Diversity/Gender Equity Committee

 Latinas al Éxito

     An Introduction

Latinas al Éxito (Latinas toward Success) is a 2-year pilot project initiated and sponsored by the Iowa American Association of University Women (AAUW-IA) in Marshalltown, Iowa.  Latinas al Éxito will provide an alliance between eighth-grade Hispanic females and professional, college-experienced Hispanic females with activities designed to

• To encourage young Hispanic females at the eighth grade level to consider education beyond high school

• To eliminate barriers that keep young Latinas from college

• To motivate students for educational achievement

• To equip a more educated workforce

• To empower adult Latinas who have college experience in leadership roles

 A new project, The Marshalltown Education Partnership [MEP], offers a partnership opportunity for high school students whose parents did not graduate from college to commit to qualify for tuition assistance at Marshalltown Community College after graduation from high school.   Research tells us that without additional exposure to the value of higher education, Hispanic females are unlikely to enroll in the partnership.  In addition to the goals listed above, a goal specific to Marshalltown is:

• To prepare Latinas for enrollment in the Marshalltown Education Partnership [MEP] program as high school students

 Latinas al Éxito will focus on changing eighth grade Latina students’ perceptions of their futures by making connections with professional, college-experienced Latinas from the community.   Connecting to female professionals will give the students positive role models of educated Hispanic women who can encourage educational achievement and prepare them to consider education beyond high school.

 Our 12 college-experienced Latinas have chosen to use the term, Madrina (which translates to “Godmother,” to identify the relationship each will have with the 3-4 eighth-grade Latinas assigned to them.  A family event to induct the eighth grade Latinas into the Latinas al Éxito program is scheduled for October 15, 2006.

 As this project gains momentum and we see a positive impact, AAUW-IA will apply for grant support from the Educational Foundation to sustain the project in Marshalltown and replicate the project in other Iowa communities.

Planning team members for the Latinas al Éxito Project are (from left):
Anel Garza, Maricruz Estrada, Gladis Gonzalez, Joan Jaimes Pam Swarts, and Gabriela Vargas Gonzalez. Jan Mithchell is not shown.

For further information, contact:

Pam Swarts pjswarts@mchsi.com 
or Jan Mitchell jan.mitchell@dybb.com
 
 

 In principle and in practice, AAUW values and seeks a diverse membership. There shall be no barriers to full participation in this organization on the basis of gender, race, creed, age, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or class.