Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE), an executive leadership program, hosted the inaugural Latina Empowerment Day at the Hotel Maya on Friday, Feb. 15, when attendees discussed the topics of energy and environmental issues and personal skill-building, among others, at various workshops.
“Part of HOPE’s mission is to bring strong women together,” said Meagan Elizondo, programs and policy manager of HOPE, during her introductory remarks. “This is our first time here in Long Beach, and this is by far the largest gathering we have had.”
According to HOPE’s mission statement on its website, “HOPE is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to ensuring political and economic parity for Latinas through leadership, advocacy and education to benefit all communities and the status of women.”
The organization’s programs and policy director, Belinda Barragan, said, “It’s HOPE’s goal to have at least one Latina on every commission.”
Long Beach 1st District Councilmember Lena Gonzalez, an alumnus of the HOPE Leadership Institute (HLI), one of HOPE’s programs, was a guest speaker at the event.
“I’m a HOPE Leadership Institute alumni from 2013, and I’m the only Latina to currently serve on the city council,” said Gonzalez during her remarks to the audience. “Let’s make sure that we don’t have that stat keep going. We want more Latinas to serve. In this current time we’re experiencing, it’s more important to stop and empower each other and to take moments for not only ourselves, but for other women, just like you are doing today.
“We [Latinas] make 47 percent less than white male colleagues. We need to do something about that. We need to fight for our moms, our abuelitas, our tias, our tios, our cousins, our sisters, our daughters. I have three boys, [and] they still have to fight for me too.”
“The state has identified certain communities that are suffering from extremely poor air quality,” said Edison International’s Senior Advisor of Government Relations Adriana Ramos. “Those communities have also been identified as low-income, mostly communities of color. Many of these are Latino communities. This is critically important for us. We need to address climate change, and we need to do it now.”
Attendees were encouraged to participate in the discussions, which were a critical component of the event. During the topic of public transportation, Gabriela Medina, district director at the City of Los Angeles, said, “Part of the solution is to start using [public transportation] more often and to start incorporating it into our daily lives, whether it’s using a bicycle or taking the bus, the local DASH or the Metro. We need to stop looking at it as a form of transportation for poor people or for individuals who don’t have vehicles. We need to stop creating the stigma of public transportation.”
Regarding her experience at the event, Noelia Sanchez, a local multimedia designer and digital brand strategist, said, “Getting to participate in this program and seeing all of these different perspectives has really opened my eyes to seeing how I need to be informed about these things so I can be a better advocate for my family and friends.”
Maricela de Rivera, who is on the Long Beach Transit board of directors, said, “It was really inspiring to be in a group of powerful Latinas. It’s great to go outside my little circle.”
