Attention Wise Latinas: NYWICI Needs You
Last week NYWICI received an email from Manny Gonzalez of HispanicAd.com with a link to a column he had written. Under the headline "Do white women fear wise Latinas?" the article takes NYWICI to task for having no Latina Matrix honorees in the past two years, calling it "beyond unacceptable."
You know what? He's right. In 2010, when 15% of the U.S. population and 27% of New Yorkers are Hispanic, it is unacceptable that we do not have a Latina honoree.
Nevertheless NYWICI does not, as Mr. Gonzalez hypothesizes, think that leading Latina women are “a bunch of losers.” The real problem is, we simply do not have enough experienced Latina communicators in our organization, on our committees and on our board of directors.
Why does that matter? Because the Matrix Award process begins with a nomination round that’s open to all members and the public. This is where Latina voices advocating for their choices will really make a difference. After that a committee of ten — including past winners, our hosting committee and NYWICI executive staff — reviews nominees, vets applications and debates about who should be honored.
Representation is likely to improve in the future. We’ve had considerable success recruiting young Latinas — students and those just starting their careers — through the scholarship process. But right now, we simply do not have enough experienced Latina women in influential positions in our all-volunteer organization.
And that’s why we encourage Latina communicators to heed the words of “Latina in LA,” one of the people who commented on Mr. Gonzalez’s post. She had it exactly right when she said, “While there is no excuse for excluding Latinos from being honored, I also think we latinas/latinos need to become active members of groups such as NY Women in Communications. By being active members and leaders of these groups we will be able to express our opinions and clue them in on who they should be honoring.”
And by the way, experienced women communicators of all backgrounds — we need you too!
print this page
Subscribe to Aloud
LinkedIn
Facebook
Twitter
Comments
Post new comment