WOW July- Al Éxito: A Women Becomes Herself…

4800 Merle Hay Road,Des Moines IA 50309

19 July, 2022

Description

Dawn Martinez Oropeza, Executive Director of Al Éxito, Iowa’s statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging and advancing Latinx youth and their families' lives by providing knowledge, resources, and skills to create an equitable future. Al Éxito inspires, prepares, supports, and positions Latinx leaders, middle school through college, with post secondary attainment, career readiness, and civic engagement. A poem by Denice Frohman “a woman’s place”, inspired the title of the presentation. “ I heard a woman becomes herself the first time she speaks without permission Then, every word out of her mouth a riot… …all the women I know are perennials- Marigolds, daffodils soft things that refuse to die…” Taking on leadership role in a Latinx organization, making space and building a brighter future for the young scholars, gave Martinez Oropeza the responsibility to speak without permission, to truly become herself in the light of others. Learn how she grown into a perennial, building bridges and not borders. Al Exito’s mission is to accelerate Latinx youths' academic achievement and leadership capacity through transformative opportunities for youth, and their families, to fully participate and thrive in Iowa’s communities. Al Exito’s vision is to advance Iowa’s prosperity through Latinx excellence. Al Éxito (AÉ) is the only statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging and advancing Latinx youth and their families' lives by providing knowledge and skills to create an equitable future. AÉ inspires, prepares, supports, and positions Latinx leaders, middle school through college, with post secondary attainment, career readiness, and civic engagement. AÉ integrates culturally specific strategies to ensure Latinx youth have access to resources and opportunities. AÉ fosters Latinos’ collective influence to build a better future for our communities and state. AÉ’s goals are to provide Latinx students with programs and extensive support services that build knowledge, access, and opportunities to: 1) achieve higher education and career goals; 2) develop leadership and civic engagement skills to build equitable Latino representation; 3) nurture well-being through cultural identity development. www.alexitoiowa.org Support Al Exito by shopping for gifts at smile.amazon.com/ch/27-0933503 to generate donations for Latinas Latinos AL Exito Inc. You also can support our youth-led business www.dremsed.org. Dawn Martinez Oropeza Executive Director Al Éxito Goldman Sacs Small Business Alumni Mid-Iowa Health Fellow Alumni Iowa Jewish Historical Society Board Member Dawn Martinez Oropeza received her Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1992 and Masters of Fine Arts Degree from the University of California, San Diego in 2000. As the Executive Director of Al Éxito she was honored as Business Records 2016 Women of Influence and awarded as a Mid-Iowa Health’s Fellowship Program 2017 to focus on mental illness issues for the Latino community. She has worked as an administrator for the Mexican Heritage Plaza in San Jose California, Los Angles Children’s Museum, and Gallery 37 in Chicago. Her greatest honor was being selected by the Chavez Family to preserve and conserve the private office of United Farm Workers Leader, Cesar E. Chavez, in affiliation with the Smithsonian. Al Éxito is the only statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the educational achievement and transformative leadership capacity of Latinx youth and their families, to succeed in life and participate fully in Iowa. Al Éxito inspires, prepares, supports, and positions Latinx leaders, middle school through college, for post secondary attainment, career readiness, and civic engagement. Al Éxito integrates culturally specific strategies to ensure Latinx youth have access to resources and opportunities. Al Éxito fosters Latinos’ collective influence to build a better future for our communities and state. Students’ stories can be heard on NPR Story Core and Ames Public Radio or read on Drake Universities first community publication The Ones I Bring With Me. Ms. Oropeza’s artwork is featured in the book. Ms. Oropeza has grown Al Éxito from a monthly 8th grade girls’ mentorship program to now serving 5th-college age young men and women weekly after school program with culturally specific curriculum. Movimiento Des Moines metro high school program launched their first business in November 2017. │drēm│sēd│ partners with local Spanish speaking businesses to demonstrate Latino’s culture of giving while building a diverse skilled workforce for the future. Al Éxito University launched in 2018, a college preparatory intensive camp for Latinx students. A college scholarship, the Mary E Campos scholarship, was created to provide for students who are civically engaged to reach their higher education goals. Resilient Identity Community Association, RICA, was formed to serve LGBTQ students and their allies. Ms. Oropeza has established an all Latino executive board for the first time in the history of the organization. She has also taken the organization’s early income from $25,000 to over $500,000. Ms. Oropeza participates in Aztec dance and traditions with her family under Omeyocan Dance led by Roberto Franco. She also studies and performs traditional Hawaiian Hula dance with Aloha Wind. Her artwork can be seen in the Iowa Public Radio coloring book and on the town square of Red Oak, Iowa, where she led a community mural. Ms. Oropeza continues to teach art, Latino cultural arts, history, and traditions for learners of all ages. Thank you to our July Sponsor