On November 1st, NLIRH ended its 3 session long inaugural e-LOLA Training. Twenty-three young Latina activists between the ages of 18-26 from 12 states throughout the United States graduated from NLIRH’s newest Latinas Organizing for Leadership and Advocacy (LOLA) training, the e-LOLA. The three sessions, mirrored after the traditional weekend-long LOLA trainings, focused on Latina reproductive health, rights, and justice; abortion access; and grassroots advocacy.
The participants were able to interact and engage in conversations with each other in a variety of ways including by watching video clips and PowerPoint presentations together, an on-going conference call, instant chat, and various other webinar features. They discussed at length issues stemming from the way Latin@s and abortion are portrayed by mainstream media and society and within our own cultures. They shared ideas for advocating and reaching out to Latin@s about reproductive justice while keeping in mind the obstacles faced by our communities. The training was an overall success, and our activists mentioned feeling excited, motivated, invigorated and ready to continue the fight for reproductive justice. They will maintain contact with each other and with NLIRH through the NLIRH Alumni Network. The Alumni Network consists of current and former interns and e-LOLA graduates, providing them with exclusive resources for career development and serving as a means to help maintain relationships and foster new connections with other young activists throughout the United States. NLIRH will offer the e-LOLA a few times next year, so please stay tuned for more information.
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