Eye on the Triangle

Emilia Rivadeneira 0:00
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Bienvenidos. A eye on the triangle. Today, we're having our Latina Heritage Month special with guests from Latinx Ed and nonprofit, perseverance, yeah. Without further ado, let's get into some news.

You so hello and welcome to wknc. I am the triangle, your source of local news, where we dive deep into the pressing issues affecting our communities. I'm your host, Emilia Reina, and here with us today is Jack Roth Acker, senior at NC State, majoring in Spanish, and founder of nonprofit perseverance, yeah, thank you so much for being here today. Jag, how are you doing?

Jack Rothacker 1:09
I'm doing good. Thank you for having me. Yeah, for sure.

Emilia Rivadeneira 1:12
So to begin this program, I wanted to ask you, what is perseverance?

Jack Rothacker 1:20
Yeah? So Perez de ferrancia is a nonprofit, a registered 501, c3, I've had the status in September of 2023, and basically our mission right now is to fundraise three classrooms, a seventh, eighth and ninth year classroom for a small school in soya Pango El Salvador, first school called the Lise alcardina school, and so the school is just a small school, and they only have kindergarten through sixth grade. So when the kids get to sixth grade, they have to leave the school because there's just no more grades. And kind of what the stat is in El Salvador is that five out of 10 kids don't continue to the third cycle, which is seventh, eighth and ninth. So my nonprofit's mission right now is to fundraise a seventh, eighth and ninth grade classroom.

Emilia Rivadeneira 2:05
Yeah, and what kind of inspired you to start this project? Like, do you have any personal connections to specifically El Salvador, or just, you know, what kind of was the beginning of this journey? Yeah?

Jack Rothacker 2:18
Um, so the way I, I guess, met the church in the school. So it's like a church in a school. Basically, they're like the same people that kind of run all of it. In the summer of 2023 I went on a mission trip with my grandpa's church church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. And so I've been a bilingual speaker since kindergarten. Now, I went through a K through eight bilingual school in Charlotte, North Carolina, where I just grew up around the language. So this was my first time traveling internationally to a place where I could use Spanish. And so it was a seven day trip to El Salvador. Stayed in this church, and it was just amazing. I was just so, I mean, the hospitality was amazing. We just explored the country, like they sat us down and kind of like told us about what's going on in the country. We met other nonprofits, and then we got to meet the school, which is the Juan carvino school, and we just got to meet the kids. And so they kind of have a high school, but I actually learned after living there over the summer, that it's just like another public school that kind of just uses their facility after the K through six finishes their day. So we were just hearing about like the kids dreams and what they would like to see be improved with the school and stuff like that. So yeah, that's the way I really got started with it. And then when I returned to United States after the seven day trip, the mission trip in 2023 I just felt a call to action. I was in a good I had a good opportunity with my fraternity at the time to start the nonprofit, because we, we needed a fundraiser. And, you know, there's a philanthropy aspect of it, and I felt like we could all rally around this. Be like, Let's build a classroom, because it initially just started as one classroom with the seventh grade classroom. With the seventh grade classroom, and recently, over the summer, we got, like, denied for the permit to build just one and they wanted us to do three. So that's why, over the summer, after one year of fundraising, it got switched to one to three classrooms. But yeah, so that's kind of my uprising with it all on what helped me start the nonprofit and how I met them.

Emilia Rivadeneira 4:19
Wow, that's really inspiring. And, yeah, I was actually going to ask you about it, because I know that it started kind of like with just one classroom. And like I was also going to mention recently the project mark its one year anniversary. Am I right? Yeah. So how do you feel about, like, its impact and progress, you know, like it just started with one classroom, but now it has become, it has grown to a three classroom project. So how do you feel about this? I

Jack Rothacker 4:49
love it, honestly. Um, the progress has been, has been amazing. So we with the one classroom was a $21,000 project. So it's like, Okay, I'm gonna start a GoFundMe. Let's get. On. And one of the reasons I had to start the nonprofit is because GoFundMe doesn't work with Central or South American banks, so initially I was just going to use their bank account, put it in there, fundraise, not even start my own organization. Only reason I, like, really started this is like, Yes, I used to be a business major. Love entrepreneurship. I wanted to do some type of thing with my own but there was just no other options. Like, there was no other options to safely fundraise, so that's why the nonprofit just had to be made so I can have that safe 501 c3 bank account, and it's kind of just turned into so much more. So with that one classroom being denied, it only creates a bigger impact, but it also makes me work harder. So I mean, going from 21,000 to a now $70,000 budget of three classrooms a second floor. It's honestly been super exciting. It definitely gets a little overwhelming. And then there's also this deadline of the way their school year works is it's from January to November, right? So we can only build at some point, because it's kind of a small area to where, like, if you were building, you don't want to, like, be building during the school day, you know, it'd be dangerous. So we really just have this November, December, January. And for the project, so far, I've raised $15,000 there. The church I went on the mission trip with has donated 5000 to the project. So we're at 20, right? So we have one classroom that's going to be built in November. It's like, predicted to be around November 15, that's what I say, yeah. But now it's just like, Okay, we have this three month deadline, and then I'm also a senior who's, you know, trying to figure myself out. So I'm like, Let's go hard now and just trying to figure out more ways to fundraise and just network and just, you know, build a brand at the same time so that people can respect and, you know, know that their money's going to something good. So yeah, it's been, it's been a mixture of all, but the one to three classrooms has honestly been somewhat of a blessing to honestly just help me just see more beyond just one thing, you know. So yeah, yeah.

Emilia Rivadeneira 6:55
And again, it's just like, so inspiring to, like, listen to this journey that you had with just, like, building perseverance, yeah, and all. And I wanted to ask you, like, in your opinion, how do you think having access to this classroom? Well, now three classroom can significantly change a student's life in that community. And salad,

Jack Rothacker 7:18
yeah, um, it's really amazing, like, so I lived there this summer. I lived there for two months, um, I kind of had, like, an internship with Habitat for Humanity. I lived out of the church every day. So I did monday, wednesday habitat, and then Thursday, Friday, or Thursday, the rest of the week with the church in the school. So I really just on those Thursdays, Sundays, I really got super tight because I was on I was only there for a seven day mission trip. I would I visited school two times. I was there for probably a total six hours. Like, I was there for two months this summer. Like, really built connections. So it really does mean so much. The kids there are are just awesome. I mean, they're just, you know, they're normal kids. It's like me going to my K through eight. Like, if I were to just be have to figure out what's next in education after that, it'd be very difficult. So I think the director has really just inspired me to continue by kind of expressing how much this project will mean for the community, because it is a community that was in somewhat of an area of violence, and that just having these classrooms, something tangible, is going to create a long lasting, almost generational impact. You know, it's like these current sixth graders, there is somewhat of a rush, you know, it's like, okay, I don't want to do this today. Well, all right, if I don't do this today, then we might not raise $1,000 and then, you know, this know, this, these sixth graders aren't gonna have the opportunity to continue seventh grade. So it's the impact is really awesome. And I think that's what's the best part about this project, and what makes it the most, I guess, like, marketable, other than just like my passion and like, love for the actual kids. And, you know, knowing their names, and you know, want to meet them, even meet their families. I mean, I got to meet the teachers over the summer. I already kind of knew them, but, I mean, I sat in their classrooms, I observed they included me the lessons, like I got to play games, play soccer with them. So I think the best part about this project is just the long, tangible impact that we really are is really helping.

Emilia Rivadeneira 9:18
Yeah, for sure, and well, you have mentioned a couple of times that you spend the summer there. And so what was kind of like, the most shocking thing that you learned in that trip, just in general, or about education in El Salvador,

Jack Rothacker 9:36
yeah. Um, yeah. So, so living there was, was, was really cool. I mean, one so, like I said, I spoke Spanish for a while, but this was my first time where it's like, okay, it's 24/7 Spanish. So that was just like, a transition. You know, it was, it was definitely exhausting, like, long days, and that's why I switched my major, actually, just because I'm like, I want to express myself more. You know, I need to, I just want to be better. But I think the number one thing about El Salvador that I really just, I really just love is is really just the people, I actually have, just a lot of friends there. I mean, through the church and then working with Habitat for Humanity, they just always take care of you. And I think the main thing that like, like is such a testament to that is the difference in in life, or, I guess, like lifestyle, just because like living in the church, like, and I really don't care, but there's, there's no AC, and it's just different to cook, and the way you the products that you're buying at the grocery store are just they're more expensive because they're imported and stuff like that. So I think the kind of kind of the narrative of who a Salvadoran is is that they're resilient, and so I think just seeing how they carry themselves and how they continue to push through many hardships in their life that communities have faced, that natural disasters have brought it really is just powerful, honestly, one of the, one of the, I guess, a specific example. One day I visited this community, and La Paz, it's a department there. And when I went there, it was like it was winter for them, and so it was just raining the whole time. And so I visited this community. And like, whenever we like visit community, we kind of just like, get in a circle and it's like just a group conversation. And they kind of just like, tell me about their lives and stuff like that. So they were telling me, like, a week ago, they lived near the rivers, and one of the rivers, like, flooded bad. And like, my first two weeks, they were bunch of floods, really bad. But the community we kind of met with, like the community leader, I guess. And she showed me this video of, like, I mean, her hurricane Helene, type of um flood, were like rapids, and they have, like a rope, and they're helping, like, people get out of their houses. And it's not even like their community. Technically, it's like 15 minutes away. And then when we left that day, it started raining again, and we saw the rivers as we were driving back to San Salvador, and it was just very intense. And then we got a call, and they're like, yeah, they went back out to give us our help with people. And that's just like, after like, a long day of just providing for their family and gathering the community together and being leaders, like they're always really just taught me it's like, whenever you think you're tired, you're not tired, you know? So, yeah, the resilience, that was the number cool thing to see. Yeah,

Emilia Rivadeneira 12:28
and talking more about your project, you know, you spend the summer there, talking with the kids, talking with teachers, and like, just being an observer in general. What do they think about this project that you're starting?

Jack Rothacker 12:44
Yeah, um, so that was always something that I tried to really make sure, like, when I went to to the director, saying, like, hey, I want to try to, like, create a fundraiser or something like that. Um, I was like, What do you guys need? And she was like, well, a classroom would be awesome. So initially, like, 15 and she's like, Oh, we knew we should do 21 so we can fill it with materials too. It's like, all right, 21 but with the actual project and how long we've been working on it. Now, no one really kind of knew about it, other than the inside people. So like the school, the teachers, they knew about it and the actual the staff I got, the church and the school, they knew about it, but not really. I mean, the kids are very young, so they may not like understand to an extent, but the best part that has come out of people knowing now was I have a team in El Salvador right now that I'm working with. So I have a couple people from the small community called Rosario de Mona, and one guy is designing my whole website right now. I have another guy who's been filming videos at Juan gardino, interviewing students, interviewing past students. We have one guy like translating to make captions named Joseph. So it's really been powerful, honestly. Like we have zooms all the time. Of just kind of like, it's basically just like kids from the church around our age. I mean, it's the whole church we I mean, there's a four, like, a 40 year old guy with like three kids in our on our team right now. So it really is like the community that my last day at the church service, they like gave me the mic. And, I mean, it's a small church. There's like 2030 people. And we just, like, talked about the project. We showed designs of the classroom. They're like, this is why Jack was here, kind of this summer. And, I mean, the whole summer, like, I was working with the pastor's son named Oscar, and he's been my guy. I mean, we had a phone call yesterday. He's been helping a ton. So I think that's been the best part is that people have got behind the mission of education is a way to change the future is with this small school, is a way that we start this movement of motion of what we are trying to do. So to have, like an actual team in El Salvador right now that I'm continually working with, consistently working with, has almost reaffirmed me of the. Mission that we've chosen, and, you know, again, to just continue to work hard,

Emilia Rivadeneira 15:05
yeah. And you mentioned something really inspiring, which is, you know, education can just, like, change, like, and it's like a movement. What did you say? Movement of movement of motion, yeah. And so, how does that resonate, that with you, like, on a personal level, like that, you know, movement of motion and like creating that,

Jack Rothacker 15:23
yeah, yeah. I think, I think education is, is, truthfully, is. So the United Nations, they have 16 Sustainable Development Goals. I think 16, maybe 17. That's bad. Let's say 1717, sustainable development goals, and education is one of them. And the thing with education is, as someone who has had education my whole life, I'm one of those people who sometimes I'm like, you know, I hate school. I hate this. But then you realize how smart we actually are and how much information we're just taking in, like, even if we're daydreaming in class, we're learning about something important. During it, we're learning about something that's going to make our brain smarter. And I think the thing with education is it is such a privilege, and it's also such a tool, and it's a safe place, you know, and in these in these countries where life can be more difficult sometimes, and the circumstances are tougher to have education, or even just keep kids in school. It really is such a way to just it just betters everyone. I mean, one people are smarter. I mean, else have a though they had a lot of people migrate over the last couple of years. So it honestly does, like the directors told me, like it helps reduce the immigration rate, because if people are staying in school, then they're getting good jobs. Getting good jobs in El Salvador, and it's improving the economy and stuff like that. So there's a lot of other impacts. It's reducing poverty. I mean, El Salvador is 25% poverty in the whole country, so there's just a lot of stuff that educate I mean, if you are in school and you're studying and you're learning good stuff. And you, I mean, so college is kind of difficult there. There's not, there's like, one public school, and then there's multiple private and Juan carvinos a private school, so they have to, it's only scholarships, basically, or you have to pay, and it's like 200 a month. So, like, that's why, like, these churches in the United States can, like, almost fund a full school, right? Like, every single year, and that's like their project. That's like the church I went on they like fun, like 40 kids or something like that. And so, um, yeah, so high school is, it's just like a trade school, essentially. So you go for like three years, and then you choose, like, accounting, or, let's say, language, or something else, and that's the degree you get. And that's usually the farthest that people go. But it's just, I mean, we went through a K through eight to high school to a four year college to maybe a grad or master school, like, it's just so much information that we're taking in. So with education, I think it's just understanding, like, where I've come from and how much it has done for me, even though I do sometimes not realize that. So to try to just give that back in a way that I think can benefit them. I mean, even, like with if they hit sports teams, if they had extracurriculars, it was keeping them in a safe space where they're learning and doing positive stuff.

Emilia Rivadeneira 18:12
Yeah, that's really cool. And what is your long term vision for personality? I know that well now you're in the process of, like, building this classroom, but just long term after that. What is the vision? Yeah,

Jack Rothacker 18:29
I think about it every single second of every every day. That's like, that's of how to sustain right so right now I'm in this current of, all right, 70,003 classrooms. I mean, I'm running around right now. I'm doing a soccer tournament for November 16, which I'm trying to raise 20,000 at, is my goal. So I've really just been super consumed with that, and it's made it really difficult to build this brand, right? So with nonprofits, you do have to think of it as a business. My model has been 100% donations like, I will never, I've never taken anything for overhead. I'm taking everything out of my personal account. You know, I've had people I don't know, you know, worked with clubs or stuff like that. But I guess I say that because I am really trying to figure out what is the best way that we can I want to create a model, right? Like they give the Habitat for Humanities. They're in like 70 plus countries. They're all over the United States, working for them, seeing how complex their business model is, but how beautiful it is, and how they're just, I mean, they're, they're making 20 million a year, for example, to to build houses for people. So honestly, this classroom is my like, MVP, you know, it's like, Okay, we are doing something. We are creating real world impact. My, my most recent idea, I guess, other than continuing to build classrooms, I hope to start providing scholarships for the students soon, and set up like a scholarship program. I. Um, so those would be my main two. And then I want to kind of just work across El Salvador, um, continue to work with the Juan carvino school. The next project will be a high school for them, so it'll be a trade school. So we're really just trying to just build that up as much I can. I mean, they're my day ones. They're the people who have let me fundraise for them, like, truthfully, they've given me so much. Um, so yeah, that's like, my my current but again, when I say I want to create a business model. So this, this spring, I had the opportunity, or last spring, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Barcelona, and I stayed in a lot of hostels. And hostels are basically, I'm sure, you know, but yeah, hostels are just like a cheap way to to travel, you know? And so I have this idea of trying to create a discipline at NC State of like mission work. Because really, when I say movement of motion, the way I look at my life now is I just want to do good in my life, like I It doesn't matter what I do. I love Latin America, and it probably is because the language and other people in my experience. But I want to give back every single day. I want to use my entrepreneurial mind to create good social impact. So back to it. I want to create a discipline about, like, mission work, right? And it would be like a 12 week course, and like, the first month is at NC State, let's say, and they, like, just, it's a mission. And it's like, this is what we're going to do, how we're going to do it. And then we actually go to the country, and there's like three teams, and let's say one's both water, one's with healthcare, one's with education. And we make documentaries across the country, and it's like a 10 week program, and they do that. But then over time, I want to start to purchase hostels, and with the hostels, I want to do it in areas that would make sense to where we're not messing up their I guess culture in a way, yeah, because sometimes, like Hawaii, you know, you can buy a lot of things and mess it up because of the tourism, but buy hostels for one the discipline, like the people who are studying and in the mission to stay, but then also created to improve the local economy, create jobs, and it almost and Again, this is very just like my idea, but like, 50% like, people are staying so then, you know, passive income is coming in, and that money is fully going into the nonprofit. And that would be a separate type of investor, almost, like, I wouldn't even call it overhead. It'd be like the 100% like, perseverance, yeah, donation model. And then it would be, um, the people who were investing in the hostels and then making, who knows, you know the money. We'll figure it out, but yeah, so, and then we would just start buying hostels all over Latin America and just promoting travel. And it would be the hostels would almost be like an extracurricular space for students to where they're building it up. There would be gyms. So again, I just have a lot of ideas. They're still kind of forming, but I'm 100% not gonna stop. I mean, my vision is to make this one of the biggest nonprofits in the world, honestly, and it's also an experience thing for me, because I kind of just picked up all this with just randomly starting a 501, c3, in a way, like learning how that works every single day. I mean, working with Habitat was my first time ever working with a nonprofit, so I am, like, trying to take it somewhat slow, but in five years, I do say that I want to have raised a million dollars. So that's, that's like, my goal.

Emilia Rivadeneira 23:17
That's the goal, yeah, and if you could share one message with the Latinx community about the importance of this project and the role in education, what would it be?

Jack Rothacker 23:32
I think the importance of this project is we all the chance to come together as one, to have a community moment and do something fun in the meantime, like fundraising really is fun. You can be so creative with it. You can do so much. I met with this band the other day called Stan and Denny. Super awesome Venezuela band. Yeah. So they're gonna be performing at my soccer tournament in November 16. They're awesome. And we were talking about it, and I kind of mentioned, like, I mean, one, I guess we're doing this for Salvadorian classroom in San Salvador for this school. But you know, these events are also to bring the Hispanic community together, the Latinx community together. I mean, last year it was awesome. We had subarimo out there. We had Spanish music playing the whole time. We saw papusas. So really, I mean, I want this to be an opportunity for other people to to just, you know, have fun, like, genuinely, like, I love the music, I love the food, I love it so much. So this is, this is just a it's a community moment. So it's a moment to to just have fun and do something good for the Latinx community in a way. So, yeah, that'd be my mission, my message, yeah.

Emilia Rivadeneira 24:50
And just as you know, one of our final questions, what can you say to our listeners if they want to play like a supporting like support? Supporting this initiative. Like, what would you say to them? They can do? Yeah. So

Jack Rothacker 25:05
it's kind of it. So I guess right now I would say, recently, my website, my domain, expired. I had some issues. I didn't even buy it. Some random guy kind of had it. So my website is, like, honestly, being renovated right now, but I'm rebranding the whole nonprofit. Like the logo changed. Everything changed. However, I would say that just because I would direct you to my website, honestly reach out to me, I've had an issue with letting go in a way of having people help me. But I do need help. I mean, the whole point of this is to do it together, like we have to do this together, if it would be so accomplishing. Last year, I went to Greek life and I pitched I was like, Let's build a $21,000 classroom. Let's all do it together. We can literally all do this. Like, 21,000 is really not that much. Like, I really don't think it is. 70,000 kind of scares me a little bit. It's really only 50,000 now. And we can, like, we can do big things, like, imagine working hard. The tournament is going to be in 38 days, right? So that's my next fundraise. That's my next opportunity to raise money tournaments in 38 days. I'm counting down every single day is, I mean, what do I need to do now? What logistics sort of thing? I mean, if we all come together, all these amazing clubs, I mean, mi familia, the nonprofit el pueblo. I mean, we all put our resources together and we fundraise this thing. I mean, that's something that you walk away as a senior, as an undergrad, as anything as well. We just did a big project, and then one day you can travel to El Salvador, you can go visit the school and be like, I helped build that. So I think that's like, my number one thing is, like, reach out to me. Reach out to your clubs. Reach out to your friends. I mean, you can play in the soccer tournament, but there's also so much more that you can do. I mean, I'm trying to build a brand, so at the same time, it's a lot. But I guess the number one thing I'd want people to take away is, let's just do this thing, you know, if it's, if you bring out a friend, if you sign up for the soccer tournament, if, if there's anything that you see, um, I'm always open to new things and, and I'm looking for for the next big thing, so looking for the next person to help. So, yeah, just anyone who, uh, who's interested, honestly,

Emilia Rivadeneira 27:20
yeah, for sure. Well, Jack, this has been a very insightful interview. Thank you so much for coming to eye on the triangle. We love having you here today with us. So yeah, thank you. Thank you

Jack Rothacker 27:33
so much. It's been awesome.

Emilia Rivadeneira 27:42
You I'm your host, Emilia renera, and here with me today is Elaine Townsend uten, co founder and executive director of Latinx ed, and Kiara Aranda, Director of Programs of Latinx. Ed, how are you guys today doing? Thank you for being here.

Speaker 1 28:16
Oh, we're having a good time. Thank you, Amelia, thank you for the invitation.

Emilia Rivadeneira 28:21
Yeah, for sure. Um, so I'm really interested about just knowing what is Latinx Ed. First of all, yeah.

Speaker 1 28:30
So Latinx Ed is a statewide education nonprofit organization based here in North Carolina, advancing Latina leadership and participation in higher education. And so our work calls upon us to really reimagine what culturally inclusive, culturally sustaining education systems look like that really meet the diverse needs of Latina immigrant families here in North Carolina. This work is very you know, it very personal for us, because it connects to our own journeys in education as Latinas, Latinos here in North Carolina, and so a lot of this work is about writing a love letter to our younger selves, which is in many ways, the folks who are coming after us to make sure that they are able to have options, choices when it comes to pursuing education after high school, but also have an opportunity to lead and to really think about who they are in that leadership and learning how to lead from a place that really values our culture and really is able to operate from a place of healing and wellness and learning how to take care of ourselves. Because Leadership and Learning is not easy, and it is really hard and challenging. And so we're building our own frameworks for how to do that as a community, and helping folks navigate that with community.

Emilia Rivadeneira 29:49
I mean, that is a really good just initiative in general. And I wanted to ask you guys like, what personally kind of like, inspire you to well, in. In your case, Elaine to, like, kind of start Latinx Ed, but as well, just like, join this initiative too.

Unknown Speaker 30:06
Yeah,

Speaker 1 30:07
yeah. Well, it's fun that I have my colleague and hermanna and friend Kiara Banda here with me today, because our stories are very much intertwined. So we might tell you a little snippet about our journeys and how it kind of leads into Latinx. Ed, yeah, for sure, I'm like, Kiana, you want to go first? No, I'm just kidding. I'm happy to start this off, and then I'll text over to Kiana, because she has such a powerful story. But for me, I'm originally from Peru, so I was born there, but raised in the US for the most part, the South, and came over when I was really young. So was raised in very rural parts of the South and North Carolina has been home for the longest. So I was raised in Union County, so right near Charlotte, Amelia, where you're coming from. Yeah, no four and that part and that journey, being the oldest of six kids, being the first of my family to pursue college in North Carolina, like there was so many layers to that, trying to figure out how to take care of my family, how to take care of each other, and feeling this big pressure around trying to figure it out with very little information. And so I decided I was going to pursue college in 11th grade, and because I was seeing my peers doing things like the studying for the SATs and doing all this stuff, that I was like, what is that tell me more? Because I just hadn't grown up in very college going environments. So a lot of this was new to me and my family, especially my mom. But my mom ended up being a huge advocate for me, even though she didn't have that experience herself, but she was working at a community college as an ESL program coordinator, and she was just rating all the resources. She would find scholarships, and she'd bring them home and say, you have to apply to this. And at the same time, as I knew I needed to go on this big journey and pursue college and whatever that meant, I needed to do it for my family's sake, but it also was a time of a lot of anxiety and a lot of doubt, a lot of not, you know, not feeling like I it was meant for me. And at the same time, if you were to look at me on paper, I was the student that was exit, you know, sex, selling, excelling in school. And you would think, naturally, this person would just go on to the next stage, but because of not having space to really understand education as a system, but also as an opportunity, and then just how I could factor into that. And you know, it just became a harder than that process, and it ended up being a very lonely journey, at times, trying to figure out what at that age, feels like you're like, the most life defining decision in some ways, of like, where you're going and where who you're going to be. So with the college application process, asking just questions like, Who are you? Very deep, such a hard process, especially for young people, and it was, you know, the same way for me, where they're asking, like, what's your greatest sacrifice? Like, such personal questions that I had not really had a chance to to think about, nor had I been asked in in school. So it became a time of deep self reflection, but in a way that is also there's a a risk to if you are consequence if you don't get it right. And I think that journey, just when I made it to and through it, when I say, by the grace of God and my mama, you made it through and Google, but making it through, it became this like passion of mine very quickly. I think it's probably because I'm the oldest daughter and the oldest child in my family, but to just make the path easier for the people coming after me, because I just felt like if I could impact at least one person's experience in education, it would be worthwhile to me. So that kind of starts the the heart of wanting to be able to support other people who had similar challenges to me, kind of navigating especially education, but also that college application process. So it starts there with that passion around advancing our community into higher education. But I'll turn over to Kira, who will share a little bit about her story. We might tie it into why leadership becomes a big theme of our journey.

Unknown Speaker 34:10
Yeah,

Speaker 2 34:11
yeah, yeah. Elaine, a lot of what you were, I'm always reminded of just how much our stories overlap and intersect, and I think speak to the experience of many Latina youth growing up in North Carolina. So share a lot of similar experiences like Elaine has named I am the oldest daughter of Mexican immigrants. My parents came to North Carolina in the late 90s to a very small rural town, Rockingham, North Carolina, if anyone ever hears about it, I get very excited. That's how small it feels sometimes. But I share that because there wasn't necessarily like an ESL program. There weren't necessarily any support set up when we first moved to North Carolina. So a lot of my journey to and through education was figuring it out all. My own, or feeling like I had to figure it out on my own. A lot of that pressure of whether it was like serving as the main interpreter for my family when they had to show up to school events, or having to figure out this whole college application process. I always tell folks that Google was my college advisor, because that's how I figured out everything that I needed to do, and, you know, the the entire steps of the process, but it was a very lonely journey. And I think there was always this feeling as I was going through that in, you know, middle school and high school, that it shouldn't be this way. It didn't feel like other people were navigating the same experiences that I was navigating. And it wasn't until college that I really had that realization, right, that folks do have different experiences within the education system, and that a lot of times it's shaped by the counties that they come from. Sometimes it's shaped by the communities that surround them or the services that are available in their communities. And so very similarly to what Elaine has named, right, I felt this, this calling to change the system, and the way that it was creating barriers for Latina students to ultimately be able to make it more accessible for folks who would be coming after me. I remember trying to find opportunities on my college campus for, you know, community and involvement. And I came across the scholars Latino initiative, which is at the origin story, too, of Latinx Ed, or at the origin of Latinx Ed. But this was also the place where I started to not just build community, but to started to experience what education was like for students outside of just my own experience. It was the first time that I was really exposed to what it could look like to be impacted by documentation challenges in your college going journey, which is a whole other experience that was new to me at the time, and that really continued to drive my interest for dismantling the systemic barriers that exist as students are pursuing post secondary education. And that has really continued to drive my work and and it's ultimately what brought me back to Latinx Ed, just

Emilia Rivadeneira 37:03
hearing what you guys, like, started, and when you guys are doing at Latinx Ed, it's just very inspiring, um, and I wanted to kind of, like, go back to, like, the history of Latinx ed, and like, when was it established? Like, you know how it's like, all that process when it was, like, just starting right now, and like, also looking back at that, and like, how it is now, like, in your guys's opinion, like, how has Latinx? Like, Latinx at progress, like, you know, like, through all of this years that it has been like an established organization. So if you guys can share some of that too,

Speaker 1 37:43
like love Amelia about to tell you all the insides out. I love it, and I will name that. It's a special history for us, for many reasons, but you kind of heard kiana's introduction into college, and just even learning about other students experiences is actually where we met. We met at UNC Chapel Hill go Tar Heels me saying this on NC State radio, but, you know, we got a lot of love in our hearts for NC State, but UNC became this, like portal into a whole new world, a whole new community. I remember being a first generation college student on campus, like not knowing what I was doing, making all the wrong mistakes when it came to, like, what courses to take, or, you know, just trying to be a learner. And at the same time, was also a worker. I was a student employee. So was juggling so much family back at home, and so I quickly found that I needed community very desperately to just ground me through that journey. And so Kiara and I ended up being in a lot of the same circles, which was such a blessing, because we got to connect on our own just personal journey as Latinas at UNC but then also we're just so connected by this commitment to serving our community and to advocating for the needs of of others. And so it really sparked a movement in our area, I will say, but also beyond, because it really showed us what we could do together. We were doing things as undergrads that I don't anything if I take a step back, I was like we did that. You know, we would host events as students, where 200 families students would come out to receive college access resources, like we got a lot of opportunities, just through different mentorship programs and even the sorority that we're part of, to just be able to lead. And while we may not have had, like, a formal training on leadership, you know, we learned by doing, and that's kind of, I think the narrative of our life being the oldest daughters and having to do things for the first time. But I think that seed of like, wow, you know, what could we do together? So having done work in college access realms as undergrads would then translate into our professional career. Is once we graduated, and so being part of the mentoring program that Kiana mentioned, Sly NC, Sly, it was really a chance for us to be able to just learn how to do this work, how to serve students, especially undocumented students, and and how we could dismantle barriers, or at least help them navigate the education system. So came back, and I was working with line at the time, after going through grad school, even I actually just a few fun facts about me. I went and worked in South Korea for a little bit through the Fulbright, and then headed to grad school at Harvard to study technology, innovation, education. And so coming back, though, was the big thing. I thought, you know, being someone who raised in North Carolina, I was Carolina, I was like, I'm excited to get out, and I'm excited to see the world. And I definitely enjoyed that experience. But I just everything was about coming back, even when I was at grad school, all the projects that I did were about North Carolina, was about the Latina community. So when there was a chance to come and serve, I was a huge it was like, This is what I would Google. This is what I would be looking for. And so we were able to continue that work, through mentorship, through that college access support, at the same time, they're up against systemic barriers that our students face, and it's so critical to have the navigational supports and then also the challenges. How can we change that, you know? How can we change the ways that systems are designed? How can we change who's at the table? And that became a really growing need as the state can the demand for better opportunities, more college access just continues to grow across the state that became a big question mark of like, okay, so how are we going to address this? How are we going to shift the needle so that we can see these things start to change, versus continuing to just have to help students navigate the same problems over and over again? And so Latinx said, really comes from that leap of faith, because we hadn't really seen an example of what that could look like. And so in 2018 Latinx, that officially comes into being as official 501, c3, and so it's it's special. We have our roots start in the triangle, but the vision from the beginning has always been the state. How do we connect the dots across North Carolina. And so that becomes this like movement, which we'll talk more about. The history. I will let Giada jump in here to share her perspective, because she had a different route into this. But it becomes the the we start to hold the mandate of, how do we cultivate leadership in North Carolina to be able to be equipped to serve, to sit at those decision making tables and start to influence everything from policy to funding to to the decisions that are made. And a spoiler alert, because you're like, Where does this go next? But we actually start with middle school students, which is such a different route than you might think of where we would start, but it being, you know, having such a strong college access, background and expertise, a lot of this came became about, how do we cultivate future generations of leaders? And as a middle school teacher, that was what my background is in, is middle grades education at from UNC, School of Education, it made a lot of sense to start with our youth, to think about, how are we cultivating their voice, their leadership, creating spaces where we get to go deeper into racial, ethnic identity. What does that mean to be Latino, Latina, Latina, and get at the root of some of the strong challenges, big challenges that we faced ourselves in our youth, like not understanding who we are, feeling that mediaki, media Yeah, not from here, not from there, and sometimes really struggling to find our place in our role, our fit, whether it was in school or even in leadership. So that becomes a little bit of an ordinary story, but I'm like, I've said too much already. I have to pass it to miss Gianna to share a little bit about her journey, and then we'll keep we'll keep telling you about the progress of Lennox.

Speaker 2 44:05
Yeah, I I'm thinking back about those on those slide days, Elaine and yeah, just how much learning came from being in that shared space. But yeah, so after graduating from UNC, my journey took me a little bit of a different route, still connected to college access. I served as a college advisor, actually in Charlotte, North Carolina. So was able to be there for two years. And that opportunity and that experience really exposed me again to like the these same themes that we keep referring back to about the systems and how they're really designed to not make it easy for Latina students, communities of color in general, right to pursue higher education. And it came to a point, having been doing for me that direct access work where I was like, Okay, I'm helping out all of these individual students, right? But like the system and the challenges are still here, I'm sending them to these systems that. That are not designed to really support them or to create systems of support for them once they get into these institutions. So how can I really get to the root of the problem, which, in the way that I see it is really, how do we improve the system so that they are ready to support our Latina students once they get into these spaces? And that brought me back to Latinx ed in some ways. What the time that I was going into? Oh, this was actually during the pandemic, and Latinx Ed was starting a Virtual College Advising Service. And I love me some college advising, okay? And I said to be able to do it for Latina students across the state, in North Carolina like it just it brought me deep joy to think of the possibility of that happening. I thought about all the conversations that I had with students right once they got into college, where they didn't have the supports and would have loved to have some assistance. And so to be able to do it with students who looked like me, who had experiences like me, felt like a really powerful opportunity. And so that's how I got reconnected. It was a part time role. We were able to really get into the mapping and the building out of this college access program that was specifically created with Latina students in mind. And I think what was really special that ultimately connects to this larger story of Latinx Ed is that connection to our personal identity. I think I've been in spaces where I've done a lot of college access work, and it's one thing to talk about the journey to and through college. It's another thing to explore that journey while staying grounded in who you are at your core, the strength that can come from your identity, the strength that can come from your culture. So to be able to connect that to like my latinidad, to my experience as a learner, has been so incredibly powerful. And I think that's what we started to really get into and explore with college consejos. Just like, what does it look like to not just explore these topics of college access, but to also make connections to like this is a moment for you to practice your leadership, right? This is a moment for you to think about your latinidad and how it shows up in your learning environments. So that that has been, I think, really the most special piece for me, of just making that connection for the professionals that we work with the youth that we work with, that there's so much power in our identity, particularly as Latina folks who are growing up in the US South, who are leading and learning in the US South, it's just a different experience compared to what you know, some folks might see from coming from Texas or coming from California. So that's been a really cool, cool part of my journey with Latinx. Ed, nope, well,

Speaker 1 47:44
I was going to say, let's take it to the present, just to catch you up. Emilia, yeah, you kind of hear the origins of Latinx side being very much rooted in leadership development and college access. That continues to be true today. Covid was a critical time for us. We had just started in 2018, 2019, 2020, hit, and there was a lot of like the rest of the world, a lot of recalibration around our strategies and how we were going to lead moving forward. Again, the origin of Latinx said the vision had always been statewide. I have we know we hadn't seen a model that looked the same way that we were building. So a lot of it was like, What could this look like? Like? How can we build this network statewide? How can we sustain it? What could that look like? So a lot of questions, right? Especially being the first and trying to go through all that thinking of how to build and how to model. But it started with we were we decided the starting point would be a listening tour, which ended up being called a sonosi Listening Tour. And what that would be is a chance for us to travel across the state, to be able to speak to families, to students, to community members, community leaders, to really understand what are the barriers, but also the opportunities when it comes to Latina student success. And at the beginning, it was like, this is a great opportunity to really learn. You know, we have our own experiences, right? We've faced our own challenges. We've worked with students. We have a sense of the the landscape, of course, but what does it look like to take time to, like, sit down and do some research, like formal research, around what is happening across the state. So we ended up talking to over 250 people from all across North Carolina to inform what were those core themes. And so what came up from that tour was four areas, and they're easy to remember because it's a little ABCD moment here. So the first starts with the absence of Latina representation and leadership. And so that piece was across school district, across institution, across colleges, was just like we do not have people that we can talk to. We don't have people who understand our community at these decision making tables. And it's it we can feel that when we're trying to communicate our needs. The second one was barriers, barriers to. To post secondary access. So it was like whether that was culturally relevant, advising folks who understood how to support students who are impacted by documentation and navigating that journey, being able to even have bilingual resources and trying to access higher education, it was a big pain point of our community. The third one was cultural isolation. You kind of hear this in our stories, too, when you don't know who you are and where you come from, or you know it can impact your own journey. But on top of that, if schools are not designed to allow families to fully participate, an example would be having, you know, Spanish speaking families, be able, or parents, in particular, being able to understand what's happening at school, and how to advocate for their for their children. What happens when those things are not in place? Oftentimes you get left out. You don't get to participate fully. And then there becomes narratives about your community that are whether stereotypes or just falsehoods, that we don't care about education because our parents aren't showing it when it's like, well, these things are not conducive for full participation, and that is leading to cultural isolation, also mental health challenges, where students and families are struggling to be a part of these systems and these really what they are, communities, right? And so that being a big theme of the tour around mental health and the challenges there. And the fourth is the disinvestment in education, the lack of funding, especially equitable funding, when it comes to education at large, but also the unique needs that our community is facing as well. And so those four things really help us get up close and personal with like, what are the barriers and what are the things that we need to think about from a systemic level and really start connecting that practice to policy and policy to practice. It's very, you know, like a circle. So it really helps us figure out where to go. Because from that, we also start the Fellowship, which is now one of our biggest programs, the Latinx Ed Fellowship, which is what kiata leads. So always got to maybe I'll be like, yeah, you need to tell us about a little bit more. I'll set the stage. And then she well, more about it. But it is really became about building an intergenerational network of education leaders across the state, Latina education leaders, but an opportunity to really invest in their leadership and their voice in building the resources that they need to lead and to learn and be able to help advance them into education, whether that's through their own academic journey, you know, into higher education and or into their career. And what does that look like to be a part of this landscape? And we're up against significant challenges when it comes to representation, just to give share a little bit of numbers, just to ground us, we currently in North Carolina, have zero superintendents, so that's out of 115 districts that we don't have any Latina representation when it comes to the General Assembly. You know folks who make decisions around our budget and what, you know the funding piece in particular, we have zero people in the General Assembly that are Latina we I'm like, there's gaps already. It makes me sweat every time I tell this story, because I'm like, Ah, it could be so different. In North Carolina, our population as a Latina community is almost 12% of the entire state. So if you were to think about disproportionate representation, it would look so much different or so, you know, be a very different landscape. When it comes to principals and teachers, they make a 4% of the teacher and principal population, where we have 21% of our school population are Latina students. So you already see that big gap. And even when we think about school board members, less than 1% of school board members are Latina. So when it comes to what we do in the fellowship, inviting people into this work, whether it is a young person who's very interested in being a part of this movement, or whether it's a seasoned professional, our ages for our fellowship range from 15 to even over six years old. So it is a opportunity for to create this network where we're able to really sustain each other, because this work is very hard, and we did a research around that as well, called these are all reports too, that we've released for the public to be able to learn more about our community and what we're what we're learning. But when it comes to folks who were asking to lead, and I've been in recruitment for a long time, because I was one of 13 students in my middle grades, education major back the day, and it was really frustrated by that. I was like, we need to, you know, so many more of us need to be here. And so I started recruiting. But now as like a professional, and being able to use Latinx ed as a platform and opportunity to really invest in other people's leadership, I have become very convicted that if we're going to ask people to lead we also have to have their back, and what that looks like is making sure that we are able to provide information, knowledge resources, but very much a community of support, because they're the people that we're asking to step up and lead these positions. They will. Think be the first person ever, that, the first person, first Latina person, specifically, ever, to probably hold that role. The chances are it might be a new role at their institution where they have to innovate and create very new things, because we're at that level of history in North Carolina. So what does it look like to ask people to step in, but also be able to have their back. That's been the heart of the fellowship, and it continues to to fuel the network that we're building. But Kiana, I don't or I know Emilia, we've said a lot. You might have no other questions, but

Emilia Rivadeneira 55:31
you're all good, because honestly, what Kiana mentioned before also about college iconsejos, that was another thing that I really wanted to hear about. But yeah, if, like, if you want to talk about the fellowship in more depth, like, Please,

Speaker 2 55:47
yeah. And I was like, maybe we need to give Emilia a little moment. We love talking about this work. So thank you for for giving us this space to share a little bit more. But yeah, yeah, the fellowship, like Elaine has mentioned. So it started in 2021 with us bringing in 15 leaders who essentially were really interested in using their voice and power to amplify issues of educational equity and to really work to advance education equity, and it has evolved into this really beautiful network of leaders across the state of North Carolina. We're now at will have 175 leaders across the state after this cohort graduates in November, of folks who are not just deep, deeply passionate right about advancing issues of educational equity, but that are also deeply invested in their individual growth, the growth of the collective and really working to advance our vision across the state of North Carolina and ensuring that the needs of Latin immigrant youth and immigrant families are met and honored across the state So we bring in folks to essentially engage with us for an in person retreat. They get a chance to explore a little bit more about their identity key topics connected to issues of educational equity across the state, and then they engage in additional training throughout the remainder, remainder of the experience. There's also a lot of storytelling connected to the work that we do. And one of the pieces that we often name as a part of the fellowship experience is that our stories are really critical to driving this work forward right, like really amplifying the experiences of the youth or the individuals that we're serving, really thinking about how our stories connect to this larger conversation of making a change in education is really important to because as we're having these conversations right with policy and stakeholders, or just leaders across the board, it's one thing to share the facts, but it's another thing to add color to it, right with storytelling and just really making the connections to the folks and the people that are actually being impacted on the ground. So that's one of the pieces that I really deeply appreciate about the fellowship that it's allowed us and really given a platform to many of the leaders who are already doing this work, who have been doing this work across the state, but it's really served as a connective tissue to help those folks who have been doing this work connect to other leaders across the state. We're much more powerful when we're connected. And I think that's one of the ways in which the fellowship is allowing some of these leaders who, again, have been doing this work to remain connected and to build community and power across the state. So it's a really cool space for Latina leaders who are interested in, yeah, just taking their leadership to the next level? No,

Emilia Rivadeneira 58:42
yeah, for sure. It sounds, it sounds like it is just like taking those Latina like that also want to learn about leadership as well. And like just taking that next level, it's inspiring as well. But one thing that I did wanted to ask you was about the Latina education summit. I know that wasn't it a couple of weeks ago that it happened. So, like, I just was wanted to know more about, like, how this had started. And, like, you know, how was it? How was the last one that you guys had

Speaker 1 59:16
such a great question? Well, it was a good time, Emilia. We had a great time. It is actually our fourth, technically, our fourth Latina education summit. The first one was virtual because of covid, but it was a critical it's started, and it continues to be a critical convening of education leaders and champions from across the state who care about issues of Latina education, and the first one was, was, again, like an opportunity to be like, will they come? I think that's been a question I have every year. It's funny because, as a, you know, doing things for the first time, it's, it's a wild idea to convene people from all across the state and and create this experience. For them and see what comes from it. But the with the first cycle of the listening tour, we had built so many relationships across the state just by going and traveling and visiting different colleges and institutions and so and schools and communities. So the opportunity was like, Well, can we get everybody together? Because even in these focus groups that we were doing, there would be people who were neighbors and they had not met each other yet. And it was like, wait a minute, y'all are literally on the same street. You need to know each other. You're amazing. You're doing such great work for the community. Let's connect you and see what comes from that. And so that became, in many ways, it's defined Latinx Ed and who we are and where we're headed. Because one opportunity that has been a challenge for North Carolina is not having this connective tissue of education advocates and leaders across the state. There's a myth about us as well, especially Latin education leaders, is that we don't exist, and we do very much so exist, but there's times where you may not see that visibility at a statewide level. You may know it more at a regional level, but also, we have incredible leadership across the state, and their voices need to be amplified, and we need to see that visibility increase, especially as we work to advance representation in education. So the summit started off. I remember the first in person Summit, which is 2022 again, Amelia, the question, will they come? Cuz, even in person, we, you know, we were still in that in person. Shift of like, headed back to in person, but it was still challenging, you know, considering all the the health pieces that were, you know, part of this. But the community not only showed up, they sold out the event. And it was such an inspirational time of learning, of being able to connect and network with people just that are, you know, doing even similar work to each other, but across the state so they don't always get a chance to interact with each other. So it was like finding your other me, but in the summit, and it was also a time of rest. I think our community, especially in education, it's a under funded field. It is not easy. A lot of us who choose this path is because we have a strong commitment to leadership. And so there's a big, deep why, but there's also a lot of burnout and a lot of stress when it comes to trying to to sustain your role yourself in an ecosystem that's not conducive for growth sometimes. And so just being able to find other people who can understand that journey, who want to pour into you, who want to support you, who care about you, that sometimes can feel like rare air, and that's really what the first summit that was in person, because there's a different energy in person versus virtual, right? But in person, it just launched this like whoa. We all exist, and we're all in the same room. And for some folks, they had never been in a room like that. You know, they had been the only Latina person in their district, in their school, in their in their network that was doing this, and then to be in a room surrounded by people who look like you, who understood you, you didn't have to explain yourself to, who already got it, and just were looking for connection. It was a really powerful experience. At first, some people went walking away being like, this is the best summit we've ever been to. And I was like, wait

Unknown Speaker 1:03:19
a minute, tell me why. And

Speaker 1 1:03:21
you know, we are, we are big on, you know, we're, we're southern too, which is funny part of our identity. So we're always big on, you know, treating people really well in the hospitality is a really big part of our culture, and I and so that's probably partly why. But I think it's also just the magic of good people coming together, uniting, sharing a vision together, and continuing to return to their home or to their role, and continuing that. So the summit has been that catalyst for many people. It's an invitation to folks. You don't have to even anything that we do. You don't have to be in a formal role to be a part of our movement. It's really an invitation to join this movement and to find your role. If you're not sure where your role is, but a community is out here waiting and waiting to to help plug you in. And so that's been the evolution, like I mentioned, Latinx, that is becoming the connective tissue for education, Latina education issues in the state. And we're able to even launch that through partnership, through our community impact work, whereas where we get to work on different projects, sometimes short term, sometimes long term, but to be able to really help create systemic level change through policy and advocacy. And so the summit is a chance to convene people to talk about what we're learning. In many ways, it's kind of like our homecoming, because, you know, it's like a big reunion, but we get to also put really important issues on the table and make sure that people are aware of what's happening across the state when it comes to Latina education.

Emilia Rivadeneira 1:04:53
Yeah, yeah. Kara, I don't know if you wanted to add a little bit more about like, you know. So the fellowship, sorry, not the fellowship, but the summit. And then talk a little bit more about college econ sales. You mentioned it as well. So,

Speaker 2 1:05:09
yeah, yeah, I feel like Elaine has really captured the magic of of Summit and just really that purpose, right, of bringing folks together across the state, serving as this, yeah, space for folks to connect up as you were chatting, Elaine, I was writing down like family reunion is what folks always say as a part of the feedback for the summit. So it's been really cool, especially as our fellowship network grows. It's been exciting to see fellows also be an important part of that space and continuing to cultivate relationships across the state, but yeah, connected to our College of consejos work, that was yeah to what we've named earlier, right? Like college of consejos, was this opportunity for us to offer services in a virtual environment when folks were still navigating what it meant like to continue working and collaborating together in the pandemic. So it was a really exciting, I think, moment for us to really lean into the virtual space and to offer services through a virtual format. One of the things that has really evolved right is this idea of what does it look like to provide the this information for students and families while also working to make changes at the systems level? And so our work around college equals has evolved now to really think about training other allies and educators across the state so that they can do the work in their local communities. One of the things that we often heard from students as we were serving them via college is this desire to, like, have someone in their community to help them with these same processes. And so a lot of the work that we're doing now that's connected to that college access work is all about equipping those folks in the local communities to drive this work forward, the folks who are in, you know, who are training, who are these educators and allies they have the relationships they've been able to cultivate really strong partnerships with students and families in their communities. So to now have this extra piece of our work, connecting to equipping those local community leaders, feels, you know, like a really powerful continuation of the work that we started with college. So it's been really cool to just see how our work has continued to evolve to meet the needs that we're seeing emerge from our community across the state.

Emilia Rivadeneira 1:07:33
Yeah, for sure. And you mentioned that, well, it was first virtual in the beginnings because of the pandemic. Does it still like go now, like virtually, like college, or is it like another initiative or program?

Speaker 2 1:07:49
Yeah, so College has folded into our training and workshop, Community Impact type of work. So that happens with educators and allies across the state in a virtual firm format, in person, we love to come out to communities and do trainings for those educators or folks who are working with students at their local institutions or in their local communities. We do still offer some resources for students and families, including a scholarship database that we still keep up to date. We also amplify different opportunities across all of our social media, and then many of the services that we offered as a part of college equal sales are now a part of our fellowship experience. So for students who are in the triangle, who are interested in really exploring, continuing to explore leadership, using their voice and power to advance topics of educational equity, and who want to continue to explore their own educational journey, they can receive those services as a participant in the fellowship. So there's many ways of us still continuing to offer those pieces, but it really just depends on the audience at this stage.

Emilia Rivadeneira 1:08:55
Yeah, for sure, um, and just in general, um, are there any like, upcoming, like initiatives, or just like programs or events that, you know, Latinx Ed, it's planning out, or, you know, that might, we might want to be on the loop of,

Speaker 1 1:09:13
yeah, I'm like, we are always up to something. Let me tell you, Amelia or something. I think one exciting piece as we continue our statewide work is being being able to get closer to regions, really unique areas in the state that are having such opportunity, really at its core. And so we are able to, right now, we're starting a project where we get to go deeper with the east part of North Carolina. And what I think is fascinating, I just shared at the summit some data around the population of Latina students across the state and different school districts. And if you were to think about which school districts have the highest. Number of Latina students. Areas like wake or Wake County or Mecklenburg County schools might come to mind, and you wouldn't be wrong, definitely right that those are areas that have a high number of the just the Latino population in general, but also have a high number of Latina students. Another way to think about the data, though, is also where the highest, where is the highest percentage of the Latina population across North Carolina, and when I think about that in school districts, what's wild to me is those numbers are actually really tremendous in certain areas, but that are not that don't necessarily coincide with the highest number. That was me getting nerdy on us for a second. But one example would be Asheboro city schools that now has 50% of their student population in this district is Latina. I'm like, wow, that sure was not my experience growing up, and now I'm like, What is that like to be able to be part of now growing majority of a population, it's similar numbers or similar percentages of like upwards of 30 and 40% but particularly in the eastern part of North Carolina. So what we are up to is now learning more about institutions, specifically community colleges, and how they are equipped to serve the Latina population, considering the the high percentage of our population that exists in these areas. So catch us in the East. And if you're from East, we'd love to talk to you, because it's such a again, it's a unique experience to be where you're from, right? And for us, the rural areas have a special place in our heart, because a lot of us were raised in those areas, and we we know the the challenges, but also the beautiful opportunities that exist in in our rural areas and and so this is just an opportunity to do even more learning, but also community engagement. And that's something that Latinx and has been able to really build our muscle in, is how to bring community together, to inform strategy, to inform practices, to inform funding. And so that's something else that our you'll see us up and about doing a lot of bringing our community to the table to to have a voice in how these institutions organize and lead. And we'll share another really exciting journey that Latinx and has been on is learning more about Hispanic serving institutions and the impact that Hispanic serving institutions have in our state. I did not know what an HSI was up until I was probably in grad school. I don't think I had heard of an HSI or understood that, you know, federal designation, and there's a lot that goes into it. But in short, these are institutions of higher education that have over 25% of their student population that are full time degree seeking students that are Latina, and North Carolina actually has and like, for folks who are listening, think about how many think there are in North Carolina. There are actually three in North Carolina, and they are all community colleges. And I think that's really there's a powerful narrative there. But there's also something called another, I guess, if you will, designation kind of called the emerging Hispanic serving institutions. And these are institutions that are at that 15 to 25% that have Latina students enrolled again in a full time degree seeking status. And there are 19, as this is as of 2022 2023 data that are emerging here in North Carolina, 19 emerging. I'm like, whoo. I don't know if that number was in your mind, but that's where we're at. And again, the majority of those institutions are community colleges. So our work moving forward, a big ally, a big partner of ours, our community colleges, and also partners that work with community colleges, because community colleges are critical lever for Latino student success, and there's a lot of incentives, benefits when institutions serve their student population better. I can list a long list. There's even funding opportunities too. And so it's just like where, especially through the designation of the HSI designation, but we're here to help not only increase the capacity of these institutions to evolve and to deepen their services, but also to build the leadership from within to lead. If we were to use community colleges as an example we don't have, we've never had a Latino community college president. So if you think about that and the directory of HSIs, there's a big opportunity here to really invest in Latina leadership within community colleges. And I will say every single sector, don't get me wrong, but there's a particular one here, as we see, community colleges continuing to be a critical lever for for Latina student success. So catches, I guess in short, catch is working in the eastern parts of North Carolina and the western part. And shout out to Western Carolina that is going through so much right now, but Western Carolina has also been such a. Critical portal of innovation and change, and right now, our community is hurting, so we're just encouraging folks to really think about how we can support our communities out in Western Carolina. But it also continues to be an area of of much opportunity for Latina student success. So catches in the rural areas, catches at community colleges, catches training anybody and their mama that wants to know about how to better serve Latina students. Our role is very much the connector, the convener, the trainer, and being able to really change the way our systems are and the ways that our students can better navigate these systems and you know and how they can be better served.

Speaker 2 1:15:45
I'll add a The other opportunity for our folks to be on the lookout for is going to be our 2025 fellowship application, which comes out in early 2025 each year. So be on the lookout for that in February. So any folks who are interested in moving into education advocacy and see themselves as education leaders, and honestly, even if you don't and you're just curious about what it means to use your voice and power to advance educational equity across North Carolina, and you identify as Latina, we have space for you to join our fellowship. So we invite folks to, yeah, join us.

Emilia Rivadeneira 1:16:23
Yeah, for sure. And kind of like to wrap up the program, this is going to be for Latina Heritage Month special. And I just wanted to, you know, invite you guys to, kind of like just a message to our Latina community here in the triangle area. Like, what would that message be that you guys want to, like, send to our Latina community,

Speaker 2 1:16:53
like, not the eyes Elaine, I think the one piece that I just hope that the Latina community continues to remember and is reminded of is the power that we hold. We have so much power, especially when we come together. So just continuing to think about the ways in which we collaborate, the way in which we continue to amplify each other, whether that's our leadership, right? The initiatives that we're leading across the state there, there just can be so much that comes out when we work together because of the power that we hold. So don't forget, yeah, the power that we hold and the opportunity that can come from collaboration. Yeah,

Speaker 1 1:17:35
I love that. I will keep rifting on the same thread and just say, somos. Thank you so much. Say, Yeah, we are from here. We are from there. And I think that connects to Kiara message of how much we have within us, power, strengths, beauty, you know, possibility. And now, as we start to really embrace that, it becomes, how do we move from dreams to action. And that's something that we say at Latinx that a lot, and we say it as a reminder to ourselves that we are doing big things, hard things, things that require radical imagination. And now the opportunity becomes to move into that action phase. And back to what Kiana is mentioning, is that we are here as a community. We have community. We're building community to support that journey that can be very difficult, and in and of its core, it's leadership, but how to move others, including yourself, to and through the change process into what hopefully is a transformational, positive impact within our community. And so it's a sacred space to be a part of. It's a sacred mandate to to hold, and I'm just eager, just like Jana mentioned, to just remind our community of of the beauty that is within us and the opportunity to lead from a place of wholeness. Yeah,

Emilia Rivadeneira 1:18:58
for sure. Um, and thank you so much Elaine and Kiara for being here today at Iona triangle. It truly it is inspiring everything that you guys are doing. And I'm just like, you know, like hearing everything about, like, Latinx Ed, it's just like, I don't even have the words, but yeah again, thank you so much for being here at I have the triangle. This was a very special program, and so like, thank you again. Thank you, Amelia,

Speaker 1 1:19:30
no, thank you for holding space for us. We would be remiss if we didn't share all the ways that people could find us we are. You can see our website at WWW dot Latinx ed.org, or you can find us on any social media, pretty much any social media platform, at Latinx education. So come check us out, follow us, sign up for our newsletter. Um, there's so many ways to to be in touch and stay in touch with all the things that Latinx it is up to. If you're an Instagram. User, you'll love us. We have a good time on Instagram. So come find us at Latinx education and Amelia, shout out to you. We see you doing big things. Thank you so much for the invitation to be here and just inspired by your journey as well into into college and into and beyond, right? So thank you for for being an inspiration yourself. Offend

Emilia Rivadeneira 1:20:25
feliz mes derencia Latina, this has been your host. Emilia rebenera, gracias. Precuchar, eye on the triangle. Music In today's episode is Latino by autobahnru, licensed under creative commons. You

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