Mayor
Muriel Bowser

Jackie Reyes-Yanes,
Executive Director

Camilo Manjarres,
Director ofOperations

Marjhorys Ibarguen,
Public Information Officer

Dian Lammy,
Staff Assistant

Eduardo Perdomo,
Grants Management Specialist

Nathan Gomez,
Grants Monitor

Ronal Avila,
Language Access Coordinator

Angela Gonzalez,
Language Access Monitor

Ingrid Gutierrez,
Community Outreach Specialist

Alexis Valdovinos,
Community Outreach Specialist

In This Issue

• Letter from the Mayor
• A message from the Executive Director
• Agency Updates
• Announcements
• Upcoming Events

A message from the Executive Director

We started the month in a great way by celebrating a successful Immigration Heritage Month Kickoff. During the event, our Mayor Muriel Bowser handed out the first two checks to the first two beneficiaries from the citizenship workshops facilitated by our partner the National Immigration Forum. This event was also possible thanks to our partnership with the Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs,  the Mayor’s Office on African Affairs and the Mayor’s Advisory Council on Caribbean Community Affairs . Throughout the whole month, we had different events to honor the legacy of our immigrant community. I also want to acknowledge that Mayor Bowser has kept her promise to fight for all immigrants in the city; recently, she called out President Trump in response to his threatening message against our immigrant families, and she said: “Regardless of immigration status, immigrants in DC are our neighbors, coworkers, family members, and valued members of our community. The President should understand that not only are these threats cruel and antithetical to our American values, they are actually making our communities less safe by sending more residents into hiding, cut off from resources, support, and opportunity. Washington, DC remains a proud sanctuary city, and we are committed to protecting the rights of all our immigrant families in the face of these disturbing threats.”  Mayor Muriel Bowser.  I also want to remind our constituents to keep calm. We are working tirelessly to protect all of you. Please follow the steps provided by United We Dream in case ICE knocks on your door. This information can be accessed on our website mola.dc.gov.   Continuing with the great news, June was graduation ceremony season! Congratulations to the 2019 classes of Cardozo High School, Columbia Heights Educational Campus, DC Bilingual School, and to all graduates in the District. I was so thrilled and thankful to attend some of the commencements. It was touching hearing all those speeches from our Latinx youth, who are natural-born leaders and want to change the world and make the US and the District of Columbia a better place to live.  In June we also celebrated Friendship Day between El Salvador and the United States! We are very proud of our Sister City Agreement with the city of San Salvador and we are committed to the strengthening and progress of our communities in both cities.   Furthermore, I had the opportunity to participate in two luncheons, one at the Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School to support our LGBTQ community  and the second at the Ignite National conference with young women in politics. Thank you both for the invitation. I was glad to participate and share some of my experiences and background in politics. I look forward to seeing the next generation of women who will lead and make changes to better serve our communities! Finally, I want to close with two things in mind. June was also Pride Month and I would like to thank all the people, Latino leaders, and organizations who walked with our Mayor Bowser during the Capital Pride Parade on June 8th. And we did it again! We kicked off our SYEP program for 2019 with an extraordinary guest: Otto Madrid, an entrepreneur, CEO, and Co-Founder of JPN, who shared his experiences with our Latinx youth.  Participants also learned about life skills and financial literacy. We will have a series of workshops in the upcoming weeks with incredible speakers. Thank you so much for all your support and work. Together we keep DC shaking!  Mil Gracias!   Jackie Reyes-Yanes Executive Director Mayor's Office on Latino Affairs (MOLA)

Mayor Bowser Kicked off Immigration Heritage Month

Diversity makes Washington, DC a strong city and we celebrated inclusion with the kickoff of Immigration Heritage Month. Mayor Muriel Bowser recognizes the invaluable contributions of the immigrant community to our city and declared June as Immigrant Heritage Month. During the kickoff, communities from many cultures and all 8 wards experienced live performances from the Latino, African American, Asian, and Caribbean communities in one place: the Columbia Heights Civic Plaza. 

DC Celebrates the Taste of Peru

DC is a welcoming city and it is the home of many Peruvian immigrants. Mayor Bowser and her Office on Latino Affairs joined this celebration along with the organization Taste of Peru, the Peruvian Embassy in DC and the Washington Hispanic by proclaiming, June 2nd as Taste of Peru Day! It was a family day filled with music, food, culture, and tradition. 

100 PowerMeter to Honor influential Leaders in the DMV

For a second consecutive year, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Director Jackie Reyes-Yanes were included in the list of the 100 most influential people in the DC Latino community by the newspaper El Tiempo Latino. Monica Palacio, Director of the DC Office of Human Rights, was recognized as well. The 100 Powermeter recognizes leaders from the DMV who have had a positive impact in the Latino community in the area.

Carlos Rosario Pride Luncheon

Directors of Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs, Jackie Reyes-Yanes, Mayor's Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, Ben de Guzman, and Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, Sheila Alexander-Reid celebrated the annual #LGBTQ Pride Luncheon at the Sonia Gutierrez Campus at Carlos Rosario School.

Café con Tamales at the Washington English Center

Director Jackie Reyes-Yanes met with participants from the Washington English Center who are learning English as a second language.  During this session, which is part of MOLA's Café con Tamales series, Director Reyes enjoyed learning about participants’ experiences with the program. For example, some students shared about how happy they are because they are now able to better understand English; furthermore, they expressed that they would start taking advantage of all the opportunities and programs that Mayor Muriel Bowser offers in the District of Columbia.

DC Capital Pride Parade

June is Pride Month and the nation’s capital celebrated with a massive Pride Parade. Mayor Bowser and her team walked in supporting to all LGBTQ community in the District of Columbia.

Language Access

Get-Together! 

Continuing with what we previously called Lunch and Learn we the language access team, the Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs (MOLA) hosted an afternoon of fun and learning with the participation of several agencies such as OHR, DC LGBTQ, DPR, DMV, CFSA, DDOT, HSEMA, DBH, DCHR, and OAH who engaged in fun activities around best practices in language access and cultural competence in the District of Columbia.

Pre-Bidders Conference Orientation

The Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs through its grants program released its Request for Application for the Latino Community Development Grant FY2020. Our grant’s department hosted two pre-bidders conferences to provide support and answer questions to potential applicants.

Centro de Alfabetización en Español in DMV Changes lives!

Director Jackie Reyes-Yanes attended the XIII Spelling Bee in Spanish hosted by the Spanish Literacy Center CENAES. CENAES is a community-based Latino organization which works with the support of Mayor Muriel Bowser through her Office on Latino Affairs (MOLA) to provide Spanish literacy classes to Latinx in the District.  

Team MOLA participated at the DC Senior Symposium 2019!

The Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs along with other Mayor’s Executive Offices joined the DC Department of Aging and Community Living at the 8th Annual Senior Symposium at Ballou Senior High School. Our office promoted Mayor Bowser’s DC Values and shared some of the resources that MOLA offers to improve the quality of life of seniors in the District.

MOLA Kicked off the SYEP 2019! 

We kicked off the 2019 Marion Barry Summer Youth Employment Program this past June 21st. During the event, youth participants heard from Otto Madrid, a Latino entrepreneur, who shared about his experiences in business and enterprise in the District. Youth also learned about life skills and financial literacy as key tools for success. 80 youth will be participating in this program by being placed with organizations and government agencies throughout the District to gain work experience and diverse skills.

MOLA participated in the Dialogue on Diversity Health Symposium 2019!

The Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs participated at the Health Care Symposium 2019, the Power of Wellness, Law, Science, and the Human Touch hosted by Dialogue on Diversity, which brought together a roster of experts on health, legislation, and health care for minority ethnic communities in the DC area.