FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Gina Garcia
Vice President of Public Affairs
publicaffairs@kappadeltachi.org
KAPPA DELTA CHI SISTER NAMED NATIONAL LATINA RISING STAR
KDChi Alum and Latinitas, Inc. Co-Founder Alicia Rascon Awarded by National Hispana Leadership Institute
EL PASO, TX November 24, 2009- Local non-profit Latinitas, Inc. is delighted to announce the recognition of its co-founder Alicia Rascon by the National Hispana Leadership Institute (NHLI) at the Mujer Awards held Nov. 6th in Albuquerque, NM.Rascon was one of three recipients chosen nationally to receive the new award, known as the Latina Rising Star Award at the annual conference held by the organization to celebrate the triumphs of Latinas in various areas including politics, media, art, public and private sectors. Rascon was honored in recognition of her efforts in empowering Latina youth as the founder of Latinitas, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to the empowerment and advancement of Hispanic girls through media, art, culture and technology, and for publishing LatinitasMagazine.org, the first digital magazine by and for U.S. Latina youth.
The Latina Rising Star Award was created this year "to celebrate the exemplary leadership displayed by Latinas under 30," Evelyn Garcia-Morales, Program Manager for NHLI said. Commitment and service to the Latina/o community were two factors in the award, according to Garcia-Morales, who added that Alicia "has displayed exemplary leadership through the Latinitas Ezine and its programs, her visionary efforts have impacted hundred of girls."Rascon joins other first-time awardees including Cindy Benavides, Director Of Community Outreach for the Democratic National Committee, and Idalia Lechuga Tena, Assistant to the Mayor of Albuquerque. NHLI is a leadership organization focused on Latina professionals. The organization boasts a mission to "develop Hispanas as ethical leaders through training, professional development, relationship building and community activism."Continuing with the mission to empower the Latina youth through enriching, culturallyfocused multimedia projects, Latinitas provides young Latinas with the opportunity to participate in various media-centric activities meant to motivate them and empower them to take an active role in their education, career-ambitions, and communities. Latinitas accomplishes this goal with after-school programs in various El Paso public libraries, an exclusive social-networking site that gathers Latinas from all over the world at mylatinitas.com, and finally, with TeenLatinitas.org, an online publication written for and by the Latina teens gives them the opportunity to showcase their abilities on a national level.
"I am extremely honored and humbled to receive an award from an organization that does so much for our community and Latinas across the country. Latinitas is a volunteer driven organization, so this is a true recognition of our collective efforts to inspire young Latinas to succeed. This is a testament to our shared abilities and aspirations in continuing to reach young Latinas in positive, empowering ways," Alicia Rascon said.Rascon is a graduate student pursuing a masters in public administration at the University of Texas at Austin. She graduated from UT Austin and is married to Delbert Humberson and is the mother of two-year-old Roberto Humberson-Rascon.
Latinitas magazine (
www.latinitasmagazine.org) is the first digital magazine geared toward Hispanic/Latina youth ages 9 to 14. Over fifty percent of the magazine's content is generated by Latina youth who participate in Latinitas' after school programs, a teen reporter intern program, media conferences, free Saturday media camps and workshops, currently operating in both Austin and El Paso, Texas. Serving as a resource guide for Hispanic girls with Latina-focused articles related to college, wellness, healthy relationships, body image, peer pressure and more, Latinitas Magazine reaches over 30,000 young girls monthly. In order to broaden the magazine's girlgenerated voice, Latinitas has brought its outreach programs in web design, news writing, digital photography, radio and video production and media literacy to El Paso's Latino community. We focus on empowering Latina Youth to build confidence, develop their voice, make a difference and express themselves creatively through multimedia enrichment lessons on writing, graphic art, desktop publishing, web design, photography, filmmaking, and radio production. We connect our girls with positive mentors who encourage them to build their self-esteem, confidence, cultural pride, efficacy and resiliency to at-risk behavior. For more information please contact Denisse Rauda at (915) 227-9560 or by email at
latinitasmag@yahoo.com.
Press Release Courtesy of Latinitas PR:
pr@latinitasmagazine.org
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Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. is a Latina founded, 501 c 7, national sorority who aims to achieve professional development, academic excellence, and graduation of all its members; an organization dedicated to community service to their local university communities with an emphasis on the Hispanic/Latino population. You may visit us on the web at
www.kappadeltachi.org.
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