March 2012 Newsletter: Mexico, Frida Kahlo, Guacamole and More...

In this Issue:

• A Fresh New Look to the Monthly Newsletter!


• Featured this month:
  
  
  
  • Country: Mexico
  
  
  • Artist: Frida Kahlo
  
  
  • Recipe: Guacamole
  
  
  • Resource: Internships, Jobs and more in Washington, D.C.
  
  
  
  


• About Escúchame - Vision and Mission

Now: More than 350 Scholarships (+$1.5 Million) for Latinos!

We've done it again!

Several months ago, we released our first ever Escúchame Scholarship Listing, with over 250 scholarships.  We are proud and honored to support our Latino and Hispanic students today by updating our list, now with more than 350 scholarships!

Plus, we've let the whole world know about it, so please spread the word!  Our press release is below for details.

And please let us know if you have any questions, comments, or edits!

Escúchame Compiles List of Over 350 Scholarships for Latino Students

Free Listing Available in English and Spanish at Escuchame.org

Charlotte, NC – Escúchame, Inc. (http://escuchame.org), a virtual, global, bilingual Community of Smart Latinas, has answered the call for Hispanic and Latino students around the country with their compiled listing of over 350 scholarships.  The list includes each scholarship’s name, award amount, description, requirements, application deadline, and contact information.  The list is available in both English and Spanish, for free, at http://escuchame.org/resources.  (Access to the scholarship page requires registration to the Community, which is also free.)

Escúchame Co-founder and Chief Executive Producer Deborah Aguiar-Vélez chose to gather the information after speaking to many Latino students and their parents.  “Everyone kept asking the same questions,” she said.  “‘How can I afford to go to college?  How can I compete for scholarships when I don’t even know what scholarships are out there?’  We knew we had to step up and fill this need.”

Adds Co-founder and Chief Technical Officer Raquel Vélez: “People are spending hours online, looking for scholarships, when really they should be focusing on studying and applying to schools.  Having a centralized list that’s freely available makes the whole process of finding money for college easier on everyone.”

Escúchame’s Scholarship Listing is updated regularly, as new scholarships are found and old ones are removed.  “We want to have the most up-to-date list possible,” notes Aguiar-Vélez.  To add a scholarship to the list, please contact the Escúchame Team at escuchame@escuchame.org.

Escúchame (Spanish for “Listen Up!”) is a virtual, global and bilingual Community of Smart Latinas and Latina Supporters.  Their mission is to change the way the world views Hispanics by breaking stereotypes, one Latina at a time.  They focus on promoting their Escúchame Experts, professional women of Hispanic or Latino origin, as experts, entrepreneurs, speakers, artists, activists and writers.

For more information about the Escúchame Community, its Experts, or the Scholarship Listing, visit http://escuchame.org or contact Raquel Vélez at 704-350-5271 or raquel@escuchame.org.

New website targets Latina women

by Michael J. Solender, Originally published in the Charlotte Observer on May 8, 2011

[caption id="attachment_411" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Escuchame mother/daughter cofounders Raquel Velez and Deborah Aguiar-Velez. Photo courtesy of Emilie Knight"][/caption]

South Charlotte resident, Raquel Velez's eyes lit up as she described the collaborative power in her recently launched virtual community for Latinas called Escuchame. Velez along with her mother, Deborah Aguiar-Velez, have cofounded the organization that boasts membership and information sharing among Latina experts, entrepreneurs and women across a broad spectrum of interests. Velez said the purpose and mission behind Escuchame is to help change the way the world views Hispanics and to support them as they profit from their expertise.

"We want people to see and understand what we know," Velez said. "Latinas are as varied and diverse as any other culture and there are many smart, knowledgeable Hispanic women who have a great deal of broad-ranging expertise to offer." According to Velez, the Spanish term Escuchame directly translates as "listen to me" though is commonly understood to mean "I need to be heard."

The online virtual community of Escuchame grew from an idea that Aguiar-Velez had as part of her participation in a leadership development program sponsored by the National Hispana Leadership Institute. The institute promotes women of Hispanic origin and works to develop Latinas as ethical leaders through training, professional development, relationship building and community activism. Aguiar-Velez saw there weren't many vehicles for Hispanas to speak out, share their knowledge and expertise and overcome negative stereotypes.

According to the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Latinas are quickly becoming a large and influential segment of the U.S. population. Currently, 14.4 million live in the U.S.

Aguiar-Velez envisioned a virtual community where Latina women could network, exchange ideas and collaboratively present themselves to broader markets. She is an engineer and founder, president and chief executive officer of Sistemas Corporation, a computer consulting and training firm that specializes in engineering and financial applications. After her work with NHLI, she approached her daughter with a proposal.

"I'd never seen her so excited," said Velez, "She told me she just had to launch Escuchame and wanted me to join her in creating this platform. I saw tremendous potential for connecting smart Latinas and each of us benefiting from all our experience."

Velez joined her mother in cofounding Escuchame, which officially launched earlier this year.

The online community has two membership components.

Everyone who joins Escuchame.org is a community member. Membership is free and provides access to the site, which provides informational videos, blog posts and practical advice by featured experts.

Featured experts are those individuals who pay a nominal membership fee to highlight their particular expertise, market their products/services and be featured in a speaker's bureau promoted by Escuchame.

Expertise is as varied as the women themselves.

Cristina Cassidy is a Charlotte-based video producer and documentary filmmaker.

"I am a Latina professional and I think that Escuchame provides an excellent platform for Latinas to join forces to lend a voice to the Latina experience in our local communities and nationally," Cassidy said.

Velez is no stranger to birthing innovative projects with educational components. After graduating from Cal Tech with her engineering degree, Velez worked for MIT's Lincoln Laboratory outside of Boston. There she founded a robotics outreach program targeting high school kids. "There is such a great need for math and science education for today's youth and making it accessible and fun can be a key to successful learning," said Velez.

She is bringing similar enthusiasm to Escuchame.

Michael J. Solender is a freelance writer. Have a story idea for Michael? Email him at michaeljsolender@gmail.com

CNN en Español interviews Escúchame!

On April 20, 2011, Escúchame's cofounders, Deborah Aguiar-Vélez and Raquel Vélez were interviewed by Mercedes Soler on CNN en Español's NotiMujer.  The duo had a lot of fun letting the world know about escuchame.org!  See the whole interview here.