Sacramento, CA – At the Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) 18th Annual Latina Action Day, the Comcast Foundation presented HOPE a $25,000 grant for the Youth Leadership Through Literacy Program (YLTLP).
The Comcast grant will allow HOPE to expand the YLTLP —a statewide leadership development program designed to help 300 low-income, high school Latinas annually with college preparation, financial empowerment, enhanced civic participation, and the promotion of healthy living— in partnership with Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley’s (LCSV) Engaged Latina Leadership Activist (ELLA) program. The HOPE-LCSV partnership will equip Latina youth with multi-media digital skills to engage and empower them to succeed in college, career and community. Through the partnership, ELLA, a college cohort of 16 Latina undergraduate students, will mentor YLTLP’s high school participants in their utilization of key digital media and tools to advance their civic life during a five-month long digital story curriculum that aims to bridge the digital divide.
“Comcast is proud to partner with HOPE and LCSV to connect youth to multimedia digital skills and mentors that will empower them to succeed in college, careers and community,” stated Lorena Hernandez, California Director, Community Investment, Comcast.
YLTLP participants will learn a variety of key skills—from being socially responsible with social media to learning to use flip cameras and film editing to complete their Digital Story Project. They will also be mentored by ELLA in the areas of college preparation, community outreach, and digital storytelling.
“With The Comcast Foundation’s long-standing support, HOPE continues to build the Latina leadership pipeline through this intergenerational, digital mentorship partnership,” expressed Helen Torres, HOPE’s Executive Director and CEO. “In the process, we are also bridging the digital gap that faces so many of our Latino families and youth.”
In addition to the youth, the grant supports training for the eight YLTLP regional advisors who will be equipped with iPads and the tools to replicate the trainings at their school sites, reaching hundreds of more students.
Participants will capture their journey in the YLTLP program as well as document key HOPE events like Latina Action Day where they will interview leading elected officials, successful Latina professionals and business owners. As part of ELLA’s Civic Engagement Project, ELLA will support YLTLP in presentations with a group of key community leaders in San Jose and media outreach.
Through the Digital Story Project, YLTLP participants will collect stories of Latinas in high school. The videos will be presented at the YLTLP graduation, HOPE website, and other key events.
YLTLP is a highly successful program. To date, over 2,200 girls have been served by the program. Results from the sub-group of 202 girls who receive additional trainings indicate that 98% of the participants have graduated from high school and 86% enroll in college.
About HOPE
HOPE is a non-profit, non-partisan organization committed to ensuring political and economic parity for Latinas though leadership, advocacy, and education to benefit all communities and the status of women.
For more information about HOPE, please visit www.latinas.org
About Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley
The Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley (LCSV) educates and prepares Latinas in the areas of civic engagement and leadership development. For more information about LCSV, please visit www.latinacoalition.org
About the Comcast Foundation
The Comcast Foundation was founded by Comcast Corporation in June 1999 to provide charitable support to qualified non-profit organizations. The Foundation primarily invests in programs intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on their communities. The Foundation has three community investment priorities – promoting community service, expanding digital literacy, and building tomorrow’s leaders. Since its inception, the Comcast Foundation has donated over $90 million to organizations in the communities nationwide that Comcast serves. More information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.comcast.com/neighborhood.
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