Wine, Dine & Learn: A Chicago Event for the Latinx/o/a Non-Profit Community

2057 West 18th Street,Chicago IL 60608

07 October, 2022

Description

In honor of 2022 Hispanic Heritage Month, BECOME is hosting the Wine, Dine and Learn: A Connection event for Chicago's Latinx/o/a Non-Profit Community. This shared learning event will include discussions with reputable, experienced Latinx/o/a leaders from Chicago's nonprofit community including: 1) Philanthropy, 2) Advocacy and Policy, 3) Grassroots and Community Organizing and 4) Evaluation and Research. We will highlight the inspiring and powerful work that nonprofits are doing in and around Chicago while encouraging connections and relationship-building across participating nonprofits. In this space, we will share insightful conversations on how philanthropy, advocacy, community organizing, and research and evaluation can play a role in supporting the amazing impact and work that nonprofits organizations are doing in the community. These transformative discussions will be led by local, Latinx/o/a experienced leaders such as: Michelle Morales, (Philanthropy): Michelle is the President of the Woods Fund Chicago. Prior to Woods Fund, Michelle led the Illinois chapter of the Mikva Challenge, a premier youth development civics organization that creates space for youth civic participation and leadership. In addition, she was a community organizer for 16 years in Chicago’s Puerto Rican community, advocating for community development, education justice, economic justice, the independence of Puerto Rico, and against the rapid gentrification of the neighborhood. Michelle has used her varied career opportunities, her experiences as a first-generation U.S. born Puerto Rican woman and her platform to raise awareness and consciousness about: the power of youth voice, the continued marginalization of youth of color, utilizing community input in decision making, colonialism in Puerto Rico, and the diasporic experiences of colonized peoples living in the United States. Michelle is honored to lead Woods Fund Chicago; a foundation committed to funding grassroots community organizing and public policy advocacy. Andrea Ortiz (Grassroots/Community Organizing): Andrea Ortiz was born and raised on the southwest side of Chicago’s Brighton Park Neighborhood. Daughter of Mexican immigrants who fell in love in Chicago. Andrea is a Chicago Public Schools alumna. She has two bachelor's degrees in Political Science and Latin American and Latino Studies from DePaul University. Currently, she is a graduate student for a Master’s in Public Policy Administration at Northwestern University. Andrea is the Director of Organizing for the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council (BPNC). Throughout her 7 years with BPNC, she has engaged leaders and community members around the following campaigns; #CopsOutCPS, #EraseTheGangDatabse, #NoCopAcademy, #FairTax, #ERSBNow, and others. As a community, we have to always make sure we center those directly harmed by policy as we challenge power structures. Dr. Gabriela Garcia (Evaluation and Research): As a first-generation Latina with Mexican Guatemalan roots, Garcia is driven by a commitment to advocate for and nourish communities that have been affected by oppressive systems. She has over 10 years of experience in evaluation and research design, qualitative methods, project management, theory of change and logic model development, and culturally responsive evaluation. Some of her areas of evaluation, research, and technical assistance work have included: curriculum development, strategic planning, after-school programs, equity, inclusion, and diversity-focused initiatives, and broadening participation in STEM projects. She has a PhD in Educational Psychology with a Program Evaluation specialization from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Xanat Sobrevilla (Advocacy): Sobrevilla leads OCAD's campaign and coalition work. While supporting anti-deportation campaigns, Sobrevilla also ensures that OCAD plays a meaningful role in the Erase the Gang Database Coalition and push back on the ways surveillance is used to target immigrants for deportation. She transitioned into OCAD after being involved with the Immigrant Youth Justice League (IYJL) and the group decided to focus on anti-deportation tactics as one of the means for collective liberation. Attendance at this event will include free dinner, margaritas, and other beverages.