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9th annual latino youth leadership conference “creating your masterpiece”
Sponsors
|For students, teachers and parents|Photos|2008 Keynote Speakers|Past Conferences|Registration|Exhibitors|Committee Members|
Registration for Youth Conference
What: 9th Annual Latino Youth Leadership Conference
When: October 18, 2008; 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Where: Georgia State University; Sports Arena
Who Should Attend: Students in grades 6 through 12; Parents and all School Staff and Faculty
Cost: FREE! Breakfast and lunch provided!
Contact: Massiel Silva, msilva@thelaa.org or 404-638-1838
Sponsors
Presenting
Platinum
Gold
Supporter
Media Sponsors
Atlanta Latino
Azteca Amrica
WSB-TV
For students, teachers and parents
Sessions for parents will include topics on gang prevention, financial literacy, and implications of recent changes in immigration laws in Georgia. Teachers will benefit from sessions on multiculturalism in the classroom and gang prevention among others. Students will have tracks that are tailored to their age group. Topics will include sessions related to careers in the arts, gang prevention, a panel discussion led by experts in the college admissions process, and student panel discussions so they can ask questions of their peers that have already gone through the college application process or are about to do so.
All students are expected to dress appropriately for an educational environment. Any clothing that interferes with or disrupts the educational environment is unacceptable and prohibited. Students will be provided with Latino Youth Leadership Conference T-shirt, which must worn at all times.
Click here for a students schedule of the day.
Click here for a teachers schedule of the day.
Click here for schedule of the day.
Click here for a campus map.
Click here for directions to GSU.
2006 Photos
Click here for photos of LAA’s 7th Annual Latino Youth Leadership Conference (2006)!
2008 Keynote Speakers
Paul Raines, Executive Vice President, U.S. Stores, The Home Depot
Paul Raines is the executive vice president of U.S. Stores for The Home Depot. He is responsible for driving alignment and execution across the Company’s retail divisions, and overseeing operations of more than 1,940 stores in the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Paul has held many positions during his tenure with the Company. Most recently, he served as president of the Southern Division, covering 740 stores in 18 Southern states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and St. Thomas. Paul also was regional vice president, Operations for the Florida Region; vice president, Store Operations; director, Labor Management; and director, Operations Support for Chile and Argentina.
Prior to joining The Home Depot in 2000, Paul was director of Global Sourcing for L.L. Bean. He also was a principal in the consulting firm of Kurt Salmon Associates for 10 years.
Paul is president of The Homer Fund, an associate-funded nonprofit that provides short-term assistance to associates who encounter hardship due to catastrophic circumstances. The Fund also provides scholarships to children of associates. Additionally, Paul serves on the board of The Home Depot Foundation.
Born in Costa Rica, Paul is an active member of the community, serving on such boards as the Latin American Association of Atlanta, the advisory board for the National Society of Hispanic MBAs, the advisory board of the Industrial Engineering School at Georgia Tech, the Georgia Tech Advisory Board and The Children’s Hospital Costa Rica Foundation.
Paul earned his Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and is a member of the school’s Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni.
Juan R. Ramirez-Hernandez, Violinist, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Juan R. Ramrez-Hernndez, violinist/composer and founder of the Atlanta Virtuosi Foundation, Inc. began his studies in Mexico with Ivo Valenti and Vladimir Vulfman. His studies with Henryk Szeryng began at the age of fourteen, and continued as he became his principal mentor in Mexico, the U.S. and Europe. While in Boston attending the New England Conservatory of Music, Mr. Ramrez was privileged to study with Joseph Silverstein. In the symphony orchestra, he has played under Leonard Bernstein, Eric Leinsdorf, Colin Davis, William Steinberg, Leon Barzin, Bruno Maderna, Gunther Schuller and Seiji Ozawa. Service in the Boston and Pittsburgh Symphonies preceded his acceptance of a permanent position with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Ramrez plays a number of instruments, including the guitar, mandolin and marimba, and as a composer is noted for his compositions and arrangements commissioned by the Hispanic Festival of the Arts. Influenced by his native land, “Suite Huasteca” for violin, strings, and guitar, received critical acclaim both in Atlanta and in Mexico.
Mr. Ramrez has been a member of the faculties of Georgia State University and Spelman College, and has participated in music panels for DeKalb Council for the Arts, the Fulton County Arts Council, Bureau of Cultural Affairs, City of Atlanta, Georgia Council for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts International – The Fund for U.S. Artists at International Festivals and Exhibitions, and the U.S. Information Agency - Arts America Program. He was a member of the Cultural Olympiad Advisory Council, and served on the advisory boards of both the New World Symphony and the Chicago Civic Symphony Orchestra National Advisory Council and the International Village Cultural & Community Center. He is the founder of the Hispanic Festival of the Arts, and Casa de la Cultura de Atlanta. Mr. Ramrez serves on the Advisory Board of Directors of CURE Childhood Cancer, the Board of Governors of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Sphinx Organization Advisory Board, the Music Steering Committee of the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum. A frequent panelist and clinician, he served on the jury of the Sphinx 2000 Competition in Ann Arbor, Michigan and the 2002 Classical Nominations Review Committee for the Grammy Awards of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica, California.
Mr. Ramirez founded the Buckhead Youth Orchestra in 2,000, and serves as Artistic Director and Conductor. Since 1999, he also serves as Music Director and Conductor of the Atlanta Community Symphony Orchestra. He is a graduate of Leadership Atlanta, Class of 1999. Mr. Ramrez was awarded the Martin Luther King, Jr., Csar Chvez, Rosa Parks Visiting Professorship at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and was invited to participate as concertmaster at the 2003 Sphinx Orchestra. In 2004, Mr. Ramirez again served as concertmaster of the Sphinx Orchestra where his composition Suite Latina was premiered and he received the Presidential Chair from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Conference History
Date |
Host School |
Key Note Speaker |
October 29, 2005 |
Norcross High School |
Anna Escobedo Cabral, U.S. Treasurer |
October 21, 2006 |
Georgia State University |
Ralph de la Vega, Cingular COO |
October 27, 2007 |
Georgia Institute of Technology |
Orlando Figueroa, Director Applied Engineering and Technology, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center |
Registration
Nomination guidelines:
REGISTRATION BEGINS ON AUGUST 4, 2008 AND ENDS ON SEPTEMBER 15th, 2008!
Students that have participated in previous Latino Youth Leadership Conferences
Students that express desire on participating in the Latino Youth Leadership Conference
Students that have demonstrated leadership qualities at their school through academic, social/community involvement, artistic, and athletic activities.
Students that have leadership potential if given the opportunity
Non-Latino students that have contributed to the development of Latino students at your school
Who can nominate students to participate
The school’s designated contact person, graduation coaches, counselors, teachers and/or parents may nominate students for participation. Parents, if you have asked your student’s school about the Conference and no contact person has been designated, you may call our office to nominate your student at 404-638-1838.
Instructions for registering students:
Please click here to download a registration form. Follow the instructions on the spreadsheet to submit your school’s registration.
The LAA will send a packet of permission forms for parents to sign. School contacts should distribute these forms to students. Parents, school contacts and/or students should return them to the LAA on the day of the conference. This permission form completes the student’s registration.
IMPORTANT: Students will not be allowed to participate or stay at the conference if they do not have their signed permission forms with them on the day of the conference.
Instructions for registering teachers:
Any interested teachers are welcome to attend this event. Please click here to download a registration form. Follow the instructions on the spreadsheet to submit your registration.
Instructions for registering parents:
Upon submission of student registrations to the LAA, parents will receive a permission form from their child’s school. Parents should indicate their interest in participating on this form. They may submit the form to their school’s contact person. They may also fax the form to the LAA, attention “Youth Conference Registration,” at 678-205-3149. Our staff will call to confirm that their registration has been received.
Exhibitors
The Latin American Association's Annual Latino Youth Leadership Conference has grown over 600% in 9 years.
The LAA's youth conference began in 2000 at a local high school with 200 students and has since grown to a conference of over 1,300 students, 200 parents, 100 teachers, 280 volunteers, and 40 exhibitors; and takes place at a college or university. Sponsors and exhibitors at the Latino Youth Leadership Conference are not only provided with an effective way to market their businesses and services to this growing market, but also an opportunity to make a difference in the lives, hopes, and dreams of Latino youth.
Information for the day of the conference:
Arrival time is 7:30 a.m. for set-up. There will be no opportunity for set-up the night before or any other time prior to the event.
Note: Exhibit tables will be located inside, in the West Exhibit Area.
Parking information will be sent to each exhibitor via email closer to the conference date.
Volunteers will be available to help with unloading in the morning. We suggest that all Exhibitors unload curbside on Gilmer St. and then park their vehicles so they do not have to carry heavy loads or materials through the parking lot or streets. Also, we suggest Exhibitors bring their materials in easy to manage containers or luggage that can be rolled.
Click here for a schedule of the day.
Click here for a campus map.
Click here for directions to GSU.
Committee Members
Roger Trueba, Co-Chair of the Annual Latino Youth Leadership Conference, Avio-Diepen
Massiel Silva, Youth Coordinator, Annual Latino Youth Leadership Conference, LAA
Carisa Hettich, Volunteer Coordinator, LAA
Melissa Palacios, Development Manager, LAA
Letycia Pastrana, VP Community Relations and Development, LAA
Maurice Baker, GA Natural Gas
Detra Burrell, Graduation Coach, Frank McClarin High School
Susan Cannon, Graduation Coach, Sandtown Middle School
Reinaldo Carrion, The Coca Cola Company
Tony Castro, Southern Company
Patricia Davalos, Pioneers, RESA, Georgia Department of Education
Alejandro Figueiras, Camera Mundi
Scott Freeland, AutoTrader
Alvaro Galvis, Meryll Lynch
Francisco Luciano, Cox Communications
Margarita Muoz, Georgia State University
Aishah Pacheco, Georgia Institute of Technology
Vicky Pagan, Market Analytics
Kate Pece, Graduation Coach, Riverwood High School
Rodolfo Vaupel, Nationwide
Alberto Villareal, PriceWaterhouse Coopers
Jennifer Wilson, Graduation Coach, Haynes Bridge Middle School
