A news update from the National Latin@ Network
Table of Contents

Blog
Te Invito: Be an Ally to Women and Girls

Being an ally to women and girls goes beyond supporting their causes. It is connected with self-reflection because as an ally, you really need to know yourself. It takes a lot of strength to be a good ally, but not the kind of strength that men usually learn about in society. Instead, it is the strength to deeply listen to women's  stories, to fully believe them and not to negate their experiences, to allow women to take the lead and respectfully follow, to "step up to the plate" when it's called for and women want it, and to step aside when you are not needed. Being a true ally involves not following your urge to fix things and find solutions to every problem; it often only involves listening well.

Click here to read more about becoming an ally to women
Blog Talk Radio Engaging Latinx LGBTQ Community and Developing Community Driven Solutions

Leo Martinez, Latino LinQ's Board President, will share the lessons learned during the process of engaging the Latinx LGBTQ community in the Atlanta Metro area and co-founding Latino LinQ as a result. He will talk about grounding the work, and creating programs that respond to the particular needs of that community. 

In this episode, participants will: 
1. Learn about the process of founding and developing a non-profit organization from the ground up

2. Understand needs assessment as an ongoing project when creating programs 

3. Learning about meaningful collaborations as a tool of development 

Presenter:
Leo Martinez is a Project Coordinator with the National Latin@ Network for Healthy Families and Communities, a project of Casa de Esperanza. 

Click here to listen to the recording now!
Caminar Latino Partners with Sesame Street

Caminar Latino is proud to announce its partnership with Sesame Street Community.  Jessica Nunan, Executive Director, has been asked to join an advisory committee for Sesame Street Community, an online hub for sharing Sesame Street's free educational resources with the adults in children's lives. Utilizing her 22  years of experience working with families affected by violence, Nunan will counsel on Sesame Street's latest project: Children and Trauma. In addition, Nunan will lend her input on their upcoming project focused on coping skills and activities for children impacted by immigration.


Click here to read more about this exciting partnership

The Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (Ombudsman) announced that it submitted our 2017 Annual Report to Congress. 

This year's report contains:
  • An overview of the Ombudsman's mission and services;
  • A review of USCIS programmatic and policy challenges during 2016; and
  • A detailed discussion of pervasive problems, recommendations, and best practices in the humanitarian, employment, and family areas, as well as in customer service and process integrity. 
Highlights:
In 2016, the Ombudsman received 11,917 requests for case assistance, an increase of 25 percent from 2015. Also in 2016, the Ombudsman conducted 91 stakeholder engagements to better understand and discuss ways to address concerns about the delivery of immigration services and benefits.

Click here to read the entire annual report
The Suggested Reading Corner is a spotlight on some books that the National Latin@ Network suggests for people who are interested in reading books and/or articles that inform and enrich social justice, trauma-informed, culturally relevant work. 
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

By Rebecca Skloot

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. 

"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew. It's a story inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we're made of. Henrietta Lacks  was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells-taken without her knowledge in 1951-became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, and more. Henrietta's cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can't afford health insurance.

American Immigration Council addresses common questions on immigration

The American Immigration Council addresses some of the field's most frequently asked questions, such as:
  • How well are immigrants and their children integrating into society?
  • What did President Obama's executive actions on immigration do?
  • Do immigrants have access to public benefits?
  • How does immigration affect the economy?
  • Is there a correlation between immigration and crime?
Click here for AIC's answers to these questions, and many more!

September 26-28, 2017
San Francisco, CA

Focused on the intersections of health and domestic and sexual violence, the 8th Biennial National Conference on Health and Domestic Violence brings together the nation's leading medical, public health and family violence experts from across the U.S. with increased international participation. The Conference presents the most recent research and promising clinical, advocacy and public health responses to domestic and sexual violence. 

Click here for more information and to register

December 5-7, 2017
Portland, OR

Join us in Portland, Oregon, this December to improve your response to victims of crime through promising practices, current research, and effective programs and policies.

This multidisciplinary institute offers more than  80 victim-centered, practice-based, research-informed trainings to sharpen your skills, connect with peers, and reach across professions, including:
  • law enforcement
  • victim service professionals
  • counselors
  • allied practitioners
  • policymakers
  • researchers
The National Latin@ Network's Assistant Director of Innovation and Engagement, Pierre Berastaín, is among the presenters for this institute.


Click here for more information and to register
Webinar  Intersectional Solutions: Advancing Racial & Economic Equity for Survivors of Color and Immigrant Survivors

Tuesday, July 25, 2017
1 - 2:30 p.m. EST

In the fourth part of CSAJ's Racial & Economic Equity for Survivors Webinar Series, we welcome partners, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence and Texas Council on Family Violence. 

The goal of this webinar is to  put an intersectional advocacy framework into practice and offer concrete strategies for systems change to address racial, cultural, and gender inequities. Faculty will continue and expand the conversation around intersectional advocacy by illuminating the particular experiences of immigrant and refugee survivors as well as key knowledge/research gaps that could help us better shape our advocacy. They will also offer concrete systems change strategies, drawing on examples from the child custody, housing, and other economic issues facing survivors from immigrant and refugee communities.

After this webinar, participants should walk away with:
  • An increased understanding of how gender-based violence interlocks with economic insecurity and marginalization, particularly for Asian and Pacific survivors.
  • The ability to articulate how an intersectional framework can inform your practice.
  • Concrete ways to engage in policy or systems change to address economic disparities facing marginalized survivors.
Presenters:
Chic Dabby, Executive Director, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence
Sarah Khan, Project Specialist, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence
Krista DelGallo, Policy Director, Texas Council on Family Violence
Mona Muro, Policy Coordinator, Texas Council on Family Violence

Key Audience:
This webinar is particularly geared toward lawyers, legal advocates, and advocates working with immigrant and refugee survivors, survivors of color, and/or their communities. It is also relevant to program managers, directors, and policy makers.
 
Click here to register for this webinar
NO MORE: Executive Director

In the position of Executive Director, NO MORE seeks an innovative change-maker; a leader who can take NO MORE from an important, promising start-up to an efficient, effective and invaluable organization.

The Executive Director will work to secure funding; develop short-and long-term strategies, partnerships and creative marketing/communications campaigns to build the NO MORE brand; support the anti-violence field; and strengthen the movement to end domestic violence, sexual assault and other forms of abuse. In this effort, she/he will work collaboratively with NO MORE's co-founders, funders, staff, volunteers, National Steering Committee and local, state and national partners and allies, under the guidance of a NO MORE Board of Advisers. She/he is a highly motivated, productive self-starter who can operate autonomously while also providing leadership, support and guidance to a team of approximately 4-5 individuals working remotely across the U.S. This is initially a consultant role with the potential to become a full-time position.

Ujima: Program Specialist

Ujima: The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community, a national program of the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence, seeks a Program Specialist to assist with the development, implementation, evaluation, tracking and grant reporting of core programming and organizational development. The incumbent will report directly to the Ujima Program Director and assume responsibility for direct support to the program, the field, on-site community activities, membership recruitment, resource directory maintenance and grant reporting. The Program Specialist is charged with assisting in the implementation of the organization's mission, as defined, and works in collaboration with other administrative, technical assistance and training staff. This is an administrative position that has a heavy focus on research, organizational and grants management/reporting; that requires an ability to think strategically and work with multiple teams within the organization.

Now accepting submissions

We welcome submissions on a number of topics pertaining to domestic violence, family violence, and gender-based violence. These topics include, but are not limited to:
  • Gender-based violence intervention and prevention programs that are culturally specific
  • Working with Latin@ youth
  • Working with immigrant Latin@s
  • Health care and gender-based violence
  • LGBTQ Latin@ communities
  • Children and domestic violence
  • Building Latin@ leadership in Latin@ communities
  • Elder abuse
We also welcome photography, video, resources, and other digital material that organizations or people wish to share with our network.

If you're interested in submitting a blog post,  click here to email Rebecca De Leon, Communications and Marketing Coordinator

ABOUT THE NATIONAL LATIN@ NETWORK FOR HEALTHY FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES

The National Latin@ Network for Healthy Families and Communities is a network of individuals and organizations committed to improving the health and well-being of Latin@ communities. The National Latin@ Network is led by Casa de Esperanza, a national Latina organization whose mission is to mobilize Latinas and Latin@ communities to end domestic violence. The National Latin@Network for Healthy Families and Communities builds on Casa de Esperanza´s experience working in local communities to support families, end domestic violence, and increase meaningful access to services for Latina@s and incorporates a research center, public policy initiative, and training.

National Latin@ Network | http://www.nationallatinonetwork.org | 651.646.5553


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