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Latinas HOPE
for Political Equality
At
California’s Hispanas Organized for
Political Equality (HOPE), don’t expect to
see employees sitting around complaining
about the challenges that Latinas face.
“We’re creating change and working with
people. At HOPE, we don’t have the mentality
of being victims,” says HOPE Board Chair
Elmy Bermejo. “We look at the problems and
challenges we face, and we realize we have
to do the work ourselves.” |
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Congressman
Xavier Becerra presents HOPE
Board Chair Elmy Bermejo
with a plaque commemorating
the organization’s 15 years
of advancing the status of
Latinas at HOPE’s 15th
Anniversary Celebration &
Awards Dinner. |
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Bermejo believes one only needs the right tools to
succeed. All it takes is a little hard work — a
philosophy she sees as key to HOPE’s success. “We
create solutions in whatever areas,” she says. “We
say, OK, we have challenges as Latina women, but you
know what? We have talent.”
The HOPE mission — to achieve political and economic
parity for Latinas — has not changed since the
organization was founded in 1989. But over the years
the organization has grown in the ways it strives to
achieve that mission. In 1991, HOPE began an annual
symposium called “A Proud Past … A Powerful
Tomorrow,” the date of which was declared by local,
county and state officials as Latina History Day. In
1995, HOPE created Latina Action Day, an annual
event that rallies women’s, civic and community
organizations. A few years later, in 1999, HOPE
launched the HOPE Leadership Institute (HLI), and in
2003 it started holding Latina Leadership
Roundtables in five key regions in California in an
effort to foster Latina leadership and forge new
strategic partnerships. “There are so many
directions that an organization can take — we want
to make sure we stay focused,” says Bermejo. “We
don’t want to lose perspective.”
With staying focused in mind, the organization
produced its State of Latinas in California report
in 2004, based on information and data collected
from its Roundtables and surveys, as well as the
2003 Census. In addition to serving as a sort of
progress report for the organization itself, the
report aims “to keep in the forefront of
policymakers, elected officials [and] community
leaders the challenges and opportunities Latinas
face through data and personal testimonies,” says
Helen Torres, executive director of HOPE. “We hope
it will be utilized as a resource guide, providing
Latina-specific data coupled with listings of Latina
experts.” The report is also used to spotlight the
successes of Latinas as entrepreneurs and political
leaders.
One of the key issues that HOPE will focus on in
2005 is political representation. “One in every two
children in California is born to a Latina mother,”
says Torres. But that statistic is not reflected in
the political representation of Latinas, “which can
lead to misrepresentation of our state’s future. …
It is for that reason that HOPE continues to
dedicate significant resources to the HOPE
Leadership Institute.”
The HOPE Leadership Institute (HLI) is an
eight-month leadership-training program designed to
empower Latinas to create critical and necessary
change in the areas of health, education and
economics. It aims to equip its participants with
the skills necessary to enter the civic and
political leadership arenas. HLI consists of several
two-to-three-day sessions held in various California
locations and in Washington, D.C. When the seventh
HLI class graduates this year, 242 Latinas will have
passed through the Institute. And consider this: 30
percent of HLI alumnae have achieved appointed or
elected office. Says HLI ’02 graduate Leticia
Vasquez, a councilwoman in Lynwood, Calif., “The
HOPE network has given me the support I need to be
an effective leader in my community.”
Celeste Royer, an HLI graduate from 2001, is the
statewide manager of the California Regional
Environmental Education Community Network.
“Participating in the HOPE Leadership Institute gave
me the inspiration and support I needed to make a
difference in the lives of Latinos in my community,”
says Royer. “Keeping in touch with my HLI colleagues
helps maintain my energy and enthusiasm to work
locally in support of programs such as voter
registration and education, literacy, and affordable
housing that benefits all Latinos.”
With its “Latina Smart” national policy initiatives,
HOPE also tackles specific issues, such as the high
Latina teen pregnancy rate. According to the
National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, 51
percent of Latinas become pregnant by the age of 20;
in 2002, the birth rate for Latina teens was twice
that of the national average. In November 2003,
Senator Barbara Boxer introduced U.S. Senate Bill
1956, the HOPE Youth Pregnancy Prevention Act, which
would increase awareness of and work to reduce teen
pregnancies. HOPE is again working with Boxer and
Congresswoman Hilda Solis to reintroduce the bill
this year.
Latinas also have high high-school dropout rates,
and another HOPE program targets education. Its
Youth Leadership Through Literacy Program (YLTLP)
helps low-income, high-school-aged Latinas prepare
for college and future employment through various
means, such as interactive learning, training
sessions, community service projects and reading
assignments.
While HOPE knows it can’t tackle all the issues that
Latinas face today, it isn’t afraid to refer people
to other organizations that could also lend a hand.
“I love the ability to connect people. I know
someone who can help you if we can’t,” says Bermejo.
“We have a great array of resources. We partner with
different organizations to get things done. When we
involve people, we know that [it] is going to cause
change, not waste people’s time.”
Since its inception 15 years ago, HOPE has made
great strides in achieving its mission of Latina
political and economic equality. “The women who have
been a part of HOPE or attended our conference ...
are now in leadership positions creating positive
change for our communities,” says Torres. And she
has even higher hopes for the next 15 years: “In 15
years, HOPE will have provided leadership training
to [an] additional 20,000 Latinas, impacted public
policy, and one of our alumnae will be the first
Latina senator.”
To learn more about HOPE, visit
www.latinas.org
or call (213) 622-0606.
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HOPE Board
Chair Elmy Bermejo |
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“We’re creating change and working
with people. At HOPE, we don’t have
the mentality of being victims,”
says HOPE Board Chair Elmy Bermejo.
“We look at the problems and
challenges we face, and we realize
we have to do the work ourselves.” |
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