Born in Bogota, Colombia, David dreamed as a child of becoming a business man and running his own company. He came to Champaign in 1995 and enrolled in the English as a Second Language program (ESL) at Parkland with the intent of following his dream. A year later, he decided to pursue an associate degree in Business Administration and graduated in 1999.
In 1996, while studying at Parkland, David started working at the Champaign Country Club as a dishwasher and worked his way up, eventually becoming the Champaign Country Club house manager. In 2006 he joined Michaels’ Catering as event manager and in 2010 became one of the co-owners of the catering business. David has been involved in different aspects of customers and food service in Champaign for more than 20 years.
Through Michaels’ Catering, David has been able to give back to the community supporting charitable events for the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, the Multicultural Community Center in Rantoul, Parkland’s Gala event, and the YMCA in Champaign, among others.
David has been married for 23 years to Martha Gonzalez and they have three children - Rafael, Daniel and Juliana.
David’s most memorable moment at Parkland “…is when I had the opportunity to practice my English skills with other students. Some students wanted to learn Spanish and I wanted to learn English. So we met at the library or cafeteria to chat and practice our language skills. I made many friends this way!”