The political upheaval of the 2016 presidential election has reinvigorated people’s interest in politics, including a large portion of various minority youth. Knowing this, Wise Latina International, a non-profit that encourages leadership in Latina youth, came up with “Latina Game Changers: Strength, Power, and Influence Through Politics.”
The morning-long conference, which takes place Friday, Nov. 10 at the El Paso Times building on 500 W. Overland, will feature a panel of Latina elected officials, including State Rep. Lina Ortega of House District 77 and former El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar, who’s campaigning to replace U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke in the 16th Congressional District seat. Panelists will discuss topics like obstacles they overcame and the current political climate.
“We want to elevate [the panelists] and give them visibility, and we want to encourage more women to take leadership positions at various levels of government that goes beyond what we think of politics,” said Liz Chavez, president of Wise Latina International. “There’s a lot of influential positions within government where women especially need to be at the table and participate.”
The conference’s keynote speakers are University of Texas at El Paso political science professor Irasema Coronado, who co-authored “Políticas: Latina Public Officials in Texas” and Christine M. Sierra, a professor emerita of political science at the University of New Mexico. Sierra recently co-authored “Contested Transformation: Race, Gender, and Leadership in Twenty-First Century America,” a book that took 10 years to make so that the authors could create a database of nearly 1,000 minority public officials ranging from the federal to local level.
“We talk about why people ran for office the very first time,” Sierra explained about the book. “Two major reasons come up: there was a specific issue that really got them interested in wanting to make decisions in government. The other major reason was that they wanted to be responsive to their communities.”
“Latinas are doing quite well compared to white women and Latino men in getting themselves elected,” Sierra added. “That’s something to see, and we’re going to be treated to a discussion with prominent Latinas in politics [at the upcoming conference.]”
Despite such strides, Coronado said women in general still often face a major stigma in politics.
“I was appalled during this last presidential campaign when so many people would say, ‘I just cannot vote for Hillary because I cannot vote for a woman,’” Coronado said. “We’re half of the population for God’s sake!”
Coronado said she hopes that the conference will encourage attendees to help change such mindsets.
