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COURTESY OF LATINITAS PR: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

  KAPPA DELTA CHI SISTER NAMED NATIONAL LATINA RISING STAR

KDChi Alum and Latinitas, Inc. Co-Founder Alicia Rascon Awarded by National Hispana Leadership Institute

The Latina Rising Star Award was created this year "to celebrate the exemplary leadership displayed by Latinas under 30," Evelyn Garcia-Morales, Program Manager for NHLI said. Commitment and service to the Latina/o community were two factors in the award, according to Garcia-Morales, who added that Alicia "has displayed exemplary leadership through the Latinitas Ezine and its programs, her visionary efforts have impacted hundred of girls."Rascon joins other first-time awardees including Cindy Benavides, Director Of Community Outreach for the Democratic National Committee, and Idalia Lechuga Tena, Assistant to the Mayor of Albuquerque. NHLI is a leadership organization focused on Latina professionals. The organization boasts a mission to "develop Hispanas as ethical leaders through training, professional development, relationship building and community activism."Continuing with the mission to empower the Latina youth through enriching, culturally-focused multimedia projects, Latinitas provides young Latinas with the opportunity to participate in various media-centric activities meant to motivate them and empower them to take an active role in their education, career-ambitions, and communities. Latinitas accomplishes this goal with after-school programs in various El Paso public libraries, an exclusive social-networking site that gathers Latinas from all over the world at mylatinitas.com, and finally, with TeenLatinitas.org, an online publication written for and by the Latina teens gives them the opportunity to showcase their abilities on a national level.

"I am extremely honored and humbled to receive an award from an organization that does so much for our community and Latinas across the country. Latinitas is a volunteer driven organization, so this is a true recognition of our collective efforts to inspire young Latinas to succeed. This is a testament to our shared abilities and aspirations in continuing to reach young Latinas in positive, empowering ways," Alicia Rascon said.Rascon is a graduate student pursuing a masters in public administration at the University of Texas at Austin. She graduated from UT Austin and is married to Delbert Humberson and is the mother of two-year-old Roberto Humberson-Rascon.

Latinitas magazine (www.latinitasmagazine.org) is the first digital magazine geared toward Hispanic/Latina youth ages 9 to 14. Over fifty percent of the magazine's content is generated by Latina youth who participate in Latinitas' after school programs, a teen reporter intern program, media conferences, free Saturday media camps and workshops, currently operating in both Austin and El Paso, Texas. Serving as a resource guide for Hispanic girls with Latina-focused articles related to college, wellness, healthy relationships, body image, peer pressure and more, Latinitas Magazine reaches over 30,000 young girls monthly. In order to broaden the magazine's girl-generated voice, Latinitas has brought its outreach programs in web design, news writing, digital photography, radio and video production and media literacy to El Paso's Latino community. We focus on empowering Latina Youth to build confidence, develop their voice, make a difference and express themselves creatively through multimedia enrichment lessons on writing, graphic art, desktop publishing, web design, photography, filmmaking, and radio production. We connect our girls with positive mentors who encourage them to build their self-esteem, confidence, cultural pride, efficacy and resiliency to at-risk behavior. For more information please contact Denisse Rauda at (915) 227-9560 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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