Headlines
Latin American Association 3-year Expansion
In January 2017, the Latin American Association (LAA) launched a new and exciting strategic plan. The LAA will achieve it's mission through five focus areas:
Culture & Engagement
,
Economic Empowerment
,
Education
,
Family Well-Being
and
Immigration
. Our new strategic goals will transform the LAA from a local direct services provider to a dynamic thought leader, convener and informer with a state-wide geographic footprint. The LAA will continue to provide a targeted menu of services, strong regional influence and maintain its reputation as a high-performing change-maker at the individual and systems levels.
Expansion of Immigration Legal Services
The LAA has expanded it's immigration legal services to newly opened offices in Athens and Lawrenceville, Georgia. Now clients can receive a full menu of immigration services at three LAA services centers located throughout Georgia.
2018 State of Latinos Conference
This unparalleled new two-day event hosted by the LAA will address issues impacting Georgia's rapidly growing Latino community. The conference will feature a State of Latinos macro-level discussion on what's affecting Georgia Latinos, Latino education and housing summits and break-out workshops. The conference will be hosted at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta on Jan. 29 - 30, 2018.
Featured Speakers
:
Carlos Osegueda
(Regional Director, U.S. Department of Housing and Development),
Alejandra Ceja
(Executive Director, Panasonic Foundation and Former Executive Director, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics),
Brent Wilkes
(Chief Executive Officer of LULAC),
Janet Murguía
(Chief Executive Officer and President of UnidosUS) and
Ali Noorani
(Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum).
LAA, LULAC and Cox Enterprises open new EHAT Technology Center
The LAA, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and Cox Enterprises partnered to bridge the digital divide in Georgia's Hispanic community by opening a new technology center at the LAA. The new center is part of LULAC’s
Empower Hispanic America with Technology
(EHAT) initiative which ensures Hispanic communities have access to dependable technology and useful resources that will empower them to succeed.
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From left to right: Gaston Vaneri (Cox Enterprises, Inc.), Aníbal Torres (LAA), Brent Wilkes (LULAC), Chris Marquardt (LAA Board Chair), Adriana West (Wetsworld Properties), Joe Gebbia (City of Brookhaven)
Meet our Georgia #DREAMers
Unless Congress intervenes,more than 24,000 young Georgians will soon lose their ability to work, pursue higher education, support their families and continue contributing to the community. This is because the President has announced the phasing out of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a deportation deferral program that has protected young people brought to the United States as children from deportation. DACA recipients represent
Georgia’s best and brightest
, and deserve our support. Meet four Georgia DREAMers by visiting the Advocacy section on our website.
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Upcoming Events
November 4th, 2017
Latino Youth Leadership Conference
Atlanta Symphony feat. Catalina Cuervo
November 11, 2017
Copa United Corporate Charity Soccer Tournament
November 18, 2017
Spinning for a Cause @ Torq Cycle
November 28, 2017
#GivingTuesday
December 14th & 15th, 2017
Spirit of Giving
(Atlanta, Athens & Lawrenceville locations)
January 29 - 30, 2018
State of Latinos Conference
*For times / locations of LAA events, activities and programs, please click on the #LAAtino Calendar.
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Once again, the Latin American Association's biggest annual fundraiser has come and gone. We're thrilled to have had all of you join us in celebrating this year the culture of Carnavales!
The sponsorship and patronage of the Latin Fever ball and winning auction bids and donations will continue to help thousands of Latino individuals and families adapt integrate and thrive as engaged, contributing members of our greater Atlanta community.
We are incredibly grateful to our Presenting Sponsor, UPS, our Co-Chairs, Karla Arriola and Susana Chávez, our Honorary Chair, Mayor of Atlanta Kasim Reed and all of our incredible sponsors, patrons and contributors for making Latin Fever Ball the best in Atlanta!
*Picture Gallery will become available in first week of November through our website.
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2018 Compañeros Scholarship Recipient
Emory University’s Goizueta Business School is happy to announce the recipient of its inaugural Compañeros Scholarship in partnership with the Latin American
Association, Paola Juarez Castillo.
Born in Cuautitlan Izcalli, Mexico, Paola enrolled in Emory's Goizueta Business School evening program in the fall of 2017 and is expecting to graduate in 2020.
The Compañeros Scholarship will be awarded on a yearly basis to an admitted Goizueta Evening MBA candidate who embodies Roberto C. Goizueta’s commitment to servant leadership, particularly to the Latino/Hispanic community. Join us in congratulating Paola for her accomplishment!
For more information about the Goizueta Business School's Compañeros Scholarship, contact Rebbecca Kaplan at rebbecca.kaplan@emory.edu.
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Brookhaven Affordable Housing Task Force
In July 2017, the Brookhaven Affordable Housing Task Force, chaired by the LAA’s Advocacy Director, David Schaefer, completed its work and made recommendations to the Brookhaven City Council. Those recommendations included requiring developers to issue an affordability impact statement as part of the construction permitting process and incorporating affordable housing into the 2017 Brookhaven zoning rewrite.
!Avanzando Juntas! Latina Empowerment Program
The
Latina Economic Empowerment Program is an innovative program that offers Latinas the opportunity to capitalize on their interests, skills and talents in their journey of personal and professional growth. We encourage, support and inspire participants to start their own micro-enterprises as they acquire the knowledge and tools needed to succeed. More details on the program available under the Economic Empowerment focus area on our website.
Adult Classes
The LAA offers progressing levels of ESL (English as a Second Language), Spanish and Computer (Spanish only) courses for adults who want to fine tune their skills. Our classes are taught by experienced, certified instructors and are offered at multiple locations, days and times to accommodate our clients needs. Starting in January 2018, we will offer Intensive ESL classes. For more info, visit our Adult Education section under services on our website.
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Volunteers
We'd like to thank our friends from Ernst & Young for volunteering at the LAA. In support of
EY's
Connect Day
, employees volunteered their time to assist our Family-Well Being department and helped assemble materials for our annual fundraising gala, the Latin Fever Ball. Thank all our volunteers for all you do!
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LAA Spotlight
FEATURED FUNDER
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The LAA is deeply appreciative of the financial support of
The Atlanta Women’s Foundation
. In 2017, the LAA embarked on an exciting new 5-year initiative, the Pathway to Success Program, in partnership with the foundation to economically empower low-income Latinas and end the cycle of poverty for immigrant families.
Thank you to The Atlanta Women’s Foundation for all you do to support the LAA and the Latino community!
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In August 2017, Bank of America held it's second annual grant giving spree. The bank highlighted 19 of 46 non-profits, including the LAA. For many years, Bank of America has provided invaluable support of our Latino Urgent Needs Program and became a new sponsor of the LAA’s largest annual fundraising event, Latin Fever Ball. Bank of America is also newly represented on the LAA’s Board of Directors through the recent addition of private wealth executive Joe Araoz.
Thank you Bank of America for your continued support!
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The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) awarded the association a new $250,000 grant that will support the LAA's Latino Citizenship and Naturalization Program. The program will provide critical, yet otherwise unavailable, citizenship instruction and naturalization services free-of-charge to low-income Latino lawful permanent residents eligible for naturalization. The program will provided at LAA service centers in Atlanta, Lawrenceville and Athens, Georgia. The program stands to help a minimum of 200 Latino lawful permanent residents obtain U.S. citizenship over two years.
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LAA Making a Difference in Georgia's Latino Community
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18th Annual Latino Youth Leadership Conference
In it's 18th year, the Latino Youth Leadership Conference attracts over 2,000 students, parents, teachers and volunteers. The conference aims to motivate Latino students to finish high school and pursue college; provide them with the tools and skills they need to access a college education; develop leadership skills; and promote career exploration. This year's conference will take place on
Saturday, November 4, 2017 at Kennesaw State University’s Marietta campus and will feature
Keynote Speaker Andres Lara, the Cuban Guy.
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Copa United Charity Soccer Tournament
In its inaugural year, the Copa United Corporate Charity Soccer Tournament supports educational opportunities for Hispanic students in Atlanta, GA. Atlanta United and the Hispanic Corporate Council of Atlanta are uniting with local companies and organizations to support scholarships for Hispanics students through the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the Latin American Association. The tournament will take place on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 at Atlanta United’s Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground.
Spinning for a Cause at Torq Cycle
Come sweat for a cause at Torq Cycle Atlanta! Torq Cycle will host a private spinning class on Nov. 18, 2017 at 11:30 am with all proceeds benefiting the Latin American Association.
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra LAA Proceeds Night
Enjoy a breathtaking performance by Colombian-born soprano, Catalina Cuervo in
El Amor Brujo
, a feverish tale with Andalusian melodies. The program also includes Richard Strauss’ “Burleske” and ends with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4. The November 4th performance will include a post-concert Q&A with Catalina Cuervo. To purchase, please call ASO Groups at 404-733-4848 or stay-tuned for LAA posts on social media and email blasts with online purchase details.
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Spirit of Giving
Each year, the LAA collects and distributes gifts to hundreds of low-income Latino children during the holidays at our Spirit of Giving toy drive events.
The donation drives will be held on December 13th and 14th at our Atlanta, Athens and Lawrenceville service centers. Recommended donations include new, unwrapped toys for boys & girls (ages 0 - 13); Target,Walmart and Kroger gift cards. Donations of wrapping paper and tape are also needed. In-kind distributions of food/catering are greatly appreciated.
To host a toy drive or donate toys for Spirit of Giving, contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Reonna Taylor at rtaylor@thelaa.org.
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For more details on any of the above featured stories and events,
visit our official website and social media pages.
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