to "comunidad del valle." hello, and welcome i'm damian trujillo, and today the latinx movement is in full force, plus lean in latinas on your "comunidel ♪ le announcer: nbc bay area presents "comunidad del valle," with damian trujillo. damian: we begin today with our new partner here on "comunidad del valle." we introduced him a couple of months ago and now he's back with his first project. carlos ponce is a former consul general of mexico here in san jose. he's now doing some independent work. welcome back to the show. carlos ponce: thank you very much, thank you for inviting me. i'm really happy to be in this new forum of carlos ponce. damian: well, now he's taking over, it's kind of a journalistic platform. mr. ponce now is producing some videos for us, some vignettes to--well, tell us in 30 seconds if you can about what you're doing and who we're going to see right now. carlos: cuéntame tu historia it's to know the latino community, the good of the

woman, of the work, and we are happy to be here. damian: all right, well, this is a report, this is are. carlos: fe silva. damian: fe silva is a lady in santa cruz county, and this is his feature on her. carlos: [speaking foreign language] santa cruz, california. [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language] fe silva: [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language]

fe silva: [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language] carlos: [speaking foreign language] fe silva: [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language]akin]

[speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language] carlos: [speaking foreign language]

fe silva: [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language] carlos: [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language]

[speaking foreign language] nbc, "comunidad del valle." damian: [speaking foreign language] our new correspondent, mr. carlos ponce. well, there's the information, he's on "si, pero no" on la kaliente every friday. and we'll be back with former consul of mexico, stay with us.

the former consul general of mexico here. and our conversation will be in spanglish, if you will, but so this is a project that you and i talked about. what is your vision? why do you want to put these kind of vignettes together for the viewers? carlos: because we need to understand that the hispanic community, the immigrant community is here to work, to be better, to have a better life. and fe silva is the perfect example to understand how can we want work for the community, for the another people, especially for the jovenes because as you--as we can see,

it's the problem with the young people that [speaking foreign language], it's for her life and for their life also. a[speaking foreign language].d damian: you see how powerful the camera is, the microphone is, the lens is. describe your feeling in getting into this realm. carlos: oh, well absolutely. i understand this many years ago when i start connecting with you [speaking foreign language]. if we work together with the medios with

[speaking foreign language]. damian: the ex-consul will be with us the first sunday of every month. and this is our special project, so you have topics that you're working on for the next couple of months then already. carlos: yes, we are ready to show you a fantastic history--study, sorry, about a young lady in valle central. damian: how easy is it to find these good stories to tell? carlos: well, in any corner, in any street, yo about the feelings, about the community. but we tried to focus to very special persons to that [speaking foreign language]. damian: you kind of answered my next question. you're a former diplomat from mexico. what gives you the fire to put stories like this out there? carlos: [speaking foreign language].

[speaking foreign language] all the immigrant community is like these people, like these persons. we need to understand that [speaking foreign language]. damian: that's a good point. i get inspired every day by the people, you, by the guests who are here for the other segments. they inspire me. do you find that they do the same for you? i mean, as a consul, you meet people from all walks of life coming into your office. carlos: yes. [speaking foreign language]. five years ago, we work in stem for latina girls. [speaking foreign language]

damian: do you touch on some of these topics on "si, pero no" fridays at noon on la kaliente? or is this kind of separate? carlos: no. [speaking foreign language] carlos: santa cruz, california this may 19. [speaking foreign language] damian: showcasing what's happening positive in our latino community. on kalie. you'll find him here every first sunday of the month of "comunidad del valle," the former consul of mexico carlos ponce on our show. it's a pleasure, partner. thank you for being here. carlos: thank you very much. damian: all right, thank you. damian: and up next here on "comunidad del valle," we'll have lean in latinas. stay with us.

(vo) ♪ i know what you're thinking. electric, it's not for you. and, you're probably right. electric just doesn't have enough range.

it will never survive the winter. charging stations? good luck finding one of those. so, maybe an electric car isn't for you after all. or, is it? ♪ tarheinee, i leave tcollection.. to craig, this rock. the redwoods to the redheads. the rainbows to the proud. i leave these in on one condition. that you do everything in your power to preserve and protect them. with love, california. anna dapelo garcia is my guest on "comunidad del valle"

and judy castro is with jfk university. welcome to the show. anna dapelo-garcia: thank you. damian: welcome back. well, tell us first of all about lean in latinas, what y'all do and-- anna: well, what we are is a pretty big community. our mission is to advance latinas in the workplace. we do this with programs, mentorship. we have really grown since the last time i was on your show. we are now over 800 latinas, many here in the bay area, as well as across the world. we have a group in zurich. we have a group in miami. so, we're really excited about the work that we're doing, for latinas in many areas. for example, we have an ongoing wage gap in this country. damian: we're watching video of that right now that you all produced. anna: yeah, thank you. and all women, 20% less than white males as far as compensation, black women at 38% and latinas at 47%. so, this is a significant issue that we are addressing in the work that we're doing in lean in latinas. damian: all right, well, next time you have a conference in miami and you need a guest speaker,

just feel free to let us know. anna: absolutely. damian: but give us your take. how fast or slow are we progressing in addressing this issue and fixing it? judy castro: well, you know, this is one of the things that john f. kennedy university has actually partnered with lean in latina. we both share the same mission, which is to provide information on the value of higher education to our latino students or latino population. demographically, we know that we are the majority, but we are the--sorry, we are the majority, but we are the minority when it comes to positions d so, this is where we are partnering to actually bring that message out to the cni to ensure that we change that paradigm 'cause demographically we're going to be what? in positions that we're not making any decisions. we need to change that paradigm. damian: it's very easy if you're in that position to put your hands up in the air and say, "oh well, it is what it is, i can't fix it." but you can't do that, and you're not doing that.

judy: exactly right. you know, this is one of the commitments that john f. kennedy university has, especially knowing that we are one of 253 awardees from the department of education, hsi, hispanics serving institutions who have been awarded a grant by the department of education to focus on supporting latinos by providing them with services in order for them to actually have a journey, you know, a well-received journey as they go to getting one of the things that john f. kennedy has done, we built a dedicated center for our latinos. we have workshops, we have bilingual tutors, mentors, academic counselors, workshops, a lending library-- damian: no excuses. judy: there aren't any, absolutely. and so, this is the commitment that these his's, hispanic serving institutions, have to the department of education to support our latino students. so, one of the things that we are going to be putting out as a message is to ensure that when that young person is ready to

make a commitment, or even an adult who wants to go back to school, is to ensure that they are an hsi, a hispanic serving institution, why? because they have a commitment to the department of education to support them in their journey. damian: all right, and now you want to take them--you want to take this effort dto the public, right? and now you want i mean, you have a special summit. well, we'll call it a summit, it's at the stanford-- anna: yeah, so judy and i between our organizations have an educational summit called get inspired. it will occur on may the 11th at the university of palo alto. we, our speakers include somebody who was forbes 30 under 30, we have a stanford phd. but most importantly, what we're bringing to the summit is highlighting the importance of getting an education. i mentioned earlier the wage gap that we have for latinas. well, one way to close that wage gap is to become competitive in the workplace with a college education. so, we are really excited about this opportunity and the ability

to co-convene together and for their emphasizing this really important component. and unfortunately for latinas, we still have quite a gap there in completing college. damian: when you and i leave--when all of us leave this earth, we won't have fixed the problem, but what's the feeling to know that you put a piece of yourself into solving that? anna: right, and a lot of this is predicated even on my life experience. but i also knew that without a college degree,'t on . and so, over time, i realized that this is something that i had to do and i did it. and so, you know, lean in latinas is a group with many role models, including judy, where we can serve as a really great network for latinas. our membership is everything from high school girls in east

palo alto that we're hoping to encourage to go to college, discourage teenage pregnancy, all the way to executives. so, this is really part of a bigger movement that we have to propel latinas in the c-suite and in the white house. damian: that's awesome. wnot only building graduates,t. i mean, you're--once they leave your institution, they're not--it sounds like the independence is not there. now you're involved, now you got to roll up your sleeves and help out. judy: absolutely, you know, and this is one of the things that with the students that come in through the university, they are looking for that support, they are looking for that guidance. even our workforce community is saying, "you need to actually train our students in leadership, communication." so, it's not just knowing that you can put things together and to analyze things together, but you have to provide them with that soft skill.

so, that's the other want tmaat we're also doing.:u special summit, it's happening here shortly. you can log on to two websites, there's the onfo and there's a website for that as well. do you have a number or something? any final thoughts, we have about 30 seconds. anna: go to on tinre. and we are almost full, so if you want to go, please log in and register. damian: all right, thank you for inspiring. both: thank you. damian: and we'll have some more inspiration up next on "comunidad del valle," the latinx movement at de anza college. stay with us.

in colleges and universities across the country, and de anza college here in the bay area is no exception. with me on the show is christina espinosa pieb, she's the interim president at de anza. and alicia cortez is the dean of equity also at de anza. welcome to the show. both: thank you. damian: well, define latinx for us for those who might now know or are unaware. define what latinx means. christina pieb: so, we wanted to remove the latino, latina and which comes first, male, female. and we want to empower all students. also, we want to be sensitive to students who don't want to identify as male or female.

all of that is handled then all of our students.ation , a latinx graduation ceremony at de anza college. christina: yes. damian: tell us about that. alicia cortez: well, i'm here on behalf of our de anza latinx association, which is faculty and staf hf and ting a student recognition graduation for our students. so, we've been honoring their success in the last 25 years, and we've seen a tremendous growth. i know i began in 1990 at de anza. and in my time there, in my interim, i've seen us grow from 8% student population to we have 27% now attending at our campus. and so, the latinx graduation is one way that we honor into kultura, through familia the successes of our students because we know also that a lot of latinx students, large numbers go to community colleges. and we know that that also, as a transfer and a graduate, that we want to honor them and to continue to inspire them to

further their education. damian: so, i went through a san jose state chicano commencement. is this ristina: yes. damian: how important is it? i mean, for me, it was huge to be able to walk the stage and with--and know that we all came from the same place, we were going to the same place, and we have the same kind of dreams. what is it like to be able to provide that for the students as an administrator? christina: so, i went myself to de anza college and transferred from de anza college. both of my children went to de anza college and they walked that stage. and i got to hand them diplomas. and so, i believe in this. i mean, at my absolute core, i believe that every student, and for latinos particularly, i just think it's an opportunity for them to go on to four-year universities that they might not otherwise be able to go to. and especially now with de anza's promise program that i know many community colleges are doing, a student can come in full-time and, if they qualify, get $500 in book vouchers and all their

tuition is paid for, it's free. so, this is--there's so much we're doing for our latino students right now. and we really just want them to come so that they can walk that stage, and it matters a lot. damian: oh, absolutely. we saw a video, we do have video of the big graduation, the main graduation for de anza. yours is at the flint center, it's a little more intimate. and it's a little different, right? it gives students a chance to kind of be more at home, i guess. alicia: well, we started--i was there the first year when we began in '95. and we had maybe 14 students that participated. so, and we've seen it grown to we have about 135, 40 students last year. we have such large familias, and so we want allam attend, so we were able to now grow into the flint center. and it's really beautiful to see the different generations. and as the students walk the stage, they have an opportunity to say a few words. that's also the point that's very emotional. another part of the program that we've really worked hard at is

also cultivating and fundraising scholarships for our students. and so, our goal this year, because it is our 25th anniversary, we want to raise $25,000. we want to be able to get those students who have worked so hard and to continue their education, the support, those additional scholarships. and so, we're working hard and we're looking to the community also to assist in whatever ways that they can. damian: all right, we'll show you that website in just a few on how maybe you can contribute. before, when chicano commencement started 50 years ago, the premise was a rebuke of the administration because of the lack of recruiting, the lack of diversity. so, that's all flipped. the theme now seems to be inclusiveness, and let's make this a part of the school experience with the administration, not without it. christina: that is correct, yes. and as alicia was saying, the population has really grown, so and we are now marrying santa clara county. so, santa clara county in the 2018 census, they--we have about almost 2 million people here, right? and in that, we have 25% are latinos.

so, at de anza, we're the same. now about 25%, 26% as well. that's the goal is to always make sure that we're serving our community here. and so, it really does matter. and giving those scholarships really will help our students to move on to whatever four-year universities they want to go to. damian: i mean, probably a dumb question, but how vital are those scholarships for some of these students? alicia: very, for many students, they'll tell you it's the difference. but for one quarter or semester schools that they go to in terms of having enough money for either a bus pass, for books that they may need, even buying a computer. sometimes, students may leave and not have a laptop. they'll look at ways to be able to--'cause everything's so tech-based now. and so, for those, it may not seem a lot of money, but it is, makes a world of a difference. and to having someone stay in school to get to that particular degree. yourdamianoney, it's because we believe in you that

you're going to go a long way."u get inspired by some of those students that you shake hands with and walk that stage? christina: yes, every year, all the time. i just--it's such a privilege to be a part of their growth and their success. it is for each of us, i think, it really means a lot. damian: their challenges i would imagine are many. i would say maybe the same, similar challenges to you and i when we were first going through it. alicia: so, many of our students are--and i think at this particular time, we are faced with students come to school hunger. some are also jumping from home to home, experiencing homelessness and maybe in proportions that we didn't experience necessarily. so, there are some challenges the students have that we may not--we also draw from the county, so we have students that come in on the bus from an hour and a half to two hours to come to de anza. and to me, that really shows the perseverance, the ganas, their aspiration for that education. and so, i feel like we owe it to them to do what we can to--

damian: maybe they feel like they're going to a second home. that's the latinx graduation at de anza college. you can log on to those two websites for more information. one is the main website and the other one is the one for the actual latinx graduation. i want to thank you all so much. and if you'd like to get ahold of us, here's our contact information. you can follow me on twitter. my handle is @newsdamian. also pick up a copy of "el observador" newspaper and support your bilingual weeklies all across the bay area. you can also watch us on telemundo channel 48 every sunday, 11:30 a.m. this week, so you can watch us every sunday, your "comunidad del valle" in español on telemundo. thank you all for sharing a part of your sunday. we'll see you back here again next week. happy cinco de mayo. ♪ 's a family tradition o ordinary day at denny's for r we started about twenty-two minutes ago. and from the looks of it, this tradition is going to last awhile. denny's has new crepes! see you at denny's.

♪ robert handa: hello, and welcome to "asian pacific america." i'm robert handa, your host for our show here on nbc bay area and cozi tv. we start with a truly unique groundbreaking film festival. it's time for caamfest, the world's longest showcase for new asian american and asian film, food, and music. then, a meeting of the minds from the community. it's the api summit coming up in san francisco by aaci, asian americans for community involvement. and we wrap up with a health issue important for every community. it's stroke awareness month, the signs to look out for, and how santa clara county hospitals can help you deal with it, all on our show today. well, we're big supporters of caamfest, the long-running asian american festival that entertains and enlightens. with me now is the festival and exhibitions director for caam, our old friend masahi niwano, who's been part of the festival