PRESS RELEASE
July 19, 2012

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Tania Einhorn
tania@latinastyle.com
(703) 531-1424
LATINA Style, Inc.
 
 
The Anna Maria Arias Foundation in Partnership with LATINA Style, Inc., proudly announces Deborah Aguiar-Vélez as the “Entrepreneur of the Year” for Charlotte, NC!
 
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 13, 2012- The Anna Maria Arias Foundation with LATINA Style Inc., the premier company addressing the needs of the Latina business owner and professional workingwoman, will honor Deborah Aguiar-Vélez, CEO – Sistemas Corporation, Chief Executive Producer – Escúchame, Inc., as LATINA Style Entrepreneur of the year for 2012 during the LATINA Style Business Series in Charlotte, NC. The conference will be held on Thursday, July 19, 2012 from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m, at the Charlotte Marriott City Center Hotel located at 100 West Trade Street Charlotte, NC 28202. The conference will be taking place at the Grand Ballroom on the 3rd floor level.
 
The Business Series, unique to LATINA Style Magazine, is the most successful ongoing business development program in the nation, empowering Latina entrepreneurs across the country. Over 30,000 Latina entrepreneurs and professionals have benefited from participating in this exciting and informative business conference since its conception in 1998. The Business Series will feature expert presenters and speakers to address some of the most pressing issues affecting entrepreneurs. Participants will be presented with resources and information crucial to their success.
 
Deborah Aguiar-Vélez is the founder, president and owner of Sistemas Corporation.  An accomplished engineer and businesswoman, she is nationally recognized for innovative leadership in the areas of entrepreneurship, technical development and public service.
 
In 2009, Ms. Aguiar-Velez started Escúchame, Inc. (www.escuchame.org). Escúchame’s virtual community of Latina experts and entrepreneurs changes the way the world views Hispanics and supports them as they profit from their expertise.  Escúchame organizes, showcases, and promotes Latinas as experts, entrepreneurs, speakers, artists and writers.
 
Ms. Aguiar-Velez earned her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering with honors from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and has attended executive education programs at the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire and the Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, Massachusetts.  She is also a 2009 Fellow of the National Hispana Leadership Executive Program.
 
“We continue to be inspired by the work Latina Entrepreneurs are performing across the nation. At a time when the economy is suffering and unemployment continues to be a major challenge, we are incredibly lucky to have such a committed group of women working so hard. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than here in Charlotte where Ms. Aguiar-Velez has been a true leader and a role model. We are delighted to be able to honor her and her work at our LATINA Style Business Series this coming July 19th,” said Robert E. Bard, Chairman of the Anna Maria Arias Foundation and President and CEO of LATINA Style, Inc.
 
 
For more information and to secure your admission please register online at www.bs.latinastyle.com
Attendance is limited. 
Online registration Fee: $45 – Students Fee:  $15 – Military Fee: $0 – At the door full price: $100.
 
# # #
 
This unique program is made possible with the support and sponsorship from the following Companies:
 
Title Sponsor: Nationwide Insurance. Charter sponsor: Verizon. Sponsors includes: Kraft Foods, Inc. Official Hospitality Sponsor: Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. Official Media Partners include: Telemundo, Norsan Multimedia, La Noticia Newspaper
 
National & Community Partners include: LATISM, HNBA, Latin American Chamber of Commerce of Charlotte, Carolinas Minority Supplier Development Council, NAWBO, ELLA, Women Presidents’ Organization, The Woman’s Advantage, HCAC, NC Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, ASPIRA, LAWA, SCORE, SBA, The Women’s Business Center of North Carolina, BLNC from the NC Department of Commerce and the Greater Women’s Business Council
>

The Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, today released updated statistical profiles of the Latino and foreign-born populations in the U.S. These profiles, based on the Center’s tabulations from the Census Bureau’s 2010 American Community Survey, feature detailed characteristics of the Latino and foreign-born populations at the national level. Topics covered include age, geographic dispersion, nativity, citizenship, origin, language proficiency, racial self-identification, living arrangements, marital status, fertility, schooling, health insurance coverage, earnings, poverty and other labor market outcomes. The data featured in the profiles may also be downloaded from the Center’s website.

The statistical profiles are available at the Pew Hispanic Center’s website, www.pewhispanic.org.

The Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, is a nonpartisan, non-advocacy research organization based in Washington, D.C. and is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Russ Oates

roates@pewresearch.org

202-419-4375

# # #

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.

Venture Provides Venue for Showcasing Smart Latinas

(Charlotte, North Carolina, March 22, 2011) To commemorate and amplify the countless contributions of Hispanic women, two Charlotte, North Carolina residents, Deborah Aguiar-Vélez and Raquel Vélez, launched Escuchame.org. The nationally recognized Latina engineers and mother and daughter team created Escúchame (Spanish for “Listen up!”) as an effort to organize, showcase, and promote Latinas as experts at the national and international levels. The site is fully bilingual in English and Spanish.

With approximately 8 million Hispanic women in the labor force impacting all sectors of the U.S economy, Latinas are playing historical roles and breaking significant barriers. They are starting businesses at a record pace, rising to key leadership positions, and helping communities flourish across the nation. In addition, Latinas are key consumer decision makers and wage earners in the Hispanic community, which has a projected buying power of approximately $1.3 trillion by 2015.

“This venture comes at a pivotal time when more Latinas are discovering and embracing their voice and influence. Our mission is to change the negative stereotypes about Hispanics, and there is no better way to do that than by showcasing successful, knowledgeable women who are positively contributing to this nation,” said Co-founder and Chief Executive Producer, Deborah Aguiar-Vélez. “We are in the midst of a Latina Renaissance. We are proud to launch Escuchame.org with Smart Latinas who represent professional diversity and a lot of talent,” added Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Raquel Vélez.

Escúchame.org is debuting with top Latinas from across the country, including Cristina Cassidy, Producer and Documentary Filmmaker from North Carolina and Dr. Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, Rutgers University Distinguished Professor and LEAP Academy University Charter School Founder from New Jersey.

The inspiration for Escuchame.org came in 2009 during Aguiar-Vélez’s first training week at the National Hispana Leadership Institute (NHLI) Executive Leadership Program. As part of the award-winning and highly competitive leadership training course, each fellow designs a leadership project to impact their communities. Escuchame.org is Aguiar-Vélez’s leadership project.
Interested participants can easily join the Escúchame community as Community Members for free, or apply to be a Featured Expert for a nominal fee through the site. Community Members receive unlimited access to videos, articles, and Featured Experts. The Escuchame.org community helps Latinas build their brand, share their knowledge, and profit from their expertise.

Deborah Aguiar-Vélez has a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico. She has been president and CEO of Sistemas Corporation, an engineering firm, since 1983. In addition to serving on a corporate board in the financial industry, Aguiar-Vélez is the 2011 Girl Scouts, Hornets’ Nest Council’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Woman of Distinction. She travels across the country to speak on a variety of topics including entrepreneurship and financial independence. She has spoken at a variety of institutions, including Harvard University, Princeton University, Smith College, and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Raquel Vélez graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 2007, where she was the recipient of the prestigious Mabel Beckman Prize. She is a technology expert, with 8 years of experience as a robotics engineer in the United States, Germany, and Italy. Vélez speaks five languages and has worked at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the MIT Lincoln Laboratory.

For more information about the Escúchame community, visit http://www.escuchame.org or contact Raquel Vélez at 704-350-5271 or raquel@escuchame.org.