Trudy’s professional career began in 2003 when she was appointed by Mayor Jane L. Campbell to serve as the Hispanic Liaison for the City of Cleveland. During her tenure at City Hall, she served as the Coordinator of the Second District Police-Community Relations Committee and was later promoted to Project Coordinator for the Department of Community Relations. In May 2006, Trudy was hired as Director of Educational Programs at Esperanza, Inc., a Cleveland nonprofit organization that provides education, support, and scholarships to Northeast Ohio Hispanic students as well as their families. From 2008 to 2011, she served as Coordinator of Student Outreach and Retention at Cuyahoga Community College, a dual role that involved being the Districtwide Coordinator of the Hispanic Council and assisting with recruitment and retention initiatives at the college’s Western campus.
Trudy was inducted into the 2003 Kaleidoscope Magazine Hispanic Forty-Forty Club, which spotlights professionals aged 40 and younger who have been recognized for their accomplishments by their peers and mentors. She is a graduate of the 1st Cohort of the Hispanic Alliance Leadership Development Initiative (HALDI) program, which provides professionals and emerging leaders the training and development needed to contribute to the advancement of the community. In November 2011, Trudy and her husband Jose were named “Young Entrepreneurs of the Year” by the Northeast Ohio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and in May 2012, she completed a 12-week training program through the James H. Walker/Turner School of Construction Management. In April 2017, Trudy graduated from the 14th Cohort of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, where she spent 14 weeks studying a business and management curriculum designed by Babson College, the top-ranked school for entrepreneurial education. Trudy is a past Board Member of the Hispanic Alliance, Esperanza, and LATINA, Inc. She holds an MBA from Cleveland State University, a B.A. with Honors in Business Administration from Baldwin-Wallace College, and a Post-Degree Professional Certificate of Accountancy from Cuyahoga Community College.