Anna Valencia and Paola Meinzer on Faith, Focus, and Local Power
Paola Meinzer and Anna Valencia on faith, focus, and leading where you stand.
Culture Is Currency and Latinas Are Rich in It
For too long, culture was treated as a backdrop to business, a flavor to sprinkle in, a surface-level nod to diversity. Corporations borrowed our colors, our music, our recipes, and our language, but rarely credited or compensated the communities they pulled from. What was seen as “inspiration” was often appropriation,
Immigration Reform in Focus: What’s at Stake for Latina Families
On a summer morning in Texas, Maria waits in line at a courthouse with her two children. Her eldest, a high school senior, dreams of studying engineering. Her youngest clings to her hand, asking why mamá looks so nervous. Maria doesn’t have the words to explain that a single decision
Language Is Identity — and It’s Evolving
In our homes, language has always been more than communication. It is memory, rhythm, and survival. Spanish carries the voices of abuelas whose prayers and lullabies shaped us before we understood their words. English holds the weight of classrooms, jobs, and institutions that told us it was the language of
Latinas Are Redefining Family for a New Generation
For Latinas, family has never been just a word. It has always been our anchor, our first community, the place where love and duty blur into one. Family was where abuelas ruled kitchens with quiet authority, where tías showed up unannounced but always bearing food, where cousins felt more like
Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied for Immigrant Communities
In the language of law, delay is often treated as neutral. Cases are “backlogged.” Applications are “pending.” Asylum hearings are “scheduled years out.” The words are technical, almost clinical. But for immigrant communities, these delays are anything but neutral. They are years of separation, years of fear, years of potential
First in the Family: How Latinas Are Redefining the College Experience
For many of us, stepping onto a college campus for the first time felt like crossing a border into another world. The buildings were old, the traditions strange, the language of academia filled with jargon no one had taught us at home. Yet there we were—Latinas carrying backpacks heavy with
Can Partnerships Be the Secret Weapon for Latina Entrepreneurs?
Here’s the truth: Latina entrepreneurs know how to stretch a dollar. We have bootstrapped companies out of kitchens, garages, and late-night hustle hours squeezed between caregiving and full-time jobs. But there’s a ceiling to how far you can go on sweat equity and paid ads alone. Growth requires leverage—and one
How Can Latinas Turn Activism Into Lasting Political Power?
Latinas have always been at the heart of change. We are the ones organizing neighbors when housing rights are threatened, leading marches when immigrant families are torn apart, and creating mutual-aid networks when systems fail us. Our activism has carried communities through moments of crisis and kept hope alive when
Heritage Is Power, Not a Barrier
For as long as many of us can remember, heritage was framed as something to overcome. Our accents were softened. Our food was ridiculed. Our last names were shortened or mispronounced. In classrooms and boardrooms alike, we were told—sometimes directly, sometimes through a thousand subtle signals—that success meant trimming away
