Latino Leadership Forum at Bernhard Center Feb. 25
Feb. 15, 2002
KALAMAZOO -- Two Michigan lawmakers will be among the featured speakers at an areawide Latino Leadership Forum from noon to 2 p.m. Monday, Feb. 25, in Room 158 of Western Michigan University's Bernhard Center.
State Sen. Valde Garcia, a Republican from St. Johns, and State Rep. Belda Garza, a Democrat from Detroit, will participate in the free public forum. They will be joined by Rodolfo Lopez, national field director for the U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute, which is based in Chicago.
The event is designed to stimulate discussion of leadership, economic development, political participation and related issues that are important in the Latino community. It is being sponsored by the Division of Multicultural Affairs, Latino Student Alliance, Sigma Lambda Gamma and Sigma Lambda Beta, all at WMU.
Garcia is chairperson of the Senate's Banking and Financial Institutions Committee and a member of its Finance, Financial Services, and Senior Citizens and Veterans Affairs committees. Garza is minority vice chairperson of the House of Representatives' Regulatory Reform Committee and a member of its Conservation and Outdoor Recreation, Family and Children Services, and Health Policy committees.
In 1996, Lopez joined the U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute, which organizes and conducts nonpartisan voter registration and leadership development programs in 40 states. It seeks to advance democracy by empowering minorities and similarly disenfranchised groups and by maximizing civic awareness and participation in the electoral process.
For more information about the Latino Leadership Forum, contact Mike Ramirez, an assistant director in WMU's Division of Multicultural Affairs, at (269) 387-3329 or <miguel.ramirez@wmich.edu>.
Media contact: Jeanne Baron, 269 387-8400, jeanne.baron@wmich.edu