and entrepreneur was in art school, professors told her that she had to choose one thing and pursue it. They wanted her to pick a particular style to avoid commercialism — to become an artist’s artist. But Jaramillo always knew she could make a bigger impact if she followed her heart and made art for everyone. Decades later, she’s the founder, president, and chief story officer of Encantos. The story-teaching platform uses Jaramillo’s art to create books, games, digital content, and other resources to help kids — particularly Spanish-and-English-speaking bilingual kids — think critically and creatively.