The National Hispana Leadership Institute is Accepting Online Applications for New Program Taking Latina College Students to Israel

Program Designed to Develop Lasting Relationships between Latino and Jewish Communities; Online Applications Now Available

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following a decade of training and developing the next generation of Latina leaders through its unique Washington DC-based program for college-age women, Latinas Learning to Lead (LLL), the National Hispana Leadership Institute, the nation's premier leadership development organization for Latinas, is taking them overseas in a new continuation of the program.

In collaboration with the American Jewish Committee (AJC), a global Jewish advocacy organization, and its educational institute Project Interchange, and The David Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and inspiring strong voices for Israel on campus, NHLI is launching the Building Latino-Jewish Bridges on Campus (BLJBC) program. This pioneering initiative, generously supported by the Bay Area-based MZ Foundation, aims to establish enduring relations between Hispanic and Jewish students.

"This is the first time national organizations are joining to convene Latino and Jewish student leaders to create a coalition on campus in support of mutual interests," said Dina Siegel Vann, Director of AJC's Latino and Latin American Institute.

For its inaugural year, the program will include 24 Latina and Jewish students from Boston University; University of California, Irvine; and University of Texas, Austin. Twelve Latina students will be selected by NHLI and will participate in the five-day Latinas Learning to Lead program along with Latinas from other colleges, directly prior to joining their Jewish classmates for the Building Latino-Jewish Bridges on Campus program. Twelve Jewish students will be selected by The David Project.

All BLJBC students will connect in Washington, DC in June for an intensive weekend to learn together about their communities' histories and priorities. "The orientation program is an excellent venue for students to foster mutual understanding and become aware of the strong case for Latino-Jewish cooperation," said NHLI President Cristina Lopez. Students will also meet with Jewish and Hispanic members of Congress as well as other prominent leaders from both communities.

Immediately following the Washington weekend, the students will travel to Israel for a weeklong seminar organized by AJC's Project Interchange (PI), an educational institute that regularly brings opinion leaders and policy makers to Israel for first-hand exposure to various issues facing Israeli society. The PI program will include themes that strongly resonate in the US Latino experience, such as immigration and integration.

"The Latino and Jewish communities in the United States share the experience of immigration from many nations, strong family ties, and a drive to help the next generation succeed no matter the cost," said PI Executive Director Sam Witkin. "This program will help build a sense of understanding and commonality between these two important communities."

For the Fall semester, the students will develop collaborative programs on their campuses to deepen relations between the two communities. "We hope students will come up with creative activities to mobilize their Jewish and Latino campus peers to further the building of a common Latino-Jewish agenda," said David Bernstein, Executive Director of The David Project.

2011 PROGRAM TIMELINE:

• Thursday, March 31, 2011- Application Deadline
• Early May- Application Notifications
• June 12-17, 2011- Latinas Learning to Lead- Leadership Training, Washington, DC
• June 17-19, 2011- Building Latino-Jewish Bridges on Campus, Part 1, Washington, DC
• June 19-26, 2011-Building Latino-Jewish Bridges on Campus, Part 2, Israel
• June 2011-Fall 2011 Semester/Quarter- Leadership Projects Implemented in Communities
• June 2011 and beyond- Participate in Mentorship Programs

The Latinas Learning to Lead Program promotes and fosters the development of Latina leaders between the ages of 18-24 through training, mentoring opportunities, access to national networks and tools to create greater community impact. The five-day Washington DC leadership training consists of session topics on effective communication and presentation skills, public policy issues affecting the Latino community, and professional and leadership development topics including a Clifton StrengthsFinder session at Gallup University. The twenty-two fellows selected annually are also matched up with a mentor from NHLI's other leadership programs. The LLL fellows in turn mentor at least two younger Latinas and implement a leadership project in their communities. Unlike BLJBC, LLL is open to Latinas from any college or university.

NHLI also offers an annual Executive Leadership Training Conference and Mujer Awards, held this year in Los Angeles, CA (November 2-4); the Executive Leadership Program for mid-career professionals, commencing Feb. 27 in San Juan Bautista, CA; Advancing Latina Leaders in Nonprofits (ALL IN) for emerging professionals in the nonprofit sector and online training seminars.

The National Hispana Leadership Institute (NHLI) is a national leadership development organization focused on Latina leaders. For more than 20 years, NHLI has developed hundreds of Latina leaders who have gone on to become elected officials, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, executives at non-profits and powerful decision makers. Founded in 1987 to address the disparity of representation of Latinas in leadership, NHLI's mission is to develop Hispanas as ethical leaders through training, professional development, relationship building, and community activism. www.nhli.org.

SOURCE National Hispana Leadership Institute