All News

Young Latinas Take Life Changing Trip to U.S. Capitol

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 23:36:00 GMT

One Day Can Change Your Life at 17

Thanks to the support of Southwest Airlines, Wells Fargo, Mayor Vidal's Office of Education and Children, the Latina Initiative Board of Directors and many members of Latina Initiative, six of our most active Youth Action and Advisory Council leaders attended Close-Up in Washington, DC. Our leaders spent five days with students from across the country learning from 8:00A.M. to 10:00P.M. about US government, history and how the civic engagement work we do makes a difference. Our students say it was a life changing trip. Highlights included meeting U.S. Senators Bennet and Udall, learning what it takes to get a job in Washington from Stephanie Valencia of the White House and a special meeting with Latina Initiative founder Katherine Archuleta.

YAAC members felt that Katherine gave them the information and advice they needed to take their dreams as Latina leaders to the next level. "I want to be Katherine!" was Yoselin Gracia's response to hearing Katherine's inspiring story and seeing all that Katherine has done through hard work and determination. For our young leaders at Latina Initiative to meet with Katherine as the news was announced that Mrs. Archuleta will be the political director of the 2012 Obama re-election campaign was an honor. Their time with Katherine showed our young Latina Initiative members that there's no limit to what they can accomplish with hard work and a willingness to take on new challenges. She made each of them promise to challenge their comfort zones, to succeed in life and to call her when they achieve their dreams. Latina Initiative wishes Katherine and our youth every success as they work to achieve incredible dreams. We're happy to be a part of their journey as they head to college and careers as doctors, stem-cell researchers, Supreme Court Justices, criminal investigators, and the next Katherine Archuleta.

We'll be posting more of their adventures soon. Stay tuned!

5th Annual Latina/o Advocacy Day a Huge Success

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 23:34:00 GMT

Thank You for Coming - You Made the Difference

This year's Latina/o Advocacy Day provided us with advocacy/lobby training and briefings on current issues such as civil rights/economic justice, the environment, education, immigration and health care by and for Latinas and Latinos in Colorado.

Coverage of the event:

Denver Post: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_17501137

Fox News: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/03/01/latinolatina-advocacy-day-colorado/

(In Photo: Pueblo Delegation with their representative House Minority Leader Sal Pace on House Floor.)

Save the date for next year. February 19th and 20th, 2012

Amber Tafoya joins Latina Initiative as new Executive Director

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 19:06:00 GMT

Denver, CO – The Latina Initiative has announced the appointment of its new Executive Director, Amber J. Tafoya, Esq. (pictured at left) effective January 3, 2011. After a lengthy and well-developed search process, the Board voted to bring Ms. Tafoya on board and lead the Latina Initiative in a direction that aligns with the mission and who can strategically help implement the organization’s new vibrant strategic plan.

“We are very pleased with our decision and know that Amber is the best fit for the Latina Initiative,” said Board President Dr. Janet Lopez. She also added, “She brings a strong background of nonprofit and community organizing experience as well as a true commitment to making civic engagement a part of every Latina.”

Prior to joining the Latina Initiative, Ms. Tafoya managed her company, Tafoya Law and Consulting, LLC. In her practice, she provided non-profit consulting services as well as a multitude of legal and educational services for immigrants. Ms. Tafoya also has an extensive background in policy, community organizing and legal experience as evident in her past work experiences with the Colorado Immigrant Rights Collation, Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Pueblo.

“My strong commitment and passion for addressing our needs as Latinas through public policy make this position an exciting opportunity. My goal is to make sure that we as Latinas are the ones who determine our own life choices and direction,” said Ms. Tafoya.

Amber is from Pueblo, Colorado and received her Bachelor’s Degree from University of Southern Colorado, her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Colorado School of Law and is license to practice law in the state of Colorado.

“We are 100% behind Amber and are ready to provide her the support to succeed and to take the Latina Initiative to new heights,” said Katherine Archuleta, past President and founding member. The Board is pleased to have Ms. Tafoya and appreciates her enthusiasm and motivation that she brings to the organization.

The Latina initiative is a non-profit organization whose mission is “to cultivate, support and maintain the civic involvement of Latinas in Colorado.” The Latina Initiative is a nationally recognized nonpartisan leadership and education, voter registration, and mobilization project aimed at increasing the civic and political engagement of Latinas.

Gurule to leave Latina Initiative

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 22:35:00 GMT

The Latina Initiative (LI), dedicated to cultivating, supporting and maintaining the civic involvement of Latinas across Colorado, has announced that Dusti Gurule, its Executive Director since 2004, will be leaving her position at the end of August 2010. During her tenure, Ms. Gurule has led LI to a national leadership position among non-profit organizations dedicated to Latino civic engagement. She has received national and local recognition for her work and was named one of ’50 for the Future’ by The Colorado Statesman in 2007, one of 21 Leaders for the 21st Century by Womens ENews, and Mujer de Impacto by the Latina Chamber in 2009.

Read the entire article here.

DPS adjusts for $42 million cut in funding, The Denver Post

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:28:00 GMT

Anticipating at least $42 million in state funding cuts for the next school year, Denver Public Schools administrators are calling for salary freezes, a reduction of 3.5 percent in every school budget and less money for special education.

No widespread teacher layoffs are expected for 2010-11, but targeted layoffs are likely, said David Suppes, DPS chief operating officer, in a presentation to the school board Wednesday.

"It's impossible to think at this level of cuts there won't be jobs lost," Suppes said.

Throughout the state, school districts are beginning difficult discussions about their budgets as Colorado faces its worst revenue downturn since the Great Depression.

Advocates push change in working conditions for isolated immigrant sheepherders, LAtimes.com

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:57:00 GMT

WAMSUTTER, Wyo. (AP) — Alone and thousands of miles from home, the immigrant sheepherder roams some of the West's most desolate and frigid landscapes, tending a flock for as little as $600 a month without a day off on the horizon.

"You take it or leave it. You take it because the economy is worse at home," Pepe Cruz, a 40-year-old Peruvian, said in Spanish.

Cruz is one of hundreds of immigrants from South America, Mexico and Nepal who work as sheepherders in states like Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and California, and their brutal work conditions are getting increased attention these days.

Read the entire article here.

Poor treatment of immigrant sheep herders alleged, The Denver Post

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:11:00 GMT

Immigrant sheepherders from South America working in western Colorado routinely are paid low wages and live in small campers without electricity or toilet facilities, according to a report to be released today.

However, officials with the sheep industry vehemently dispute the report's findings, calling them anecdotal and unsubstantiated.

The report by Colorado Legal Services was based on interviews over two years with 93 of the estimated 300 immigrant sheepherders working in the state under H-2A visas.

The workers, mostly from Peru, are brought in to work for up to three years herding sheep.

But there are few safeguards for the workers, the report said.

"A lot of the actual shocking stuff is allowed under current law," said Jennifer Lee, a Colorado Legal Services attorney who oversaw the report.

A 35-year-old replay on school suspensions - The Denver Post, Tina Griego

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:37:00 GMT

A quiz.

In what years were the following written:

A) "Racial gaps in suspensions — Black public-school students in Colorado are nearly three times as likely to face serious discipline as their white peers, a disparity that is persistently growing despite efforts to curb it. . . . Expressed as a rate, 18 of every 100 black students and 11 of 100 Latino students faced serious discipline, compared with 6.5 out of 100 white students."

B) "Minority school suspensions a shocker — Suspensions last year of more than 47,000 students, including disproportionate numbers of black and Hispanic males, have prompted educators and policymakers to ask why. Nearly half of all black males in Colorado's middle and high schools were suspended last year, along with nearly a third of Hispanic males and one in every six white males."

C) "Suspensions impact some children more than others. While the largest numbers of suspended children are white, proportionately suspensions hurt more children who are black, poor, older and male. Most striking is the disparate suspension of black schoolchildren. They are suspended at twice the rate of any other group."

Legislature opens 2010 session with dueling over budget, The Denver Post

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:08:00 GMT

The 2010 Colorado legislative session opened today with speeches from leaders of both parties that presaged the showdown over the state budget expected to dominate the next four and a half months.

And there were glimpses of other potential hot-button issues to come, ranging from stricter regulations on payday loans to placing tougher limits on initiative referendums.

Three new DPS boardmembers talk charters, Westword

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:19:00 GMT

The future of charter schools in Denver looked bright in 2009. Despite voting to close P.S. 1 and Skyland Community High School charter schools because of sub-par academics, the seven-member Denver Public Schools board approved six new ones. They include the expansion of two existing, high-performing charters, as well as a host of new schools, including a language-immersion school and an all-girls' school focused on athletics.

But what will happen with charters in 2010 is less clear. The board has three new members whose stated opinions on charter schools have yet to be tested, and their votes could throw off the balance of the board that approved so many charters last year.

Read the entire article here!

Tancredo proposes law that would require immigration-status checks of new hires, The Denver Post

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:55:00 GMT

Former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo wants every Colorado business to verify that new hires are U.S. citizens, a proposal that prompted cries of racism from critics.

Tancredo filed a ballot proposal Friday that would force the 2011 Colorado legislature to pass a law requiring businesses to use a federal program to check the immigration status of all newly hired workers.

The proposal is aimed for the 2010 ballot.

Read the entire article here!

Report: Household-supporting jobs few in Colorado, Greeley Tribune

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:42:00 GMT

A new report released today shows that good paying jobs are in small supply throughout the West.

In Colorado, for every 15 people looking for jobs, there is only one job opening that will pay the $29.71 needed to support single parent with two children, according to the report released by the Northwest Federation of Community Organization.

Of all job openings in the state, less than a third offer a wage that could support a family, the reported noted. The report, The 2009 Job Gap: Searching for Work that Pays, also found that in 2009, job-seekers in Colorado have spiked by more than 50 percent.

“This report puts the struggles of job-seekers into clear focus, and points to the growing need for lawmakers in Denver and D.C. to take action to ensure that all Coloradans can find work that pays,” says Ben Hanna from the Colorado Progressive Coalition in a prepared release..

Read the entire article here!

Senate Backs Preventive Health Care for Women, NYTimes.com

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:40:00 GMT

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Thursday to require health insurance companies to provide free mammograms and other preventive services to women, and it turned back a Republican challenge to Medicare savings that constitute the single largest source of financing for the bill.

Senator Barbara A. Mikulski, in rear with walker, proposed the free-coverage requirement.

The 61-to-39 vote on health benefits for women would, in effect, override new recommendations from a federal advisory panel that said routine mammograms should begin at age 50, rather than 40..

Read the entire article here!

Secretary of State hobbled in battle against clean-elections violators, Colorado Independent

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:53:00 GMT

Voters in Colorado care about clean elections and voted through a ballot initiative specifically to enact laws governing campaign finances in 2002. Lawbreakers have been caught and fined. But that’s apparently where enforcement ends. The list of groups violating the law includes an increasing number that simply skirt the fines judges have levied against them. Secretary of State Bernie Buescher now seems determined to go after the deadbeats, but his office told the Colorado Independent that the law, as it stands now, simply lacks teeth.

Read the entire article here!

DPS embark on a new era with reforms vote tonight, The Denver Post

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:49:00 GMT

Denver Public Schools tonight will embark on a new era in what may be the district's most pivotal school board meeting in decades.

The old board, with three members about to vacate their seats, will vote on a host of ambitious reforms recommended by the administration, including turnaround plans for six schools and placement of new charter schools.

Minutes after that vote, a new board will be sworn in — adding three new faces to the seven-member board.

Speculation is rife over what both boards will do.

Will the old board approve all of the controversial reforms? Will the new board overturn the old board's fresh decisions? And which member will be voted in as school board president — Nate Easley Jr., Jeannie Kaplan or incumbent Theresa Peña?

Read the entire article here!