Related Link: Proyecto Poderoso >
Your Voice is Your Power!
A leadership conference for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
people in rural California, and our allies.
Date: 9am to 5pm, Saturday January 23rd
Location:
First Congressional Church of Fresno,
2131 N. Van Ness Blvd
Fresno, CA 93704
Cost: FREE!
Contact:
Project Powerful
CRLA Fresno office
2115 Kern Street, Suite 370
(559)441-8721
orgulloypoder@crla.org
REGISTRATION!
To register download and fill out this registration form. You can register by phone, email, fax or postal mail, the registration deadline is January 15, 2010 
Conference Overview
Our goal is to empower LGBT people and allies, in particular those who speak Spanish, to built understanding and support for LGBT people and their families in rural California. The central theme of the conference is "Your voice is your power." The Conference will inspire and train leaders to share their stories and build peer support networks in rural communities. The conference dovetails with CRLA's new speakers bureau-a bilingual (Spanish and English-speaking) pool of LGBT people and allies, who will share heir personal stories with rural community groups, agencies, schools, churches, and media outlets in order to put a human face on LGBT people and their families. Personal story-telling and social networks of LGBT people and supportive friends and family members can dispel anti-LGBT myths and stereotypes to promote greater inclusion in otherwise socially conservative communities.
Training Tracks
- How to Share your Story
For a person eager to share his or her story to improve understanding about LGBT people. - How to Create a Peer support Group
For a person who wants to provide support for other LGBT people, their friends and family members. - Developing Positive Self-identities as LGBT Latinos
For individuals who wish to focus on building self-confidence and their self-acceptance.Speakers
Speakers
Alejandro Santriver:
Alejandro Santriver is a young fashion designer from Mexicali Baja California. At an early age Alejandro discovered his passion for fashion. He went on to study in La Escuela de Diseño de Baja California. He has successfully prepared two fashion shows for his school. Alejandro has also worked for a local station, Channel 66, creating a fashion segment for a show called "Entre Mujeres."
Alejandro's passion is not only fashion. He also writes and produces theater. A recent play that his group produced was based on a short story that Alejandro wrote. This coming year, Alejandro is planning to launch a rock pop band.
Alejandro has received recognition and certificates for his participation in the DIF (Department for Family Integrity) and has participated in gay pride parades in his city. In general, Alejandro has had a positive experience as an out gay man in Mexico because, as he asserts, his family has been supportive and loving. He is currently teaching sewing classes in the municipal DIF in Mexicali besides working with his theater group.
Olga Talamante:
Olga Talamante was born in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, to Eduardo and Refugio Talamante. At the age of eleven, she and her family moved to Gilroy, an agricultural community in California. She learned English and excelled in her studies, being elected president of her sophomore class and vice president of her senior class at Gilroy High School. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen, and attended the University of California, Santa Cruz, graduating with a degree in Latin American studies. During college, she became active in the anti-Vietnam War peace movement and the Chicano Movement. While in Chiapas, Mexico on a field study, she met many Argentines who told her of the leftist political successes in their country. After graduating, Talamante went to Argentina, and arrived shortly after the election of the Justicialist Party candidate for president, Héctor José Cámpora. She arrived in Azul, Buenos Aires Province, and began working for Juventud Peronista, a poverty-relief agency, in one of the city's poorest areas. She was imprisoned and tortured in Argentina, and later released thanks to the Olga Talamante Defense Committee. Talamante has also worked with Head Start, the YMCA, and the American Friends Service Committee. Talamante became first executive director of the Chicana/Latina Foundation in January of 2003. Talamante has also been the recipient of a number of community awards in the San Francisco area, including the Hispanic Magazine "Diversity award", the "Women Making History Award" from the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women, KQED-TV award for "heroes and heroines of the Latino community', and the Girl Scouts of the USA Daisy award.
Olga has served on the board of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) for 4 years, the last two as co-chair. She also serves on the Board of Gente Latina de Ambiente, (GELAAM) the only Latino LGBT organization serving San Mateo County, where she has volunteered for the last 7 years.
Maribel Puentes:
Maribel Puentes is a multitalented, strong community leader, in addition to being a gifted singer of tropical music,cumbias, rancheras and even corridos.
She is originally from Km 43 Guadalupe Victoria, Mexicali. She moved to the US when she was ten years old. Since then she has not given up the Good Fight. At a very young age she confronted a migrant worker's life challenges, but she never gave up. She began as a community worker for the Migrant Program and Oregon Human Development. Since then for nearly twenty years Maribel has contributed to social and community causes. She has participated in a variety of community events and organizations, such as health fairs, organizations for cancer prevention and intervention, health and prenatal care programs, and more. Maribel now works for California Rural Legal Assistance as the community worker for the Health Consumer Center at CRLA's El Centro office.
Maribel has another huge passion: music. When she was fourteen she won her first award at the University of Oregon through the migrant program. From then on she has performed at a variety of events and venues, like "la Movida" a local club in Oregon. Maribel has also taken part in different singing contests and has performed on national Spanish television networks, like TV Azteca, as well as radio shows like "el Show de Don Cheto" . The music idols that inspire her are the Mexican classics: La Sonora Santanera, Jose Alfredo Jimenez, Sonia Lopez, Lola Beltran and the singers from the golden age of Mexican Cinema. Maribel Puentes is not only a community worker. She is also a community icon.