Hispanic Heritage Month is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the achievements, cultures, and experiences of our Latinx members of our team here at Ellevation. We're excited to feature three employees in particular, and asked them a few questions about their heritage - find a bit of their stories below!

Can you share a bit about your Latinx heritage? How do you celebrate this month?

I am a proud Mexican American, my family comes from Northern Mexico. We like to celebrate this month by learning about other Latinx countries, participating in community celebrations, and learning about influential Latinx individuals.

What is something that you feel makes your culture unique or special?

Although not isolated to the Mexican culture or Latinx people, I love the focus on family and community. My culture is big on celebrating and living life, especially in the company of our family and friends. There are very rarely small family functions, the more people the better, add music and food...and everything becomes a celebration.

Is there an activity or experience from being in school or at work where you felt your culture was represented or highlighted in a really positive, authentic way?

Over the last few years, there has been an increase in celebrations for Dia de los Muertos, although not exclusively celebrated in Mexico, the celebration is very near and dear to me personally, and I love when people want to learn the meaning behind the celebration. When I see altares in places I hadn't seen them before, I always get a smile on my face.

Thinking about your role at Ellevation and our mission, how do you hope the work we do impacts Latinx students?

I hope our work enables educators to support our Latinx students to attain their highest aspirations by identifying needs, learning how to amplify their impact in the classroom and providing our students with the tools necessary to succeed in school and beyond. Ellevation is a great way to get to know our students, learn about the various countries and languages represented in their classrooms and find tools to truly connect.

Can you share 1-2 sentences about your Latinx heritage? How do you celebrate this month?

My family is from the beautiful country of Colombia! I was born and raised in the US without a lot of family nearby so we relied a lot on the community around us. When I think about my Latinx heritage the first thing that comes to mind is community. No matter how far we were from family, the community of hispanic/latinos around us were our support system. To me, the best way to honor Hispanic Heritage Month is to give thanks to everyone who has been part of my journey up until now and most importantly think about how I am helping continue that legacy by supporting a new generation of Latinx youths.

Is there an activity or experience from being in school or at work where you felt your culture was represented or highlighted in a really positive, authentic way?

I have had the extreme privilege of being able to attend schools and have jobs with a fairly high level of hispanic/Latinx representation amongst their populations. Visibility is so important, each time I’ve entered a new environment such as a new school or job, without even having to say a word I was immediately more comfortable seeing others like me. I know this is not the same lived experience for many others but I have always held diverse representation as an important value of my professional career and feel grateful to continue to be in an organization that holds the same value.

Can you share a bit about  your Latinx heritage? How do you celebrate this month?

I was born in Mexico and moved to Houston, TX when I was eight years old.  My husband was born in New York to Dominican parents, and we have a 4-year-old daughter who is growing up as a domexican. :) We celebrate this month by decorating our home with papel picado, watching movies that highlight our culture, and cooking and sharing meals with friends that are representative of Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Also, if the weather is nice, we like to look for Hispanic Heritage Month festivals that might be happening around the city.

What is something(s) that you feel makes your culture unique or special?

Something that is unique about my culture is definitely our food and music, and we bring it everywhere.  For example, I didn't really grow up celebrating Thanksgiving.  For me, it was always a time to travel to Mexico and see my extended family, so eating turkey and having a big family dinner was not something we did. We would instead have carne asada and play norteños and cumbias and have a big party.  When I met my husband and I attended Thanksgiving with his family for the first time, I wasn't sure what I should expect. He had grown up in the United States, so I thought maybe his family had a more traditional approach. When I got there, I found merengue music playing, and they had moro, tostotones, empanadas, and a turkey waiting at the table.  I was happily surprised and realized that our Latinx culture would always include authentic food and music no matter the occasion. 

Thinking about your role at Ellevation and our mission, how do you hope the work we do impacts Latinx students? 

As a PSM, I love introducing our new districts to all of the features that Ellevation has to offer and getting them set up with a strong plan to make their school year a success and impactful for their ELs. This, honestly, is one of the reasons why I was drawn to Ellevation and our mission. I moved to the United States when I was eight years old, and I carried and still do the ESL label I received when I enrolled in school.  When I think back to my education experience, I know I have trauma that extends from experience I had in elementary school, middle school, and even college from language barriers.  I always saw the fact that I was an English Learner as a barrier or a challenge to my success when, in reality, it is such a strength and a superpower.  I like to think the work we do at Ellevation will help students see that they have a superpower much earlier than I did, so they don't have to carry negative baggage like I did or is often placed on students when it shouldn't be.