Friday May 12, 2017
Understanding
- What Do We Know?
- What Are Key Policies?
- What Can Community Strategies Do?
8:30 – 9:00 a.m.
Coffee and Registration
9:00 – 9:20 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks
9:20 – 10:00 a.m.
Introductory Remarks
Edwin Melendez, Ph.D.
Director, Centro for Puerto Rican Studies
Master of Ceremony
Carlos Vargas-Ramos, Research Associate, Center for Puerto Rican Studies
10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Plenary Panel A: Oversight Board and Fiscal Crisis
Moderator: Federico A. de Jesús, Principal, FDJ Solutions (Washington, DC)
Panelists:
Eric LeCompte, Executive Director, Jubilee USA (Washington, DC)
Dennis Rivera, Chair, Service Employees International Union-Healthcare (NY, NY)
Gretchen Sierra-Zorita, Media Diversity, National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (Washington, DC)
11:00 – 11:15 a.m.
Coffee break
11:15 am - 12:30 pm
Concurrent Panels: Puerto Rico
Each speaker in a breakout session will make initial remarks for 4 to 5 minutes. We expect that the speakers and the sessions’ discussions will focus on “What can policies and community strategies do?” from the perspective of the Puerto Rican community in the U.S. The focus of the discussion should be what would be the group recommendation to other conference participants in regard to strategies related to Puerto Rican-led community strategies
1. Unfolding Humanitarian Crisis
Moderator: Rev. Heriberto Martínez-Rivera, Coordinator, Coalición Por la Salud (PR)
Panelists:
Raúl Figueroa Rodríguez, Demógrafo, Demografía Para Todos (San Juan, PR)
Frankie Miranda, Senior Vice President, Hispanic Federation (NY, NY)
Amanda Rivera Flores, Executive Director, Instituto del Desarrollo de la Juventud (Rio Piedras, PR)
2. Oversight Board and Debt Restructuring
Moderator: Ruth Santiago, Esq., Legal Counsel, El Puente (Salinas, PR)
Panelists:
Carlos Cuevas, Esq. Research Associate, University of Houston School of Law (Yonkers, NY)
Jaime Farrant, Board Member, National Puerto Rican Agenda (Washington, DC)
Juan Gonzalez, Author, and co-host of Democracy Now! (NY, NY)
3. Economic Development
Moderator: Michelle Pérez Kenderish, Founder, Puerto Rico and Diseña co-founder ChicaPReneurs (NY, PR)
Panelists:
Ramphis Castro, co-founder, ScienceVest (NY, NY)
Dyanis de Jesús, co-founder, Puerto Rico Creative Economy Initiative (NY, NY)
Margarita Varela Rosa, member, Cenadores PR (Arlington, VA)
4. Models for Diaspora Engagement with Puerto Rico
Moderator: Frances Colón, Board Member, Grupo Guayacán Inc, (Guaynabo, PR)
Panelists:
Héctor J. Figueroa, President, 32BJ SEIU and Vamos por PR (NY, NY)
Natascha Otero-Santiago, Founder, Parranda Puerto Rico (Miami, Fl)
Isabel Rullian, Managing Director, conPRmetidos (San Juan, PR)
Raul Russi, Chief Executive Officer, Acacia Network, Inc. (Bronx, NY)
5. The Puerto Rico's Status and Plebiscite
Moderator: Charles Venator-Santiago, Professor, University of Connecticut (Storrs, CT)
Panelists:
Rafael Cox Alomar, Professor, UDC David A. Clarke School of Law (Washington, DC)
Martin Perez Esq., Founder, The Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey (Totowa, NJ)
Lydia Valencia, CEO, Puerto Rican Congress of New Jersey, Inc. (Lakewood, NJ)
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 – 2:45 p.m.
Plenary Panel B: Local and State Perspective
Moderator: New York State Assemblyman Marcos A. Crespo, Chair of the Assembly Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force (Bronx, NY)
Panelists:
City Councilor Miguel Castro, Meriden City Council, Chairman of Finance Committee (Meriden, CT)
Philadelphia City Councilwoman Maria D. Quiñones-Sánchez, District 7 (Philadelphia, PA)
2:45 – 4:00 p.m.
Concurrent Panels: Puerto Ricans
Each speaker in a breakout session will make initial remarks for 4 to 5 minutes. These brief presentations will focus on what participants can learn from each other regarding strategies to organize Puerto Rican communities and successful institutional building experiences in key sectors. The discussion should conclude with recommendations to other conference participants regarding Puerto Rican-led community strategies.
1. Civic Engagement
Moderator: Joe Rodriguez, Deputy State Director, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (Hartford, CT)
Panelists:
Zoé Colón, Community Leader (Orlando, Fl)
Jaime Estades, Adjunct Professor of Social Policy, Rutgers University (NY, NY)
José E. López, Lecturer of Latin American and Latino Studies, University of Illinois (Chicago, IL)
2. Education
Moderator: Ronald Blackburn-Moreno, President, ASPIRA Association, Inc (Washington, DC)
Panelists:
Johanna López, Orange County Public School Teacher of the Year (Orlando, FL)
Betty Medina Lichtenstein, Executive Director, Enlace de Familias Inc. (Holyoke, MA)
Cristina Pacione-Zayas, Director of Policy, Latino Policy Forum, Erikson Institute (Chicago, IL)
3. Diaspora Solidarity with Puerto Rico
co- Moderator: Yanil Terón, Executive Director, Center For Latino Progress (Hartford, CT)
co-Moderator: Jimmy Torres Velez, President, Puerto Rican Action Initiate (Orlando, Fl)
Panelists:
Otoniel Figuroa-Duran, Director, Commercial Division, 32BJ SEIU (Boston, MA)
Maria Kercado, Executive Vice President, 1199SEIU UHWE (NY, NY)
Nilda Iris Ruiz, President and CEO, Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha, Inc. (Philadelphia, PA)
4. Environment and Community Development
Moderator: Brenda Torres Barreto, LEED AP, Executive Director, San Juan Bay National Estuary (San Juan, PR)
Panelists:
Eddie Bautista, Executive Director, New York City Environmental Justice Alliance (Brooklyn, NY)
Dr. Efraín O'Neill-Carrillo, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez (Mayaguez, PR)
Ana C. Traverso-Krejcarek, El Puente, Program Manager, Green Light District (Brooklyn, NY)
4:00 - 4:15 pm
Coffee Break
4:15pm-5:30pm
Concurrent Panels: Learning from Each Other
Each speaker in a breakout session will make initial remarks for 4 to 5 minutes. These brief presentations will focus on what participants can learn from each other regarding strategies to organize Puerto Rican communities and successful institutional building experiences in key sectors. The discussion should conclude with recommendations to other conference participants regarding Puerto Rican-led community strategies.
1. Business Associations
Moderator: José Luis Rodríguez, President and CEO Caribbean Strategic Partnerships, Inc. NY, PR)
Panelists:
Sonia Carrero, Owner, Mediquip Homecare, (Long Island, NY)
David D. Ferreira, Principal, Ferreira Strategies LLC, (Washington, DC)
Frank García, Chairman, National Association of Latinos State Chambers of Commerce, and CEO of Millennium Go-Green Technology Chairman, (NY, NY)
Tomas Javier Rivera, President, San Se Orlando (Orlando, Fl)
2. Youth Empowerment
Moderator: Gisely Colon Lopez, Coordinator, Puerto Rican Heritage Cultural Ambassadors Program, Centro (Storrs, CT)
Panelists:
Lisette Nieves, Coordinator, Muevete (NY, NY)
Alejandro Silva Diaz, Mentes Puertorriqueñas en Acción (San Juan, PR)
Frederick Vélez III Burgos, Member, Stand UP for Puerto Rico (Washington, DC)
3. Cultural Engagement
Moderator: Raquel M. Ortiz, Professor, Boricua College, (Brooklyn, NY)
Panelists:
Dr. Carmen Febo San Miguel, Executive Director, Taller Puertorriqueño (Philadelphia, PA)
Debbie Quinones, Founder, Coquito Masters (NY, NY)
Gilda Rivera-Pantojas, Director, Danza Fiesta (NY, NY)
4. Social Media
Moderator: Maria Cristina Gonzalez Noguera, Senior Vice President, Global Public Affairs, Estée Lauder Companies (NY, NY)
Panelists:
Marlena Fitzpatrick, Music Journalist, Latino Rebels, Uforia Música, Huffington Post and Enclave Magazine (NY, NY)
Louis Maldonado, Board Member, National Puerto Rican Day Parade (NY, NY)
George Jibaro Torres, Sofrito For Your Soul, (Brooklyn, NY)
5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Reception
Continue to Engagement - May 13, 2017 Program
