Moderator:

Jessica M. Martinez
Director of Development,
Latin American Association

Jessica joined the Latin American Association in March 2020 as Director of Development.  Jessica leads a robust development team coordinating all fundraising activities for the Latin American Association to continue to impact the Latino community.

Prior to joining the Latin American Association, Jessica has served as Director of Development at PowerMyLearning and Camp Kudzu.  She began her nonprofit career at the Grady Health Foundation, which is the fundraising arm for Grady Hospital, as an intern then quickly moved to Manager of Annual Giving.  Jessica’s background includes close to a decade of experience in nonprofits, including annual fund, donor relations, marketing and communications, database management, program management, special events, and advocacy.

Jessica has been featured in Women’s Day Magazine and has been a speaker for numerous events, including the Women’s Day Red Dress Awards, An Evening with Larry King and Friends, and Go Red for Women.  Jessica is a native Atlanta and received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Panelists

Gigi Pedraza
Executive Director and Founder,
Latino Community Fund Georgia

Gigi Pedraza is the founder and Executive Director of the Latino Community Fund in Georgia, a grant making public charity dedicated to catalyzing investment and promoting collaborative work in the Latinx/Hispanic community. LCF Georgia amplifies the diverse voice of our community through advocacy, research and leadership development; builds capacity in community-based organizations and directly invests in families and Latinx-led member organizations through scholarships and grants. The Latino Community Fund is an Emmy Award Winning organization for its work in public information campaigns and has been recognized as a Best Partner Organization by Ser Familia, and the Latin American Chamber of Commerce in Georgia. Mrs. Pedraza has an active role in the community; she is the Co-Chair of the Georgia Latino Complete Count Committee aiming for a full count of Latinos in Georgia in the 2020 census, she is a member of the Steering Committee at Grantmakers for Southern Progress, the past chair of the board of the Feminist Women’s Health Center and is also the recipient of numerous awards, including a Caminar Latino Leadership Award, a TUMI USA winner, a Woman of Inspiration by the Atlanta Dream, the 2018 NFL Hispanic Leadership Award and one of the 50 Most Influential Latinos in Georgia Pedraza has earned an Executive Certificate in Non-Profit Leadership from the Fuqua College of Business at Duke University, a Masters in International Tourism Planning from the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in Spain, Executive Business Certificates from the Peruvian University of Sciences in Corporate Training and Strategic Marketing and has a BA from the Hotel Management School – College of Tourism in Lima, Peru. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, two smart and strong daughters and a spoiled dog.

Ana Gonzalez
Senior Researcher,
Pew Research Center

Ana Gonzalez-Barrera is a senior researcher at Pew Research Center. She is an expert on U.S. immigration, particularly on Mexican immigration to the U.S. and border apprehensions and deportations. She also has extensive experience analyzing and surveying the Hispanic population in the U.S. Before joining Pew Research Center in 2011, she served as director of population distribution at the Mexican Population Council (CONAPO). Prior to that, she worked for over four years at CIDE in Mexico, where she coordinated two rounds of the Mexico and the Americas public opinion survey in 2004 and 2010. She received a MPP from the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago, where she was a Fulbright-Garcia Robles scholar. She is an author of An Awakened Giant: the Hispanic Electorate is Likely to Double by 2030, The Path Not Taken: Two-thirds of Legal Mexican Immigrants are not U.S. Citizens, and More Mexicans Leaving Than Coming to the U.S., among others.

RESOURCES:

Organizations:

• Latino Community Fund Georgia – www.lcfgeorgia.org

• Pew Research Center – www.pewresearch.org

• Latin American Association – https://thelaa.org/

  Social Media:

  Latino Community Fund Georgia

  ·       Twitter – @lcfgeorgia – https://twitter.com/lcfgeorgia

  ·       Facebook: @lcfgeorgia – https://www.facebook.com/LCFGeorgia/

  ·       Instagram: @lcf_georgia – https://www.instagram.com/lcf_georgia/

  ·       LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/latino-community-fund-lcf-georgia/

  Pew Research Center

  ·       Twitter – @pewresearch – https://twitter.com/pewresearch

  ·       Facebook: @pewresearch – https://www.facebook.com/pewresearch

  ·       Instagram: @pewresearch – https://www.instagram.com/pewresearch/

  ·       LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pew-research-center/

  Latino American Assocation

  ·       Twitter: @thelaa – https://twitter.com/TheLAA

  ·       Facebook: @laaAtlanta – https://www.facebook.com/LAAatlanta/

  ·       Instagram: @thelaa – https://www.instagram.com/thelaa/

  ·       LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/latin-american-association/

Articles:

·       Economic Fallout From COVID-19 Continues to Hit Lower-Income Americans the Hardest

https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/09/24/economic-fallout-from-covid-19-continues-to-hit-lower-income-americans-the-hardest/

·       U.S. Latinos among hardest hit by pay cuts, job losses due to coronavirus

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/03/u-s-latinos-among-hardest-hit-by-pay-cuts-job-losses-due-to-coronavirus/

·       Coronavirus Economic Downturn Has Hit Latinos Especially Hard

https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2020/08/04/coronavirus-economic-downturn-has-hit-latinos-especially-hard/

·       Pew Research Center’s – Hispanic Trends

https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/

ACTIONS

• Donate to the Latino Community Fund to support Georgia Latinos.
  + Learn more & donate here

• Explore more of the Pew Research Center’s Hispanic research data.
  + Learn more here.

• Become an ambassador for the Campaign for Equal Dignity and invite 10 friends to join the Campaign today.Some sample text to share includes:

  • We all deserve #EqualDignity: access to health security, quality education, voting rights, economic stability, & justice for all. These are our civil & human rights. Check out & sign the pledge at www.equaldignity.org.

  • One person, organization, or family cannot define what #EqualDignity is for us all. We believe it is access to health security, quality education, voting rights, economic stability, & justice for all. Join & sign the pledge for Equal Dignity at www.equaldignity.org.

  • Join our effort to reaffirm our belief of #EqualDignity & add your own beliefs too. A nation built by the people should have rights #ForThePeople. Learn more & sign the pledge at www.equaldignity.org