LYNN — Now that Carolina Trujillo has completed the second phase of her fellowship with the HOPE organization, she has a firm perspective on what she experienced.
“I think participating in this fellowship gives you better insights into what your responsibilities are as a Latina leader,” said Trujillo, who is the community relations director for the Essex Media Group and the publisher of “La Voz,” the Spanish-language publication.
Trujillo was selected to participate in the HOPE fellowship (Hispanas Organized for Political Equality) earlier this year after receiving a nomination in October. She went to Washington for the first part of the seminar, a nonpartisan executive leadership program for outstanding Latina professionals who, through increased competence in national security issues, can make urgent and long-lasting improvements in the lives of Latinas in the U.S. and Mexico.
The second half of that fellowship took place last month in Mexico City.
HOPE and Grupo Salinas, in partnership with the Woodrow Wilson Center and the Aspen Institute Mexico, just finished the second year of the HOPE program.
“This was a great opportunity for Latinas to strategize and create an impact at both a local and national level,” Trujillo said. “It is a great honor to have been nominated.”
Dharma E. Cortes, PhD, a Harvard Medical School instructor and a Lynn resident, nominated Trujillo. Cortes is also part of the Fellowship Advisory Group.
“We didn’t know much about each other prior to her nominating me,” Trujillo said. “We’re both professionals, and our paths crossed. But at the time we weren’t friends. We’ve since become friends.”
Trujillo said that Cortes told her she appreciated her work, and that she was a fit for what the HOPE program was trying to do.
What the fellowship taught her, she said, was that “right now, we (the Latino community) really need to unite and step up. There is a need for leadership.
“The Latino community is the fastest growing demographic in the country,” she said. “We need to work together to move the community forward.”
And, Trujillo said, that goes double for Latinas.
The HOPE fellowship seeks to propel Latina executives from state leadership to national and international public service. Participants are promoted as model leaders of their communities, exposed to issues critical to building their binational leadership competencies, and will be coached to ensure their success in reaching their public service aspirations.
