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It seems like it was only yesterday that we were
celebrating the arrival of 2005, but a new year is
already upon us. Is it only me, or is time passing
by a lot faster?
This year, we have traveled across the country, and
everywhere we’ve gone, Latinas are making a
difference. The days when we talked about the growth
of the Hispanic population only in California or
Texas or New York are over. But our increased
numbers must be met with renewed efforts to keep our
community strong.
2005 has been an incredible year. On the political
end, Alberto Gonzales, the son of migrant workers,
became the first Latino to serve as the nation’s
attorney general. Two new Latino senators took
office, all the Latina members of Congress returned
to their seats, and Antonio Villaraigosa became
mayor of Los Angeles. On the other hand, President
Bush had three opportunities to name a Latino to the
Supreme Court and did not. In our “His View” column,
Manny Medrano of ABC News gives his take on the
issue.
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Lupita Colmenero of El Hispano News
in Dallas is presented by Aaron
Bernstein of Microsoft and Edie
Fraser of BWN with the
Entrepreneurial Stars Award at the
Diversity and Women Leadership
Summit in Washington, D.C. |
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For LATINA Style, it was specially rewarding
to receive a Congressional Recognition, as well as
an award from the Latin Business Association, for
our work in developing entrepreneurship for Latinas.
We were equally proud to present 10 more Latina
entrepreneurs with Anna Maria Aria Memorial Business
Fund Awards, in collaboration with the U.S. Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce and Wells Fargo. Keep an eye on
our website for the 2006 applications.
The LATINA Style Business Series took us
across the country to six different cities, and in
2006, we’ll return to six new ones—visit our website
to see if one of them is yours! The National LATINA
Symposium was a great success once again; we
were particularly proud to recognize Latinas in the
armed services. And if all of this weren’t enough,
we launched the Latina Pioneer Summit in Detroit,
bringing attention to the incredible work Latinas
perform in the automotive industry.
Now we are preparing for our annual recognition of
the LATINA Style 50 here in Washington in
early February. We are also delighted to have
created a credit card with US Bank that with every
purchase will contribute to a Latina scholarship
fund. I hope you sign up for it and make it one of
your preferred cards.
2005 will always be remembered as the year of
Katrina and the devastation it brought to the Gulf
Coast. So many lives have been forever changed, and
we should not forget that the struggle still goes on.
This holiday, don’t forget to support the
organizations that are working so hard to bring
relief to those displaced by the disasters.
Finally, also remember our soldiers who are still in
harm’s way serving our country. Many of them will
not be home for the holidays.
From all of us, thank you for your continued support,
and have a great holiday season.
Robert E. Bard |
