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<\/a>Panelists and guests included Connecticut Attorney General William Tong; State Senator Matthew Lesser; State Representatives Juan Candelaria (New Haven), Hilda Santiago (Meriden), Bobby Sanchez (New Britian); Farley Santos (Danbury); immigration attorney Glenn Formica; Sofia Segura-Perez from the Hispanic Health Council; Steve Hernandez, director of ConnCAN; and many others.<\/p>\n
Co-organized by the UConn Puerto Rican Studies Initiative<\/a>, the UConn School for Social Work Puerto Rican\/Latine Studies Project<\/a>, and CWCSEO<\/a>, the event, titled “Charting Our Path: The Connecticut Latino Policy Agenda Summit” addressed pressing issues in health, education, housing, and environmental justice.<\/p>\n Panel topics focused on Latino access to higher education; Latino health and the future of public health access; Latino media and driving participation; the Latino housing crisis; the local consequences of federal cuts and food insecurity; the fight for environmental justice; Latino civic and community engagement; Latinos and AI; Latino education in uncertain times; and the immigration crisis. Additionally, Magaly Cajigas, Connecticut State Director for the Hispanic Federation, moderated a conversation with Latino legislators and state lawmakers titled \u201cState Legislative Response to Federal Cuts: Protecting Latino Communities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur goal is to bring together the perspectives of Latinos and other stakeholders in Connecticut to develop a collective agenda that can help shape public policies and legislation that addresses the inequalities experienced by Latinos in Connecticut,\u201d says Lisa Werkmeister Rozas, professor and director of the Puerto Rican and Latine Studies Project at UConn\u2019s School of Social Work. \u201cAll topics presented in the panels were relevant and deeply connected to the realities our Latino communities face every day.”<\/p>\n Werkmeister Rozas co-organized the event with Charles Venator-Santiago, associate professor of political science and El Instituto: Institute for Latina\/o, Caribbean and Latin American Studies and director of the UConn Puerto Rican Studies Initiative, and Werner Oyanadel, policy director of Latino and Puerto Rican Initiatives at the Connecticut General Assembly\u2019s Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity, and Opportunity (CWCSEO).<\/p>\n \u201cPrior to the summit, we held listening sessions with Latinos in towns across Connecticut to help us develop the event’s panel topics,” Venator-Santiago says. “Every conversation at the summit underscored how critical it is that Latino leaders, policymakers, and community members work together. These discussions are where ideas turn into action\u2014and where the Latino community\u2019s priorities become part of Connecticut\u2019s policy agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, Laura Curran, professor and dean of the School of Social Work; Kathy Birnie, director of recruitment and admissions for the School of Social Work; Milagros Marrero-Johnson, senior director of strategic initiatives and community engagement for the School of Social Work; and Lesly Sanchez-Villar, assistant-professor-in-residence in the School of Social Work attended the summit.<\/p>\n The summit also resonated with UConn students. In her rural hometown in Pennsylvania, Mia Giancola \u201927 (SSW) shared a friend circle with first, second, and third generation Latino immigrants, and teachers offered all class assignments in both English and Spanish. In high school, she volunteered to help second generation Mexican immigrants with intellectual disabilities succeed academically\u2014a formative experience that led her to pursue social work.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile I became very aware of the problems that the Latino communities face, I didn\u2019t understand the severe impacts until college,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Now a research assistant with School of Social Work\u2019s Puerto Rican and Latino Studies Project, Giancola is studying disability policy and law.<\/p>\n \u201cI had an extremely positive experience, and the summit solidified my future career plans in macro social work and obtaining a JD,\u201d Giancola says. \u201cI noticed that many of the breakout sessions had high involvement from the community and often sparked a reaction from the policymakers.\u201d<\/p>\n Giancola attended the summit alongside BSW student Jashleen Abreu Flores \u201925; MSW student Viviana Mora \u201924 (BA); political science and government major Carina Adams-Szabo \u201926; and graduate student Adrian Chavarria, who shared his reflections from the event in this blog post<\/a>.<\/p>\n