Tejano music great Emilio Navaira, marks his return to the stage ...

18 LA PRENSA DE SAN ANTONIO 14 de julio de 2010
Creating the Latina leaders of the future
By Roxanne Macias
rmacias@laprensasa.com
On Monday the local alumnae
of the National Hispanic Latina
Institute (NHLI) held a reception
for the NHLI alumnae and other
distinguished national Latina Leaders
as part of the National Council
of La Raza annual conference. The
reception was held at Tres Rebecas,
a cultural design studio, boutique
and bookstore located on South St.
Mary’s Street.
The NHLI is an organization
based in Washington D. C., established
in 1987 to address the underrepresentation
of Latinas in the corporate
and nonprofit sectors. The
mission of the NHLI is to develop
Hispanic women as ethical leaders
through training, professional
development, relationship building
and community activism.
There are three programs that the
NHLI offers.
The Executive Leadership
Training Program (ELP) is the
main program. It provides mid-career
professional Latinas in the public
and private sectors four intensive
one-week training sessions over a
nine-month period in four locations
(California, Harvard, Center for
Creative Leadership and Washington
D.C. Students enrolled in ELP
learn about cross cultural communication,
strategic management, public
policy and leadership building.
Latinas Learning to Lead
(LLL) Summer Youth Program
is an eight-day intensive leadership
program for Latinas ages 17-22 enrolled
in college. It is designed to
promote college completion and
provide training for effective leadership
in the 21st century.
Advancing Latina Leaders in
Nonprofits (ALLIN) Program is
NHLI’s newest program designed
for Latinas 24-34 years of age
working in the nonprofit sector.
This program consists of an eightday
residential summer program
(in partnership with Georgetown
University’s Center for Public and
Nonprofit Leadership) a series of
webinars and a one-day nonprofit
management institute in November
that is held in conjunction with the
NHLI Annual Executive Leadership
Conference.
Most of the alumnae who attended
the reception trained in the
ELP program. They came from all
over the United States; there were
attendees from San Antonio and as
far away as Puerto Rico. Although
each Latina has her own unique
story to tell, they all had one thing
in common-the love they shared for
NHLI.
Guest mingled with others,
shared success and caught up on
each other’s lives. The NHLI organization
is perceived as a family, as
guests refer to each other as hermanas.
Among the hermanas was Cristina
Lopez, NHLI president.
Lopez told La Prensa that the
NHLI is a network of strong, Latina
women who do what they can to
support their fellow Latinas. Each
program requires the trainees to participate
in mentorship opportunities.
So far, more than 5,000 Latinas
have gone through leadership training
and these in turn have mentored
about 7,000 Latinas and completed
community projects that impact
hundreds of thousands of Latinos.
“The Institute is not just about
training and professional development
of individuals, it’s about impacting
the Latino community,”
said Lopez.
Janet Creazo, NHLI Class of
2007, is currently an executive director
for a non-profit organization
in Boston. She believes that training
with NHLI was a life-changing
experience. She began her professional
career as a consultant of the
same non-profit she works for now.
Creazo credits her NHLI training
for providing her with the skills and
confidence to take risks in her professional,
spiritual and personal life,
also she learned to never be afraid of
taking challenges to the next level.
“This training gave me the reassurance,
credibility and the passion
to come from behind the scenes to
the front,” said Creazo.
Patricia Chavez, Class of 1991,
also believes that NHLI has been
a life-changing experience. Currently,
she is the president of PLC
Enterprises in Albuquerque, New
Mexico. Chavez finds her life commitment
to youth was influenced by
NHLI. It has helped her realize who
she wants to be and who she wants
to associate with.
“It forces us to reconcile what we
have been about, take stock about
our past, to look at where we are
going in the future and apply all
Marisa Rivera Albert and Cristina Lopez. (Courtesty photo)
of the principles and the training to
changing not only our personal and
professional lives, but influencing
positive change in others,” explained
Chavez.
For local San Antonian Cynthia
Rocha, NHLI Class of 2008, the
organization holds a special key
within its program. Latinas spend
four weeks really learning how to
refine skills and make the move to
an executive level position, wherever
one may be. Rocha is the national
director of the Family Leadership
Institute for Educational Achievement
Services.
“It opened up a lot of doors for
me and see things in a different
light,” Rocha told La Prensa.
It has been said that it is tough being
a woman in a man’s world, but
times are changing for women and
even more so for women of color.
The National Hispanic Latina Institute
is making sure to empower Latinas
to become successful leaders
in their communities.
For more information on NHLI
or to apply for any of the programs
visit www.nhli.org.
Marisa Rivera Albert (former NHLI president), Cristina Lopez( current NHLI president) and NHLI Alumnae. (Courtesty photo)