Leading with Courage during COVID-19
His View 26 www.latinastyle.com LATINAStyle Vol. 26, No. 2, 2020
Breath… as you take time to read this message I ask you to
first take a deep breath. As you exhale give yourself
permission to feel whatever emotion you are feeling today.
And when you are done reading, I hope you are feeling inspired to
take action toward making an impact.
As the CEO of ALPFA I am always humbled
and excited when asked to provide my
perspectives about what actions the ALPFAmilia
is focused on that will translate to impact for the
Latinx community. But today as I write this there
are other emotions I am feeling as well. I feel
scared, for the family and friends that I have who
are in danger as front line workers. I feel sad for
the loved ones who have been lost and who are
currently in the hospital fighting without family
physically with them.
At the same time, I feel PROUD of the Latinx
community as we are keeping the country safe
and moving. And finally, I feel COURAGEOUS in
the face of the bully they call COVID19. Growing
up my parents let me know it was ok to be scared
or sad but not to let fear control my actions. They
told me that you must always stand up to a
bully and help those who cannot stand up for
themselves. As an ALPFAmilia we are absolutely
standing up to the bully called COVID19. It is with
that courage that we as an ALPFAmilia have
continued to operate as a community to make an
impact.
Via townhalls and social media, we quickly
mobilized to stay connected with our professional
and student members. Through these discussions
we identified key areas we could provide help
from fundraising for local food pantries to
donating PPE equipment. In addition, many of our
members need assistance with jobs and
internships. As Pew Research has shown 49%
of Hispanic households have been impacted
financially because of COVID19. One example of
how we have helped is with our new program
ALPFA Fellows – Operation Helping Hands, a
turnkey solution for students to get experience over the summer while
earning a scholarship. Another example of filling a need was with the
ALPFA Houston Chapter President Catherine Manyoma working with her
Board to have an event where the IRS and RSM spoke to members about
how to best leverage the CARES act as an individual and as a small
business.
Given the number of Latinx small businesses, this was a
well-needed discussion. A final example is ALPFA Boston President Mario
Rivera having the 100+ Networking Night, which included virtual
networking allowing members to continue to connect to discuss possible
job and business development opportunities.
Finally, we have created ALPFA Live, a TV show which provides a
forum by which we are able to share motivating and positive images in the
Latinx community that is produced by ISP Studios (a Latina owned
production company). If you are inspired to make an impact I hope you
consider taking action with us, visit www.alpfa.org to learn how. Fuerte
Abrazos!!!
By Damian Rivera,
CEO, ALPFA
LS
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