The Portuguese-American Leadership Council of the United States
Serving our Community for 29 Years!
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Ornament Fundraiser Campaign
We have created a one of a kind ornament to help raise funds for our Summer Internship in Portugal program.
- High quality ceramic
- Hand painted in Portugal
- 3.5" x 5"
- Comes in organza gift bag
We're almost sold out!!
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November 2020
LUSUS Newsletter
The Online Newsletter of PALCUS
In this issue...
PALCUS News
- PALCUS Launches Portuguese Inspired Note cards
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PALCUS Giving Tuesday Scholarship Fundraiser
- Holiday Discount Codes
- PALCUS Make Portuguese Count™ Campaign Thank You
- PALCUS Member Spotlight: Patricia Fragoso
- Host a Virtual Mixer with PALCUS!
- Portuguese Activity Book
- #SupportPortugueseBusiness Campaign
- #PortugueseHeroes Campaign
- #SupportOurElders Campaign
Embassy Row
- Embassy of Portugal in Washington DC: Portugal voted Europe’s leading destination
- Embaixada dos EUA em Portugal: Visita ao MakerSpace de Vila Real
Gateway Featured Business
Community News:
- THE IMPORTANCE OF 21ST CENTURY CONVERSATIONS
- CPLP Festival in Boston
- Debate: Oportunidades de Negócio e Principais Tendências no Turismo em 2021
- Portuguese Americans in Valley Agriculture
- Virtual Portuguese Classical Music concert on December 6th
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PALCUS Launches Portuguese Inspired Note cards |
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PALCUS Giving Tuesday Scholarship Fundraiser |
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Giving Tuesday is December 1st
This year, PALCUS is raising funds for our scholarship program. Every year, PALCUS awards scholarships to students of Portuguese descent enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs in the United States. These scholarships are a valuable community based resource for many students who use them for tuition, books and fees associated with obtaining their degrees of higher learning.
We have set a fundraising goal of $5,000 which will provide scholarships for 5 students in 2021. Please consider donating towards this cause. All donations are tax-deductible.
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SHOP PORTUGUESE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON!!
PALCUS has reached out to our network to provide you, our members and supporters with exclusive holiday discounts for your online shopping! Click here for the list of discounts available.
Happy shopping!
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Make Portuguese Count™
in the 2020 U.S. Census
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The 2020 US Census data collection ended on October 16th at 5:59 a.m. EDT. It is finished!
For almost 2 years, you have been watching and participating in these posts to stay informed and to cheer on our Portuguese American community to complete the 2020 Census.
Congratulations!! You did a GREAT job!
Our Portuguese Pride overcame all obstacles to count every Portuguese man, woman, and child living in the US but MOST OF ALL, to write “Portuguese” for their origins.
This is the first time in over 20 years that we will have a “complete count” of Portuguese in the Untied States!!
THANK YOU to the 77 Captains, the 243 Affiliated Organizations, and the National Complete Count Committee that made it all happen.
THANK YOU to the Ministério de Negócios Estrangeiros through the Embassy of Portugal, Washington D.C. and H.E. Domingos Fezas Vital for their support as well as the Governo Regional dos Açores.
THANK YOU to our many media partners RTP1, SIC and so many local outlets of TV, radio, print and digital newspapers who worked to spread the word through the Portuguese-speaking community.
A special thanks to our many “Ambassadors” who self-recorded their messages to share throughout the nation and the world!
YOU have all been an integral part of this team that has served the PALCUS mission by raising our Portuguese American Community to greater heights!!
THANK YOU for making it all possible!!
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Make Portuguese Count™ was made possible by the generous support of: |
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PALCUS Member Spotlight:
Patricia Fragoso
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PALCUS member Patricia Fragoso, from Ventura Law, has been recognized as a rising star for plantiff's personal injury in Connecticut by Super Lawyers.
Parabéns Patricia!
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Portuguese Activity Book
PALCUS has designed an activity book for children and seniors. It's packed with word searches, coloring and other activities all centered around Portugal! This is the perfect way to have kids and seniors alike keep busy while celebrating their Portuguese Pride!
It's available for purchase on Amazon and shipping is free when you purchase 2 or more books!
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Host a Virtual Mixer with PALCUS!
Our co-hosted mixer with PFSA was a lot of fun and created new connections across the states. Co-host a mixer with us! It's free and a great way to reach new audiences"
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#SupportPortugueseBusiness Campaign
Restaurants selling takeout or gift certificates?
Online stores selling merchandise or gift certificates?
Artists selling prints or artwork online?
Musicians holding livestream concerts?
Any Portuguese business that is open and selling a product or service during this time of lockdown, please email your details to us at [email protected] and we will share with our nationwide community! We have to help each other get through this, and we WILL get through this! #SupportPortugueseBusiness
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#PortugueseHeroes Campaign
PALCUS recognizes all Portuguese Americans working on the front lines, in many different essential service roles. We can't do this without you! Thank you! Obrigado! You are our #PortugueseHeroes!
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#SupportOurEldersCampaign
We have partnered with several Portuguese-American organizations who are already doing amazing work to help our elders, and we want to support these efforts. Below are several ways you can help, including:
- Sending cards and messages of support
- Sponsoring a meal (or meals) for the elderly
- Donating a device to enable video chats
- Delivering activity sheets to the elderly
Join us and help support these organizations who are supporting our elders!!
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PALCUS was able to donate $3,000, split equally between the 4 participating organizations.
Thank you to everyone that contributed!!
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Portugal voted Europe’s leading destination
Portugal has once again been voted Europe’s leading destination, for 4 years in a row, at the European Gala Ceremony of the World Travel Awards for 2020. In all, Portugal won 27 European awards, including Madeira named Europe’s Leading Island Destination (fifth time in a row), Algarve named Europe’s Leading beach Destination (third consecutive year), and the Azores named Europe’s Leading Adventure Tourism Destination.
Also, Lisbon was named Europe’s Leading Cruise Destination, Porto was named Europe’s Leading City Break Destination and Turismo de Lisboa was awarded Europe’s Leading City Tourism Board.
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Visita ao MakerSpace de Vila Real |
As instalações do IPDJ em Vila Real foram visitadas por uma comitiva da Embaixada dos E.U.A. em Portugal, onde constavam a Embaixatriz Mary Glass, a Conselheira de Imprensa, Educação e Cultura Penny Rechkemmer, e o Administrador da Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento Jim Kelly; para ficarem a conhecer a evolução do MakerSpace bem como fazerem uma nova doação de livros para o espaço.
Foram recebidos pelo Diretor Regional do Norte, Vítor Dias, e estiveram também presentes no evento o Vereador da Câmara Municipal de Vila Real – José Maria Magalhães, Paulo Ferraz do Conselho Administração da UTAD, Prof. Artur Cristóvão, Vice-Reitor para a Internacionalização da UTAD, e as Diretoras de Agrupamento de Escolas de S. Pedro, Diogo Cão, Morgado de Mateus e Camilo Castelo Branco.
O MakerSpace de Vila Real foi financiado pela Embaixada dos E.U.A. e irá contar com a colaboração da UTAD para a promoção e desenvolvimento de atividades e workshops assentes nas novas tecnologias da informação e comunicação.
Através do conceito “Learn by doing”, este espaço inovador pretende estimular os mais jovens e a comunidade no geral através de meios como impressoras 3D e robótica. Aqui, terão oportunidade de criar e inovar em projetos reais na área do empreendedorismo.
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GATEWAY FEATURED BUSINESS |
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Couto Homes
Couto Homes is a Custom Design-Build Firm Serving The Southern DFW Areas. Every custom home is built with heart and dedication.
To look for more Portuguese businesses and organizations throughout the US (or add your own), please visit the Gateway online.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF 21ST CENTURY CONVERSATIONS
There’s no more powerful tool for healing and planning than communication. Our ability to communicate with each other holds the key for how well we collaborate and cooperate towards common goals. That’s true for all cultures including our Portuguese American one. Each of us, collectively and individually, has much for which to be proud of as Portuguese Americans. Whether we immigrated from, or have our roots in, Portugal, the Açores, Madeira, Brazil, or Cape Verde, we all share a love for our version of our Portuguese-ness. We embrace our culture’s great qualities and want to preserve them for future generations. So out of that loving commitment to pass on the best of our Portuguese ness, we need to roll up our sleeves and talk about what needs to change so that what goes forward is indeed the very best. One person, of many, making that happen is Diniz Borges. Borges is a tireless advocate within our Portuguese American culture. To give his work justice, I’ll need to write separate articles as his accomplishments are second only to his contagious enthusiasm for our culture’s journey. While his activities to strengthen our culture’s legacy seem endless, the one I’ll focus on here is the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute Lecture Series sponsored by the Luso American Development Foundation and co-sponsored by the California Portuguese American Coalition. As a co-coordinator for Portuguese Language Programs for California for the Camões Institute and Luso-American Education Foundation, Borges has facilitated meaningful conversations addressing topics that aren’t always popular to discuss. To quote someone whose own valuable work for the Portuguese community has created collaboration with Borges, Angela Simoes says, “I think that Diniz has always been forward thinking and a bit ahead of his time, and certainly never afraid to voice his opinions. I admire his initiative in this area and I’m thankful to him for raising awareness around issues that are very relevant to our community but that no one really likes to talk about. Just because things are hard to talk about doesn’t make them less important, in fact that makes it even more important for us to address them and figure out how we can do better in the future.”
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CPLP Festival in Boston
The Arte Institute and the RHI Initiative have the pleasure to present the CPLP Short Film Festival - III Edition in Boston.
November 20, 2020 – 5 PM (EST)
(The movies will be available on November 20, from 5 pm until 8 pm)
The Festival aims to promote the cinema from the Portuguese Speaking Countries.
Don't miss this chance to learn more about a great selection of movies by directors from the Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP).
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Debate: Oportunidades de Negócio e Principais Tendências no Turismo em 2021
Wed, November 25, 2020
10:00 AM – 11:15 AM EST
O objetivo deste evento é apoiar empreendedores que desenvolvam projetos ligados ao Turismo, a refletir sobre as atuais necessidades do setor (pós-pandemia) e sobre como o fator inovação será determinante para alavancar oportunidades e modelos de negócio rentáveis em 2021.
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An event dedicated to Agriculture and Dairy and our Portuguese-American experience.
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Virtual Portuguese Classical Music concert on December 6th
Concert for the celebration of the Restoration of Portuguese Independence on December 1, 1640.
Due to the COVID19, the concert will be held virtually, through Five Wounds Facebook (see link below). California time, 12:00 pm, Azores 7:00 pm, mainland Portugal, 8:00 pm.
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PALCUS Virtual National Conference
Did you miss any sessions?
Below you will find all the links to the recordings and to the powerpoint presentations.
PALCUS Virtual Conference Series Kick-Off and Overview
Doing Business In Miami
Miami Tech Boom!
Meet the Artist: Isabel Pavao
Why Portugal? Investment Opportunities Abound
I'm Not a VC - Can I Still Invest in Portugal? How to Invest? Where to Start?
Meet the Artist: Peter Pereira
Portuguese Women Empowering Each Other
PALCUS NextGen Leadership Academy
Want to Start a Business in Portugal? The Portuguese Gov Can Help
Portuguese Companies Succeeding in the US
Meet the Artist: Elizabeth Casqueiro
Establishing Operations in Portugal: Real World Examples
Real Estate Investment Opportunities in Portugal and Conference Closing Keynote
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PALCUS FYI Webinars
PALCUS has started to conduct webinars and podcasts that tackle some topics that are not discussed very often in our community. We also are providing more information around how to become more civically active, as it is more important than ever that we vote and make our voices heard.
Below are links to some recent webinars that you can watch and share with family and friends. We have also listed some upcoming webinars that address topics such as growing up bi-racial and many other topics. We have also started streaming these podcasts live on Facebook and are seeing a much higher engagement. We will continue to do this with future webinars and podcasts whenever possible.
We welcome your comments and suggestions so that we continue to address the issues that are most important to YOU, our Portuguese community. Thank you for your time, and we look forward to your feedback.
RECENT WEBINARS:
How to Organize a Voter Registration Event
How to Organize a Candidates' Night Debate
A Conversation with Jordan Thomas
Addressing Addiction in the Portuguese Community
Being Gay in the Portuguese Community
COVID and the Portuguese Community
Covid-19: Schools and Vaccines
hATTR Amyloidosis
Not recorded due to Federal Regulations
What is hATTR amyloidosis? Hereditary ATTR (hATTR) amyloidosis is a rare condition that affects an estimated 50,000 people worldwide. Although anyone can be at risk for this disease, it is more common for certain ethnicities, such as people of African American, Portuguese, Irish, Brazilian, French, Japanese, and Swedish descent.
Click here to see if you have symptoms of this disease:
Exploration of Portuguese-American Health Disparities
FUTURE WEBINARS:
Importance of Having More Portuguese-Americans in Public Office, with Daniel DaPonte and Rosa Rebimbas
To Be Scheduled
Reform within Law Enforcement
To be Scheduled
Party Politics at a Local Level
To be Scheduled
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Forming New Networks
As a result of the success of our recent webinars, there has been significant interest in forming different networking groups under the PALCUS umbrella. Some of these first networking groups will focus on:
- Portuguese Women
- Portuguese Youth
- Portuguese LGBTQ+
- Portuguese in Education
- Portuguese in Healthcare
Are you interested in being a part of these groups, and especially helping to form these groups? What other topics or industries for which you would like to see a networking group? Please contact us at [email protected] with your input. Thank you!
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TELL US YOUR NEWS!!
We would love to hear what you have been up to. Events, Promotions, Graduations, Awards, Lectures or News the community should know about. Send us an email to be featured in our newsletter: [email protected]
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Are you a PALCUS member yet?
We are stronger together!
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If you agree with the work undertaken by PALCUS to build the social, cultural and political capital of our community, then please join us and become a member today!
Strong membership participation means a stronger voice in the national Portuguese-American agenda. In order to advance Portuguese language education, increase presence in the congressional caucuses, and provide economic opportunities, the collective voice of thousands is needed!
In addition, PALCUS is a member-driven non-profit organization that depends on membership dues and fundraising events to fund its operations. Members of the all-volunteer board of directors donate their time and personal funds for travel, lodging and tickets to attend networking events and planning sessions so our administrative costs are relatively low but nonetheless critical to doing business on a daily basis.
There are membership categories to suit every budget and level of interest. Please click on our membership webpage and join our voice today!
Questions? Contact Graci for more information!
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Did you enjoy this newsletter? Do you know about all the programs PALCUS offers our community? Please visit our website and become a member today!
We can't do what we do without your support!
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Jobs for Portuguese Speakers
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PALCUS Mission
In order to create a singular voice to advocate for the Portuguese-American and Luso-American communities at large, the Portuguese-American Leadership Council of the United States Inc. (PALCUS) was founded in 1991 as a non-partisan, non-profit, organization headquartered in Washington, D.C.
The PALCUS mission is to address domestic and international concerns of the Portuguese-American Community.
The Council conducts an expanding program of educational and public affairs activities on issues of interest to the Portuguese-American community and of salience to the Luso-American Relationship.
PALCUS is committed to serving the community through increasingly active government relations efforts, the promotion of a greater awareness of ethnic accomplishments and encouraging stronger ties between Portugal and the United States. In this role PALCUS advances the community professionally, politically and culturally while working to ensure that issues directly affecting our community are addressed through our network of government and community leaders.
PALCUS is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization under the IRS tax code and incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia. Donations are tax deductible to extent allowed by law and will be acknowledged.
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PALCUS has earned the 2019 Gold GuideStarUSA Nonprofit Profile Seal of Transparency. Visit our profile HERE
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Contact Information
Phone: 202-466-4664
9255 Center St., Suite 404
Manassas, VA 20110
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