Chapel Hill, NC- On the heels of National Latinx AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD), the Latinos in the Deep South program is proud to announce the completion of two cohorts of the Dennis de Leon Sustainable Leadership Institute of which 12 advocates participated and completed. In its fourth year, the Dennis de Leon Sustainable Leadership Institute is a space for emerging community leaders to enhance and develop leadership skills in order to impact HIV/AIDS local, State and federal health policy affecting Latinos in the Deep South. Latino leaders from Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee were encouraged to partake. Participants received ongoing and personalized coaching and tutoring on leadership, organizing, advocacy, and policy analysis.
This year’s curriculum included the following topics: grassroots advocacy, engaging in black-Latino collaborative grassroots partnerships, using traditional media for social change, social media messaging and advocacy, and development of advocacy campaigns.
We congratulate the following advocates:
Anne Fields
Louisiana,
Spring 2016
Carla Mena
North Carolina, Summer 2016
Coti Perez
Georgia,
Summer 2016
Elias Arellano
North Carolina, Spring 2016
Francis Garcia
Tennessee, Spring 2016
Jesus Garcia
North Carolina, Spring 2016
Joaquin Carcaño
North Carolina, Summer 2016
Luis Alvarez
Georgia, Spring 2016
Maria Hassol
Tennessee, Spring 2016
Omar Valera
North Carolina, Summer 2016
Pam Sylakowski
Tennessee, Spring 2016
Roberto Olmo
North Carolina, Summer 2016
The Latino Commission on AIDS also thanks the Latinos in the Deep South Latinx Leadership Council and partners that provided webinars, coaching and valuable guidance to our participants and institute:
Tessie Castillo, North Carolina Harm Reduction, NC
Betsy Vetter, American Heart Association, NC
Yanira Arias, Alianza Americas, IL
Oscar Salinas, Open Health Care Clinic, LA
Dr. Leandro Mena, University of Mississippi Medical Center, MS
Ivonne Torres, Wake County Health Department, NC
Latinos in the Deep South is a program coordinated by the Latino Commission on AIDS that aims to build local leadership, develop networks and coalitions, enhance knowledge and cultural competency, and spur actions to address the needs of the emerging Latino/Hispanic communities in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The program accomplishes these goals through capacity building, community organizing, and leadership development with networking initiatives, with a focus on community-based participatory research and information dissemination.