July 2017 -- Las Comadres Newsletter



Greetings, Comadres!

Many thanks to Kimberly Hernandez and Univision for hosting us this month.
 We are excited about our return to Univision and the launch of the “Chatting with Las Comadres” information series for Comadres by Comadres. Our first chat is about Career Services; our speakers are JULIE ANNA ALVAREZ, Director of Alumni and International Career Services, Columbia Law School, and VANESSA PETERS, Human Resources Specialist with Michael Kors USA, Inc.

Julie Anna Alvarez is the new Director of Alumni and International Career Services at the Office of Career Services and Professional Development at Columbia Law School. She has been a law school career services professional for 11 years (having previously worked at Fordham and Cardozo) providing counseling and strategy to students and graduates at all stages in their careers. Her work in the academic setting has included helping her constituencies with resumes, cover letters, job search strategies, interviewing, networking and more. Throughout her career, she has also often been involved in the hiring process of her employers, screening resumes and interviewing candidates for open positions, so she has an insider perspective. Julie Anna was elected to the Board of Directors of NALP (National Association for Law Placement -- the industry organization for all major law schools and legal employers) for the 2016-2018 term. Julie Anna received her BA from Harvard University and her law degree from Harvard Law School. She began her legal career at the firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore as a corporate attorney, later transitioned to a boutique firm to practice Copyright/ Trademark/ Entertainment Law. Thereafter, she pursued various “alternative legal career” opportunities including six years as the Assistant Director of the Legal Referral Service at the NYC Bar Association. In 2000 she also became a certified Feng Shui consultant and ran a full-time consultant practice from 2001 to 2006, a business which she now maintains on a part-time basis. She has been a NYC Comadre for 7 years or more (but who’s counting?!).

Vanessa Peters is a Human Resources Specialist with Michael Kors USA Inc.  She has been an HR professional for the past 9 years.  She started her career in human resources by working her way up through the ranks at Crate & Barrel.  She has experience in resume review, interviewing and training.  She has a BA from the City College of New York in English and Art and a Certificate in Compensation and Benefits from Baruch College. Vanessa Is also a writer and freelance artist of Puerto Rican descent.  As a writer, she is currently working on her first multi-cultural romance novel.   She also works out of her home as a freelance artist, her work focuses on both abstract/ impressionist paintings and drawings of the human form and figure.  Vanessa has been a NYC Comadre for 7 years.

We thank Julie Anna and Vanessa for sharing their knowledge with us, and thank all of you for attending. (Their handout on Career Services is at the end of this newsletter.)

Please check the Calendar of Events and Announcements below.  Join us for all or any of the events, and Happy Summer!

Las Comadres Facilitators                                             
Maria, Raesha, Gladys & Miriam

Las Comadres Book Club Discussion Leaders           
Maria, Dora Maria, Nicole & Tess



CALENDAR & ANNOUNCEMENTS

July 18 (Tues) – Comadres & Friends Book Club, 6:00pm, The Strand, 12th Street & Broadway, 2 floor.   Join us for the Book Club meeting even if you don’t finish the book. Our book of the month is ALL THAT GLITTERS by Liza Treviño (Koehler Books). It’s all about sex, drugs and Hollywood dreams of Latinas in the 1980s.  And check out the Comadres Summer Reading List below.    

July 19 (Wed) – Theatre Outing with Las Comadres, Acorn Theatre, 410 W. 42nd Street
--6:00pm: Dinner at Gallo Nero Italiano. If you would like to join us just for dinner, email Maria at ferrerm@aol.com.
--8:00pm--Temple of the Souls is a musical about Puerto Rico; tickets available online at www.nymf.org

July 28 (Fri) – Outing at 6:30pm at High Line at Gansevoort Street, 820 Washington Street
The High Line is featuring Heidi Latsky: On Display, a live human sculpture garden. We can walk among the performers.  Get your free tickets at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/heidi-latsky-on-display-tickets-35516781650

August 9 (Wed) – Comadrazo Meeting at AARP, 6:00pm.




SUMMER READING LIST! 
Our book club is 10- years- old this year. We are super excited, and will be giving away prizes (aka free books) at the monthly book club meetings so do attend and bring reader friends. To celebrate, we have released our 3rd Annual Summer Reading List; see below. We want everyone reading Latino Lit this summer!  

1.      All That Glitters by Liza Treviňo (Koehler Books, women's fiction)
2.      All the Agents & Saints by Stephanie Elizondo Griest (University of North Carolina Press, memoir)
3.      Blood’s Echo by Isabella Maldonado (Midnight Ink, mystery)
4.      Bravo! Poems About Amazing Hispanics by Margarita Engle (Henry Holt & Co., children's book, poetry)
5.      Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Thomas Dunne Books, horror)
6.      Everything That Could Not Happen Will Happen Now by Alberto Ramirez (Floricanto Press, fiction)
7.      History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera (Penguin/Soho Teen, fiction, LGBT)
8.      Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova (Sourcebooks Fire, fiction, young adult)
9.      Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (Doubleday, classic, magical realism)
10.  Self Made by Nely Galán (Spiegel & Grau, women and business, motivational)
11.  The Cruel Country by Judith Ortiz Cofer (University of Georgia Press, memoir)
12.  The Enchilada Queen Cookbook by Sylvia Casares (St. Martin’s Griffin, cookbook)
13.  With the River on Our Face by Emmy Pérez (University of Arizona Press, poetry)


COMADRES FUN FRIDAYS ON FACEBOOK! Like our Facebook Page—@LasComadresNYCNetwork.
Comadre Miriam Molina is posting our upcoming events and monthly notices on our Facebook page. AND, every Friday we want YOU to share your photos with us of Comadres having fun. Use our hashtag #ComadresFun. Our link is https://www.facebook.com/groups/1649438118686362/?ref=bookmarks

ARE YOU ON THE LIST SERV?  If you are not receiving Las Comadres’ event emails, join the group at:  http://lascomadres.com/lco/join-las-comadres/.    

JOB OPPORTUNITIES!  Please remember to let us know of any job opportunities, volunteer positions or upcoming events you come across that would be of benefit to a fellow Comadre. We will gladly share through the list serv.


QUOTE OF THE MONTH

DEFINE GOAL
TAKE ACTION
STAY FOCUSED
EXPECT SUCCESS
NOTHING LESS
         ---Michele Ruiz


HAPPY HOLIDAYS !

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