Estimados Líderes Alumni Network, 

We find ourselves at the end of another year that brought with it both lessons and moments of joy for us all. Over the course of the last two years we’ve lost far too many of our family members, neighbors and colleagues. We want to thank you for taking the time to heal with HIP, but also within and around your Líderes Alumni community. We look forward to having the opportunity to stand in solidarity as we continue to build towards change. With that being said, let’s take a reflective lens and see what was done this year. 

This year we’ve:

Held the election for the new Steering Committee whose candidates were five self-nominated individuals representing 3 different cohorts. Out of the five who self-nominated themselves for the Steering Committee, all five were elected and now make up the committee. We thank Emmanuel Caudillo, Katherine Porras, Patrick Moreno-Covington, Saúl Valdez, and Cindy Santos for their commitment to the Líderes Alumni Network. As part of the new Steering Committee’s first initiative, 10 stipends for the Change Unity Summit were made available to the Líderes Alumni Network, of which some of you took advantage of.

In addition, a HIP Líderes pre-conference session was organized and presented by the former Steering Committee and Alumni members. The pre-conference brought many of you together to discuss important topics such as the importance of the Latino presence in the census, as presented by guest speaker Sonia Diaz of the UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Initiative. In addition, HIP graduated and the alumni welcomed the fifth graduating cohort, of which current Steering Committee member, Cindy Santos, was a part of. We also welcomed the sixth cohort of 24 Líderes, who will be joining the alumni network following the closing retreat in May 2022. However, the alumni will continue to grow as we have launched and are preparing for HIP’s seventh cohort. 

Lastly, As we enter a new year together, we will continue to work with, support, and celebrate each other in the coming challenges and successes. As for HIP, we will continue to support the Líderes Alumni Network and we are looking forward to the work we will do this upcoming year! 

Sincerely,

Leadership Team 

Stephanie, Karla , Jazmin