As we celebrate our 15th anniversary, Amigas has many reasons to celebrate--among them are:

• We were once again awarded an Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice Grant. Astraea has provided grants to Amigas for the past three years and we are lucky that such an amazing foundation continues to support us. Additionally, Astraea provided Amigas a travel grant in order to attend Money for Our Movements: A Social Justice Fundraising Conference sponsored by GIFT--Grassroots Institute for Fundraising. We were delighted to be able to send Marta Coronado to learn more about the innovative and fun ways to increase our fundraising.
  
  
  
  L to R: Vesna Grbovic, Lesbian Leadership Council member; Suzanne Kraus, Lesbian Leadership Council member; Rosa Yadira Ortiz, Amigas Board President; Christina Santiago, Amigas Board Programming Chair; Alicia Vega, Amigas Board Programming Co-Chair; and Zaida Sanabia, Amiguitas Program Coordinator. Photo courtesy of the Chicago Foundation for Women.
  
  
• We are also thrilled to have been awarded two grants by Chicago Foundation for Women. We received a grant from the Lesbian Leadership Council to support the Amiguitas Program which brings together young, queer Latinas for discussions, arts and activism. Additionally, we received a general operating grant from the Maria Mangual Unidas Fund of the Latina Leadership Council. We are thankful to the fabulous council members for their continued support.


• In July, Madurando Elegantemente hosted its annual summer picnic. Amigas is excited to support the women of Madurando who continue to celebrate LBTQQ identity.


• At the Siempre Latina Gala, we were delighted to debut our first video of Amigas Latinas history. Entitled "Amigas!" and made possible through the generous donations of Chastity Lord and Zakiya Johnson, Amigas Diamond Girls, we were able to document the history of the past 15 years of Amigas. Thank you to Linda Garcia Merchant, Amigas Latinas members, and her organization Voces Primeras, for their support. You can view the video at:




• As we celebrate our 15th anniversary, we also celebrate changes on our board. At the end of August, we will have two transitions from the Board. Lourdes Torres, past Board President and current Board Secretary, will be leaving the board to focus on her research. In addition, Alicia Vega, past Board Co-Chair, Board Treasurer, and current Amiguitas Coordinator and Programming Co-Chair, will also be leaving the Board after serving Amigas Latinas for six years. While we are sad to see them leave the Board, we know Lourdes and Alicia will continue to be part of the Amigas community. We wish them the best of luck and lots of love.


• We are extremely pleased to announce two new board members. In July we welcomed Marta Coronado and Coya Paz as Board Members. We are delighted to have Marta and Coya join the board and we are sure they will provide wonderful insight and exciting ideas to Amigas.

As we get close to the end of another fiscal year, please remember that Amigas continues to live out our mission of celebrating who we are with pride and acceptance. However, we do this with a small budget. If you have come to an Amigas event, if your friends have attending an Amigas party and loved it, if you believe that LBTQQ Latinas deserve to be celebrates, then please consider making a tax-deductible donation.

Happy anniversary Amigas!!

Rosa

Amigas Latinas no discrimina por la orientación sexual, identidad de género, expresión del género, edad, sexo, carrera, color, origen nacional, religión, estatus de inmigración, incapacidad, estado civil, estatus paternal, ni por ingreso. Todos acontecimientos sociales están abiertos a todos; algunos programas pueden ser limitados a poblaciones particulares.