2020 Latino Summit
Pursuing Equity Beyond COVID-19: Learnings and Challenges”
What does EQUITY mean in social justice, social services, and philanthropic spaces? This question was pressing BEFORE COVID-19.
It is a matter of survival now.
The pandemic is worsening historical inequities, and disproportionately affecting and killing Latinos and other people of color.
Centering on the need for racial equity; the movement for Black lives has reminded us that we have a role in the inequity and injustice and we are called to do better and BE better.
Our agenda this year is addressing the issues of equity and race as intrinsically connected.
Where you live, matters for your health and wellbeing.
What language do you speak, matters for your health and wellbeing
What type of documentation you have, matters for your health and wellbeing
Where you work and what type of work you have, matters for your health and wellbeing.
If you are a woman, matters for your health and wellbeing.
If you are Black, matters for your health and wellbeing.
NUMBERS AT-GLANCE FROM OUR VIRTUAL 2020 EVENT
CLICK BELOW TO WATCH OUR FIRST SESSION + GUESTS!
2020 Latinx Summit Program
8:30am WELCOME! Defining equity, program, process and intended outcomes
Event co-hosts Gigi Pedraza (Latino Community Fund) and Belisa Urbina (Ser Familia)
Equity is different from “diversity,” which is a numerical representation of different types of people.
Equity is different “inclusion,” which is defined as the action or state of including or being included within a group or structure. Unlike diversity, inclusion involves an authentic and empowered participation and a true sense of belonging. (Stanford Social Innovation Review)
Equity is also different from “equality,” in which everyone has the same amount of something (food, medicine, opportunity) despite their existing needs or assets. (Stanford Social Innovation Review)
Equity is about each of us getting what we need to succeed—access to opportunity, networks, resources, and supports—based on where we are and where we want to go.
8:45AM OPENING REMARKS, STEVEN MICHAEL QUEZADA
With a career in the entertainment industry spanning more than three decades, Steven Michael Quezada has worked alongside some of the biggest names in show business including Joe Pesci, Helen Mirren, Danny Trejo, Brian Cranston and George López to name a few.
Steven famously portrayed the role of DEA Agent Steven Gomez in the Emmy Award winning television series Breaking Bad, which was filmed in his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and for which he earned a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. He has also appeared in The Mindy Project, Spare Parts, Crash, Documentary Now, Outlaws and Angels, Holiday for Heroes. and Better Call Saul.
In addition to his successful acting career, Steven is a notable comedian who has performed on HBO, Showtime, and at comedy clubs throughout the country.
During his private time, Steven actively advocates for youth organizations and was an elected member to the board of the Albuquerque Public Schools. He and his wife, Cherise, have four kids, who are his pride and joy.
Steven Michael Quezada
9:00am Plenary Panel: What has worked? What did not work? What are some promising practices during COVID-19 relief we could learn and implement beyond a pandemic?
Join leaders from regional philantropic organizations, established nonprofits that were able to develop multi-sector partnerships, grassroots groups and organizers in a panel aimed to better understand the interconnections between sectors and the diverse roles and tactics used to deliver critical resources, programs and services to the most vulnerable communities in Georgia.
Panelists: Aceli Zenil, Vecinos of Buford Highway Leader, Beto Mendoza, Dignidad Inmigrante & Economic Justice Coalition Coordinator, M. Zulayka Santiago, North Carolina Collaborative for Strong Latinx Communities.
Facilitated by Belisa Urbina, Ser Familia.
This panel will review funding policies, housing efforts, healthcare access and the realities of essential and rural workers.
Aceli Zenil
Aceli is one of the Vecinos de Buford Highway “Leaders” she organizes and coordinates community outreach efforts through their volunteer team serving over 800 families weekly with food distributions, and direct support for those ill.
Aceli has been a PTA leader and a commnunity advocate for years centering on the needs of Limited English Speaking communities in Dekalb and Gwinnett Counties.
Humberto Mendoza
Lead organizer with Dignidad Inmigrante and Athens Immigrant Rights Coaltion in Athens,GA .
Mr. Mendoza cofounded LatinxFest, Athens Immigrant Rights Coalition, Freedom University and Supporting Migrant Families in Crisis as well as Incatepec and La Rondalla, music groups performing Andean folkore and balda music. He has been on the board of Movimiento Cosecha and other immigrant rights efforts.
M. Zulayka Santiago, MPA
Zulayka is the Founder and Creative Director of Libélula Consulting, providing inspiration, instigation, and support for projects focused on equity, social justice, and authentic community engagement. Zulayka is deeply invested in the emergence of non-hierarchical, liberation-oriented organizational models within the nonprofit sector and beyond. She is a Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity, part of the 06-08 William C. Friday Fellowship for Human Relations and deeply engaged in other learning opportunities.
Belisa Urbina
Co-Founder & Executive Director at Ser Familia, leading coordinated multi-disciplinary family services to Latinos. Through culturally relevant and sensitive programs the organization guides teens, couples, parents and families to be strong and healthy, and of value to each other and society. Mrs. Urbina is a member of Cobb County’s “Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnership’s” (MAPP) Steering Committee; Kennestone’s Hospital Regional Board of Directors’ Chairman; the REACHES Advisory Council (a program of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education to support Latino students) and has received numerous awards for her work.
10:15am (concurrent breakouts)
Health equity AND COVID 19: WHAT NOW?
This panel includes representation from health providers and clinicians, state policy potential solutions and private foundations focused on healthcare and the decision-making process and opportunities available. The discussion will focus specifically in health acess, health education, infrastructure and funding.
Panelists: Lisa Medellin, Healthcare Georgia Foundation, Briana Woods-Jaeger, PhD, Emory University, Valeria Cantos, MD, Grady Hospital and Emory University.
Facilitated by Dwayne Patterson, Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation.
Valeria Cantos, MD
Dr Cantos was born and raised in Quito, Ecuador and is an Assistant Professor at the Division of Infectious Diseases at Emory University, and an attending physician at Grady Memorial Hospital, Emory University Hospital, and the Grady Infectious Disease Clinic . During the current COVID-19 pandemic, she has been working as a lead co-investigator at Grady for the ACTI, ACTII, and ACTIII clinical trials, looking at the efficacy of remdesivir in the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. She is also a co-investigator for many CoVPN (Coronavirus Prevention Network) research studies, including efficacy vaccine trials and immunology studies.
Briana Woods-Jaeger, PhD.
Assistant Professor in the Department of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences at Emory University and a Licensed Clinical Psychologist specializing in traumatic stress and culturally responsive interventions. Dr. Woods-Jaeger's research examines social and structural factors that link the experience of child trauma and adversity to mental and physical health disparities. Her work focuses on partnering with communities to identify ways to prevent adverse childhood experiences and support different systems such as education, juvenile justice, and health care in responding to the needs of trauma-exposed youth.
Lisa Medellin
Lisa serves as Director of Programs for Healthcare Georgia Foundation. She oversees the Foundations’ strategic grantmaking programs, management of program staff and programmatic partnerships for the Foundation. She is the primary liaison between the Foundation’s philanthropic partners, and the non-profit sector both in Georgia and nationally. Since joining the Foundation in 2005, she has been responsible for awarding over $57 million in grants in Georgia. Prior to joining the Foundation Lisa held senior management positions with Emory University-Rollins School of Public Health, the American Cancer Society-National Home Office, and Planned Parenthood of the Southeast.
Dwayne Patterson
As Chief Equity Impact Officer for the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, Dwayne supports the Foundation's grantee partners as they set and advance their equity goals.. Dwayne comes to MRBF after more than a decade at the Atlanta-based Partnership for Southern Equity, an organization that promotes racially equitable health, energy, development and economic opportunities.
Through his consulting firm, The Sixth Group, Dwayne has provided training and strategic impact guidance to many nonprofit organizations and foundations.. He has served on the boards of ProGeorgia, the Fund for Southern Communities and the Latin American and Caribbean Community Center. He lives in Atlanta with his wife and twin daughters.
10:15am (Concurrent breakouts)
ANti-racism in our organizations and families. how to have difficult conversations
There is no denying that race is a key determinant of health. Moveover, the most recent uprisings denote that we all play a role in calling anti-black behaviours, policies and systems. Learn about real experiences, tactics and ways to ensure that we are all doing our part to become anti-racists.
Panelists: Monica Hernandez, Southeast Immigrant Rights Network Co-Director, Rebeca Gibbons, Director, Unidos Latino Association, N.E.S.T. Resiliency Clubhouse, Jasmihe Haywood, PhD, Lumina Foundation.
This panel will center on conversations and actions that we need to take within our organizations and families to be part of the solution. Moderator: Joel Alvarado, Executive Vice President Ohio River South.
Rebeca Gibbons
She arrived to the US at the age of 8 on the infamous Mariel Boatlift. She is the Program Director and Behavior Health Counselor for View Point Health the NEST Resilience Clubhouse. She is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Unidos Latino Association in Conyers, GA. She is a contributor for Mamá Magazine TV ATL and a visible community advocate. She is a wife, mother, career woman overcoming multiple struggles.
Monica Hernandez
Co-Director of the Southeast Immigrant Rights Network (SEIRN). She has worked at SEIRN since May 2011 and has been organizing in immigrant communities for more than 25 years. A native of Mexico with roots in both countries,she led Highlander's immigration work, co-developing and co-facilitating the Institute for Immigrant Leadership Development (INDELI), a regional Latinx grassroots organizing and leadership development program, and Threads, a multi-racial, intergenerational, multi-issue leadership development program. She was the Founding Board President of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition and currently serves on the board of the National Network of Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
Jasmine Haywood, PhD
Dr. Jasmine Haywood is strategy director for student success at Lumina Foundation. She leads a portfolio of work that seeks to increase credential attainment at four-year institutions. Before joining Lumina, Dr. Haywood was a visiting faculty member in the Department of Educational Leadership at Indiana State University. She has published peer-reviewed scholarship on the lived experiences of Afro-Latino students in higher education, microaggressions, and faculty of color. She was named a 2016 Ebony Magazine Power 100 honoree and has been quoted in the Washington Post, NBC Latino, and Univision.
Joel Alvarado, Moderator
An Executive VP with Ohio River South, Joel has over 20 years of professional experience in the public, non-profit, and higher education sectors specializing in public policy, strategic planning, project and executive management, communications, lobbying, research, external relations, community engagement, and higher education leadership.
He is a member of the National Community College Hispanic Council (NCCHC), American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE), National Association for Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), the New Leaders Council (NLC), Kappa Delta Pi Honors Society, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
11:30pm Plenary Panel
On Black and brown representation. The case for equity
Jonathan Jayes-Green, Vice President of Programs, Marguerite Casey Foundation.
Jonathan Jayes-Green (They/Them)
Vice President of Programs at Marguerite Casey Foundation. Organizer, strategist and believer. Former National Latinx Outreach Director for the Elizabeth Warren for President Campaign, Co-Founder and former Founding Director of the UndocuBlack Network (UBN), a multigenerational network of Black undocumented immigrants organizing their own communities and building power. Jonathan has also served in the Office of the Governor of Maryland as the liaison to the Caribbean and Latinx communities and worked on statewide campaigns and ballot measures like the Dream Act and marriage equality.