Trailblazers

Ramonita Rivera, Civic Leader

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Mrs. Rivera was a passionate civic leader helping to organize several organizations in her community. Her steadfast dedication brought much needed services to an area that was impoverished and underserved in the Northeast area of Philadelphia mainly made up of a mixed population of Latinos and Afro Americans.Ramonita, as her community lovingly addressed her, was…

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SONIA SOTOMAYOR

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“after a time you may recognize that the proper measure of success if not how much you’ve closed the distance to some far-off goal but the quality of what you’ve done today.†The path that led Supreme Justice Sonia Sotomayor to succeed in meeting her goal to become a judge began by developing as a…

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Edith Ramirez

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…was appointed by President Barack Obama and began work on March 4, 2013 until 2017 as the chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission, the agency in charge of protecting consumers and enforcing antitrust laws in the United States. She protected consumers and promoted competition in the technology and healthcare sector safeguarding consumer privacy, and protecting…

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Antonia Coello Novello, M.D.

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…was the first female and first Latina to become Surgeon General of the United States. Dr. Novello served from 1990 to 1993 promoting antismoking, Aids education, and improved health policy for minorities. By 1999 to 2007 she became commissioner of the New York State Department of Health focusing on programs as Child Health Plus and…

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Rigoberta Menchu Tum

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Let there be freedom for the Indians, wherever they may be in the American Continent or elsewhere in the world, because while they are alive, a glow of hope will be alive as well as a true concept of life.  Menchú. “Peace cannot exist without justice, justice cannot exist without fairness, fairness cannot exist without…

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Ellen Ochoa

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“What interests me, what challenges me, and what could get me a job later†… Born in Los Angeles on May 10, 1958, Dr. Ellen Ochoa was the first Latina and second woman astronaut, and now the 11thDirector of the Johnson Space Center. She served as Deputy Director since 2007 before becoming the director in…

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Dolores Huerta

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Chicana activist, Dolores Huerta, was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Obama (2011). She was the co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America (UFWA) and a labor leader of Chicano farm workers since 1968. Currently (12/01/2021) she speaks across the country as the founder and president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation supporting equality…

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Isabel Angelica Allende

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Internationally acclaimed Isabel Angelica Allende, has released her 25th book with, Violeta, published January 2022. Born in 1942 in Lima, she was raised in Chile and lives in the United States. She is among the worlds’ most important women novelists as well as a feminist and philanthropist with more than 75 million books sold. Ms.…

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Christina Ayala

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La Chef Christina Ayala is from New Jersey and grew up with her brother an aeronautical engineer, speaking English and eating their father’s heritage foods of Puerto Rico.  Ayala credits her mixed Filipino mother as an amazing cook from whom she learned and who inspired her to go into the business of cooking. She earned…

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