(NEWS RELEASE) The Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation's eighth annual conference, "La Presencia Latina: Staying Strong, Moving Forward, Defining Our Future" will be held on Friday, November 19th at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL.
There will be presentations and panels addressing the key issues of importance to the Illinois Latino Community: education, health, immigration, the economy, and a very special session on how Latinos can participate in legislative redistricting in 2011. The event also includes a breakfast, a scholarship luncheon recognizing key youth leaders in the community and a presentation by keynote speaker and celebrity director Rick Najera.
The special session on legislative redistricting will be led by Virginia Martinez, nationally renowned legal advocate and member of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), the nation's leading Latino legal civil rights organization. The session will be moderated by City Clerk and mayoral candidate Miguel del Valle.
ILLCF co-chairs State Senator Tony Muñoz and State Representative Maria Antonia Berrios invite all Illinois residents to participate in this conference, as it addresses the key issues affecting the Latino community and the state of Illinois. "I am proud to be the co-chair of an organization that is not only dedicated to offering the best educational and professional resources to the Latino community, but that has united the top experts in their fields to speak to conference participants about the issues that affect them the most" says Rep. Berrios. "This year's conference is particularly relevant because it is accompanied by a sense of urgency. In a few short months the 2011 Census results will come in and Latinos will have the opportunity to stand up, be recognized, and to be fairly represented in the Illinois Legislature."
The conference admission fee is $25 ($15 for students), which includes breakfast and lunch. This year's conference features a more compact program that is shorter in duration. The conference includes a Registration and Continental Breakfast beginning at 7:30 a.m., The Opening Session and Welcome at 9:00 a.m., Concurrent Sessions from 9:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., a Scholarship Awards Luncheon at noon, and a Supporter's Reception from 3:00p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
For additional information visit the foundation's web site at illcf.org or call (312) 738-1302. Call now to reserve your place, as spaces are limited.
The Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation is an Illinois not-for-profit corporation established in 2002 to provide college scholarships for young Latinos, develop a new generation of informed leaders for the state's Latino community through the Illinois Latino Public Policy Institute and increase access to federal, state and community programs.
