“Las Poderosas” Fellowship Program

To coincide with the International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, Poder Latinx is announcing their second cohort for the Las Poderosas Fellowship program, a woman empowerment effort to build leadership development and inspire Latinas across crucial electoral states.

Las Poderosas Fellowship program will take participants through a year’s worth of leadership-building activities such as community empowerment talks and events to increase voter participation in their communities for upcoming 2022 elections and beyond. The inaugural cohort, made up of 17 participants, will launch in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, New York, and California.

“As a Latina who has dedicated my career to voter empowerment, there are few avenues for progress, and many times we are on our own to sink or swim. Creating this fellowship has been a collaborative process, and at the end of the day, the success of these women participants will be our success. We are honored and grateful to be a part of their journey,” said Nancy Batista, national fellowship director for Las Poderosas.

Among the program’s most ambitious goals are to collectively build a cohort of 5,000 civically involved Latina voters, who will recruit poll watchers on election day; increase Latinx representation in local elections; virtually promote National Voter Registration Day and Vote Early Day within their networks; and serve as a spokesperson for the organization.

“As a voter empowerment group with offices in battleground states, our work does not stop when the elections are over. That’s when our work for the next cycle begins,” said Yadira Sanchez, Poder Latinx’s co-director. “This program is an example of our work to strengthen the biggest constituency of voters in the next 20 to 30 years – Latina women. They are the future of our communities and it’s about time we invest in their success.”

International Women’s Day has been observed around the world on March 8 for more than a century to celebrate the contributions of women in diverse fields. Women’s History Week was first celebrated in the U.S. in 1982 and for more than 20 years, presidents have issued an annual proclamation designating the month of March as “Women’s History Month.”