It's Women's History Month!

Latinx Student Services would like to take a moment to celebrate the amazing women around us today and everyday. It takes a village to bring the change we deserve to see and women are often times the catalyst of this work. During International Women's Day many women and allies took the streets across the globe to demand the end of gender based violence. We stand in solidarity in the call for justice and our ask to you is to also plant your seed of change.

Meet Jovita Francisco Morales

Jovita Francisco Morales is a community organizer of the Mazahua Indigenous nation of Mexico. Her values as an Indigenous person include the honoring of mother earth and mutual aid. She shares, “we are a capable and an intelligent community and together we hold the power to create change.” Jovita immigrated to Minnesota twenty six years ago and in her reflection she notes that life in both Mexico and the United States have consisted of both witnessing and experiencing the upholding of racism and discrimination of Black and Indigenous communities. As an Indigenous woman, she has always been marginalized, what people oftentimes don’t recognize is that racism also exists in Latin America. As a young girl, Jovita was not aware of the power that community held when they came together. However, she knew that her community was treated unfairly, especially when they did not have access to education. “I continue to organize because I've had the opportunity to engage in personal development and put my passion into action. I belong to a community that is not often in positions of power and leadership. Being able to put my grain of salt in systems that need change, and doing that work with the community has been very important to me,” Jovita explains. 

In Minnesota, the contributions of the Latine community often goes unnoticed, especially those accomplished by women. Most recently, after twenty years of community struggle, all Minnesotans, regardless of immigration status, retained the right to a driver’s license. What the public oftentimes do not know is that this work was actually begun by ordinary women, who did not have access to education or understood how the Minnesota legislation worked. Entre Amigas was a collective of women that participated in popular education workshops and later developed a sense of agency. As a result more collectives developed, such as Latinas Creativas with Jovita Morales and Maria Cisneros, where they centered art as a form of expression and change. They demanded access to training, which resulted in getting support from advisers to develop their own curriculum. This group of women were able to create a survey to learn more about the issues impacting their surrounding communities, in that survey, they included the issue of driver's licenses. The results of the community surveyed demonstrated that in fact this was the largest issue facing our communities, therefore, they focused their organizing and advocacy efforts on bringing this issue to the capitol.

The group continued growing, so the collective then became to be known as Mesa Colectiva, where they also created a radio station that centered the stories of women. Unfortunately, in 2011, the collective slowly ended. “I didn’t want our work to end there because there were still many people who were hungry for change,” it was then when Jovita Francisco Morales founded Mesa Latina, which then became known as the Minnesota Immigrant Movement. Understanding that oftentimes organizations get trapped in the non-profit industrial complex, the value of this collective has always been to center the voice of el pueblo and dismantle the ideology of the white savior complex.  Jovita shares, “We won’t forget where we came from, the community deserves to know who has been here advocating for decades, this win goes to those leaders and the community who supported us along the way.” These are the stories that we are committed to pass down and demonstrate to our younger generations that our community is full of gifts, skills, and talents, and that together we can achieve many great goals. “This is a community movement, we are here because of the sacrifices that our community made, the hunger strikes, camping outside the capitol, our countless vigils, sleeping in the Capitol, and the daily microaggressions experienced by people who are in positions of power.” The thoughtful questions that Jovita leaves us with are the following: How can we make our community a better place? How can we utilize our skills and knowledge to dismantle systemic oppression? How do we ensure that our community organizing is truly centering our communities?

Western Union Foundation Grant

To be considered for an award, nominated students must:

• Be an international student (non-citizen or permanent resident of the country in which they are studying) in the junior or final (senior) year of their studies.
• Be studying in an accredited post-secondary higher education institution in: Australia or New Zealand; Japan or Singapore; the U.S. or Canada; the United Kingdom; or Europe.
• Be enrolled as a full-time undergraduate (Bachelor's) degree program for Academic Year 2023-2024 or a corresponding timeframe for universities with other semester systems.

The deadline to submit your application is April 1, 2023.

2023-24 PRISM Scholars Program

This scholarship supports Augsburg juniors and seniors who are pursuing STEM with scholarships of up to $10,000 per year. For more information, visit the website. The application deadline to apply is Wednesday, May 17 at 11:59 pm

Building Stronger Families

Are you a Black, Indigenous, or student of color interested in working with

children and their families?  We aim to support undergraduate Black, Indigenous, and students of color who are studying social work, family studies, or family social sciences and are passionate about working with children and their families. The deadline to submit your application is March 31st, 2023.

TRIO McNair Summer Research Fall 2023

The TRIO McNair Scholars Program is now accepting applications for Fall 2023 admission. We're recruiting students that will be at junior credits by Spring 2024 and are interested in conducting research during Summer 2024. Current juniors with an expected graduation date after Summer 2024 are also eligible to apply. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis as slots are available.

Interpretation for School Conferences

Hiawatha Academies Northrop is currently seeking temporary English/Spanish interpreters for their spring conferences held on Tues 3/28 & Thurs 3/30 from 3:30-7pm and Friday 3/31 from 7:50-12pm. The pay rate is $25/hr. If you are interested, email Blanca Crespin at bcrespin@hiawathaacademies.org

Mississippi River Fellowship

This is a 10-week fellowship paid opportunity for diverse and underrepresented young adults ages 18-25 to explore the different branches of the National Park Service including Visitor Services, Interpretation & Education, Natural & Cultural Resource Management, and the Volunteer Program.

Join the Augsburg's Bonner Community Program

Students participate in a learning cohort of peers and are placed into paid work and service positions throughout their time in the program. Students who have at least 2 years remaining at Augsburg and an interest in social change and public work are highly encouraged to apply. The deadline to apply is April 1st, 2023.

Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha

Are you passionate about worker's rights? CTUL, a worker-led organization is currently hiring for a Communications and Narrative Campaigner, workers rights lead organizer, construction worker organizer, and construction education coordinator.

Policy and Advocacy Fellowship through Esperanza United

For 2023, the Policy & Advocacy Fellow will provide support to the Policy team. Specifically, the policy and advocacy fellow will conduct policy research, write policy memos, assist with the planning of a summer fellowship, coordinate event logistics, and participate in meetings. The fellow will also have the opportunity to meet with key stakeholders in the field of gender-based violence.

Family Advocate Position with Esperanza United

Family Advocates assist women and children who are survivors of domestic violence to develop, pursue and achieve their goals to live free of violence while promoting Esperanza United's mission. This is a full time position with a pay rate of $21/hr.

Youth Program Coordinator, College Access

The primary objective of this position is to plan, implement and coordinate high-quality OST & summer youth development activities for grades 6-12 under supervision by Senior Director, of Youth + Future Focus. The Youth Program Coordinator will engage in relationship building with youth and families in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood and surrounding community and contribute to the development of Brian Coyle culture and programming.