Hispanic Heritage Month: Latina Civic Foundation to Honor Yolanda Garcia-Balicki, Silvia Catalan-Culnan at Inaugural Breakfast
Photo of Yolanda Garcia-Balicki courtesy of Cumberland County Board of Commissioners
Oct. 9 Breakfast to Feature New Jersey’s First and Second Latina Members of Congress in Nellie Pou and Analilia Mejia
BY CLYDE HUGHES | AC JosepH Media
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Cumberland County Commissioner Yolanda Garcia-Balicki and Mount Laurel Deputy Mayor Silvia Catalan-Culnan will be honored at the Latina Civic Foundation inaugural Latina Excellence Breakfast on Friday, Oct 9, at The Rutgers Club in Piscataway.
The event celebrates five years of the Latina Civic Foundation and a decade of advancing Latina leadership, civic engagement and public service. The breakfast will feature a conversation with U.S. Rep. Nellie Pou (D-09) and U.S. Rep. Analilia Mejia (D-11), New Jersey’s first and second Latina members of Congress.
“Their journeys to Congress mark a significant milestone in New Jersey’s political history and in the growing civic leadership of Latinas across the state,” the foundation said in a statement.
Garcia-Balicki became the first Latina ever elected to the Cumberland County Board of Commissions last November while Catalan-Culnan serves as the first Latina on the Mount Laurel city council.
The Latina Civic Foundation will also honor Zulima Farber, Esq., New Jersey’s first Latina Attorney General, the first female partner at the prestigious law firm Lowenstein Sandler, LLP., and a co-founder of the Latina Civic Foundation.
This event will also honor other New Jersey women leaders in public service who became firsts, “Las Primeras,” women who broke glass ceilings and created new possibilities for future generations.
Along with Garcia-Balicki and Catalan-Culnan, other honorees include M. Teresa Ruiz, Senate Majority Leader for District 29; Annette Quijano, Speaker Pro-Tempore for District 20; and Wilda Diaz, former Mayor of Perth Amboy.
“During Hispanic Heritage Month, we celebrate not only where we come from, but also the extraordinary contributions Latinas are making today and the future we are building together,” said María Del Cid-Kosso, Chair of Latina Civic Foundation.
“The Latina Excellence Breakfast is an opportunity to honor the women who have broken barriers, created pathways for others, and demonstrated that our voices belong in every room where decisions are made. We are proud to celebrate this legacy while investing in the next generation of Latina leaders.”
“I spend my days in the rooms where policy is written, and I know what changes when a Latina is at that table, and what gets missed when she isn’t,” said Erika J. Nava, Vice Chair of the Latina Civic Foundation. “Las Primeras opened those doors. Our job now is to make sure the women coming behind them never have to open them alone.”
Latina Civic Foundation is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to advancing Latina leadership through its educational programs, ELLA Wins, Latinas Building the Bench, and the Zulima Farber Cívic Academy.
Event sponsors include UnidosUS Action Fund and Latino Victory Foundation, and Univision.
The Latina Civic Foundation’s five-year milestone comes as New Jersey’s Latino community continues to play an increasingly important role in the state’s civic, economic and political life.
Still, according to Center for American Women in Politics (CAWP) Latina representation in New Jersey still lags behind at 5% of leaders across state and local government agencies and elected positions.
To purchase sponsorships or tickets, visit latinacivicfoundation.org. For questions, reach out to sponsorship@latinacivicfoundation.org.
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