Latino Leadership Network Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration

Latino Leadership Network invites you to join us for the 2024 Hispanic Heritage Month in-person celebration!

Event Agenda

10:30AM   Music by Rudy Romero

11:00AM   Opening remarks, welcome

11:10AM   Correo Aereo performance

12:00PM   Lunch (registered attendees receive a free lunch provided by LLN)

12:10PM   Mariachi Ayutla performance

1:00PM     Keynote speaker Ana Maria Pinto da Silva

1:00PM     Aretes Huichol Workshop (registration required, click here to register).

1:35PM    Guest speaker State Representative Bill Ramos

2:20PM    La Nueva Novedad performance

3:00PM    Poetry Reading with Dr. Gabriella Gutierrez y Muhs

3:30PM    Closing remarks

3:35PM    Rumba and Cha-Cha dance lesson with Rudy Romero

Musicians and presenters include:

• Correo Aereo: (Air Mail), pronounced, Core-ay-o Eye-air-e-o, is an award winning multi-instrumental and vocal Latin/World trio, performing traditional music from Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico, Cuba and beyond, as well as their own original music. Correo Aereo combines a stunning array of string, reed, and percussive instruments with silken vocal harmonies described as “…locked in carnal embrace.” by the Austin Chronicle. Hailed for exciting musical virtuosity and profoundly moving performances through landscapes of Latin America, their music is both viscerally ancient and vibrantly contemporary. Abel Rocha sings & plays Venezuelan and Mexican harp, guitar, cuatro, quinta huapanguera and vocals. Madeleine Sosin offers voice, violins, maracas, bombo, jarana, quijada and vocals. Amy Denio, (Kulture Shock & The Tiptons), is on accordion, clarinet and vocals. Correo Aereo’s music is richly polyrhythmic and soulfully melodic. Soaring, fiery, haunting and joyful. Gorgeous and intoxicating Latin/World music to decolonize your mind, celebrate life & free your soul! 
• Mariachi Ayutla PNW: Mariachi Ayutla is an 11-member mariachi band. Mariachi Ayutla began in Chicago back in the year 2000 with eight musicians playing with different mariachi groups. Later, they moved to Washington estate to try new opportunities. Look for their newest album, "Mariachi Ayutla 5to Aniversario." 
• La Nueva Novedad: La Nueva Novedad is a Mexican band based in the Seattle area. The group is made up of three high school students getting established in the music scene. They play two, twelve string guitars and a bass. Their repertoire includes various styles of regional Mexican music, such as clásicas, corridos, cumbias, zapateados, and corridos tumbados, bringing enjoyment to any event. 
• Keynote speaker Ana Maria S.V. Pinto da Silva An accomplished designer, technologist and public speaker, MHCI+D Director Ana Pinto da Silva is committed to advancing the role designers, engineers and researchers play in the development of future-defining innovation. As CEO and founder of 2G3R, Ana’s work celebrates aging and longevity, delivering home and community solutions that help people of all ages and abilities thrive. Ana has led design innovation initiatives traversing healthcare, education, civics, shopping and productivity for Amazon, Microsoft, NBBJ, and is a lecturer and contributor to the Design Intelligence Leadership Institute.  Inspired by the power of leadership through community, Ana is the founder of the Seattle Pecha Kucha speaker series, the founding co-chair of the Harvard GSD’s global Design Impact initiative, and serves on the board of directors for the Harvard GSD MDE program, the Harvard GSD Alumni Council, and Leadership Tomorrow. In addition to her role as Director of MHCI+D, Ana serves as Associate Teaching Professor for the University of Washington’s HCDE program. 
• Guest speaker State Representative Bill Ramos Bill proudly represents the 5th Legislative District, which includes Black Diamond, Issaquah, Maple Valley, Renton, Sammamish, and Snoqualmie, and unincorporated areas in Auburn, Enumclaw, Covington, Fall City, Hobart, North Bend and Preston. He grew up in East Oakland, where he saw first-hand the struggles students face when they do not have the resources they need to succeed. He attended Humboldt State University, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Forest Sciences, and later served with the US Forest Service in North Bend and Enumclaw as Director of Timber Management, Director of Recreation and Public Services, and Director of Ecosystem Management, where he led a team of biological and earth scientists doing environmental analysis of federal lands. 
• Poetry Reading by Gabriella Gutierrez y Muhs Dr. Gutiérrez y Muhs is a poet, literary critic and professor in Modern Languages and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Seattle University. Gabriella is the author and editor of several poetry collections, books of literary criticism, first editor of Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia, 2012, essays and opinion pieces and many other articles and loose poems, as well as her forthcoming memoir, Fresh as Lettuce, (Martillo Press). She received her MA and PhD from Stanford University. She has criss-crossed the nation giving keynote speeches and motivational talks, including the recent EKU Chautauqua keynote address: "(Inter)sectional (Inter)actions: Being Horizontal." She has also edited several anthologies and has been anthologized and published in multiple journals and anthologies like Cascadian Zen, As/Us: A Space for Women of the World, Bilingual Review: Revista Bilingüe, 25th Anniversary Issue, Quarry West Anthology, In Celebration of the Muse Anthology, Cruzando Puentes: Antología de Literatura Latina, Yellow Medicine Review, Puentes, Ventana Abierta, Camino Real,  Chicana/Latina Studies: The Journal of Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social, Diálogo: An Interdisciplinary Journal. Last year she co-edited In Xochitl, In Cuícatl, a bilingual poetry anthology of Chicanx/Latinx poetry, published in 2021 in Madrid, Spain, (includes more than 60 poets) and another multigenre Latinx women’s anthology Indomitable/Indomables, forthcoming, with San Diego State University Press. Her latest collection How Many Indians Can We Be? ¿Cuántos indios podemos ser? was  published with Flowersong Press in 2022.  
• Aretes Huichol Workshop with Jailyn Becerra Jailyn Becerra is a self-taught Mexican beadwork artist based in Tri-Cities, Washington. Her journey learning and teaching Mexican beadwork began two years ago at the age of 18. She is inspired by the countless pairs of detailed Huichol earrings gifted to her by her father. The artistry and beauty of Mexican beadwork and the connection to her cultural heritage inspire her to share the tradition with others.  During this one-session workshop, students will learn about Huichol beading while creating one pair of beautiful earrings to take home. This workshop is offered in partnership with Arbutus Folk School. 

Fee: $10.00 Student Age: 14+ Max Class Size: 15 Time: 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Registration required, register here. 

• Rumba and Cha-Cha lesson with Rudy Romero Rudy Romero is originally from Albuquerque, NM and has been teaching various forms of dance for nearly 20 years. He prides himself in teaching carefully crafted instruction and is always willing to take the extra time to help students connect to concepts. Along with producing a internet radio show and helping organize dance events, Rudy is currently studying computer programming at the Evergreen State College. 
• Free lunch: Registered attendees are invited to enjoy a free lunch at 12 p.m. featuring foods from local Latino-owned businesses. Lunch will include omnivore, vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.

• Register by Sept. 24 for lunch provided by LLN: https://forms.office.com/g/nt2U7znTJF