Protestan en posible cambio de edad para cobertura del Medicare
www.wunitv.com/noticia/2011/10/18/303881-cambios-medicare.html

Realizan con éxito encuentro de reggaetón y salsa en Boston
May 20, 2011
Por Miriam Valverde / TuBoston.com

Para divertirse no es necesario emborracharse ni consumir drogas, dijo sonrientemente el cantante de reggaetón MJ en una conferencia de prensa el 13 de mayo en el Villa Victoria Center for the Arts.

MJ estuvo en Villa Victoria junto al cantante de salsa Frankie Negrón charlando sobre su música, influencias y perspectiva sobre la industria. “Estoy muy orgulloso de mi herencia”, afirmó Negrón, quien nació en Nueva Jersey de padres puertorriqueños. “El poder dar algo a la comunidad me motivó mucho, pero nunca me vi como salsero”. READ ARTICLE

Changes at IBA's Villa Victoria Center for the Arts
March 23 , 2011

IBA – Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción regretfully announces that Javier Torres is no longer the Program Director at IBA’s Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, effective March 22, 2011.

IBA’s Villa Victoria Center for the Arts is the largest and most significant Latino Cultural Center in New England. Reaching over 20,000 people a year, its mission is to preserve, promote and celebrate Latino art and to create dynamic cross-cultural collaborations. Awarded National Endowment for the Arts grants in 2008, 2009 and 2010; we present the broad diversity of Latino and Latin American cultural expression in a variety of disciplines (music, dance, visual arts), while using arts and culture as tools for self-transformation and community building.

It is with warmest personal regards that we wish Javier success as he assumes his new position as the Senior Program Officer for Arts and Culture at The Boston Foundation. During Javier’s five year tenure, IBA’s arts program has gained increasing recognition, as we earned honors that included: the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Commonwealth Award (2011); Berklee College of Music Urban Service Award (2010); Citizen’s Bank Champion in Action (2009); and Boston Center for the Arts Champion Award (2007). We also have created a capital plan and raised nearly $1 million dollars for improvements of the physical infrastructure of our facility, which was built in 1898.

Building upon our recent successes and long history of arts engagement; IBA’s Strategic Plan 2015 will further develop our integration of arts and culture into community development. Our focus will be to enhance our impact upon Villa Victoria residents through the power of the arts. Understanding that art is integral to Latino Culture, we will integrate arts into all of our programs in order to engage community, enhance cultural pride, shape identity, increase cross-cultural understanding and improve educational outcomes. Taking advantage of the largest multi-disciplinary Latino arts and culture center in New England; we will work to better coordinate arts activities between all IBA programs and develop a common arts curriculum that is based upon the community’s interests.

Stay tuned for an announcement about future opportunities to work with IBA’s arts program. DOWNLOAD THE PRESS RELEASE

Commissioner Mitchell D. Chester visits IBA
March 12, 2011

On Friday, March 11, Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, Mitchell D. Chester, visited the Villa Victoria community and IBA.

He met Julio César Román, Director of IBA’s Cacique Youth Learning Center; Matilde Graciano, Director of IBA’s Escuelita Borikén and IBA’s Cacique Children’s Learning Center; Anita Mercado, Director of IBA’s Community Empowerment Programs; Priscila Pumarada-Urrutia, Manager of IBA’s Cacique Children’s Learning Center; Elizabeth Pabón, Director of IBA’s Pathway Technology Campus; Barbara Collins, Manager of IBA’s El Batey Technology Center; Mayra I. Negrón-Rivera, IBA’s Chief of Finance and Administration; and Lydorín Rivera, General Manager of IBA’s Villa Victoria Center for the Arts. For more information about IBA's programs, please click here.

POWERMETER: Mayra Negrón
February 25, 2011

IBA’s Chief of Finance and Administration, Mayra Negrón, is one of the 100 Massachusetts' most influential people in the Latino Community in 2010. READ MORE>>

Awarded for their contribution to culture
February 16, 2011

Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, a program of Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA) was presented with a Massachusetts Cultural Council Commonwealth Award in the category of Creative Community, at the Massachusetts State House on Wednedsay, Feb. 9. READ ARTICLE>>

Boston Talks Race: Exploring the Reputation and the Reality of Race Relations in Our City
January 26, 2011

IBA’s CEO, Vanessa Calderón-Rosado, was a panelist at the first in a series of forums presented by The Boston Foundation, in conjunction with Commonwealth Compact, the Museum of Science and the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts on the occasion of the Museum of Science exhibit opening this month called Race: Are We So Different?

Known as the “Mecca” and intellectual center for African Americans in the 19th century, today Boston has a mixed record on race relations, with a low point during court-ordered desegregation of the Boston Public Schools in the early 1970s.

Click link below to view the invitation
http://www.bostonfoundation.org/Content.aspx?ID=16456

Three Kings Day Celebration at IBA
January 7, 2011

On Thursday, January 6, 2011, Villa Victoria Residents and IBA staff members gathered at Villa Victoria Center for the Arts to celebrate Three Kings Day / Día de Reyes.

Click here to view pictures!

Fostering Skill Development!
Enhancing Cultural Pride!
Inspiring Creativity!
IBA News: 2010 A Year of Honors
December 28, 2010

Dear Friend,

As we launch IBA News: 2010 - A Year of Honors, we are asking for you to help us make 2011 even better through a charitable donation. Every day IBA staff empowers Villa Victoria residents and participants from other affordable housing communities to imagine a better world. With your support, we will continue to help them develop the skills needed to build that world for themselves and their families. Please read about IBA’s education, economic development, technology and arts accomplishments bellow and donate what you can. Every dollar truly helps our participants (like Jacqueline Zayas) and the community to Reach Our Full Potential! Thanks in advance for your support.

Warm Regards,

Vanessa Calderón-Rosado, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA)
All contributions to IBA are tax-deductible (EIN#: 23-7102740)

Vanessa Calderon- Rosado named to MA Board of Education—First Latina in State History
December 28, 2010

On Tuesday, July 27, 2010, Governor Deval Patrick announced the appointment of Dr. Vanessa Calderón-Rosado, Chief Executive Officer of Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción to the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. She is the first Latina in state history to serve in this role. The Board is charged with setting the policy for the state’s nearly one million public school students in grades Kindergarten-12. Governor Patrick commended Vanessa for her “decades of experience in helping children reach new levels” and described her as a powerful new voice that will help “fulfill the promise of public education.” A former school teacher, Vanessa has also helped launch IBA’s partnership with Bunker Hill Community College that has brought a satellite campus to Villa Victoria and has served as a member of the Turnaround Leadership Stakeholder Group of the Blackstone Elementary School in Boston. On her nomination to MA board of Education, Vanessa remarked, “As I join the MA Board of Education, I hope to bring a new voice for the Latino Community on issues of education. The Latino community is lagging behind in educational outcomes and overrepresented in drop out rates. I would like to bring a voice to the Villa Victoria community and engage our residents in a conversation about education and the future of our children.

Photo credit: Josiane Martinez, Ethnic Media Consultant, Deval Patrick Campaign

IBA’s Pathway Technology Campus at Villa Victoria Named Finalist for the 2010 Massachusetts Non-Profit Network Awards / Expands to Lower Roxbury
December 28, 2010

IBA’s Pathway Technology Campus (PTC), an educational and workforce development partnership with Bunker Hill Community College was honored as a Finalist for the 2010 Massachusetts Non-Profit Network Excellence Awards in the collaboration category. PTC provides low-income residents of the South End/Lower Roxbury neighborhood with the opportunity to: complete their GED and take adult education classes; enroll in college-level classes; and receive academic support, case management, free child care services and academic advising needed to open “Pathways to Economic Self-Sufficiency.” During 2010, through the Hyams Foundation’s Teen Futures Initiative, PTC expanded to Lower Roxbury with a new site at the YMCA’s Central Branch that focuses on 16-24 year olds who have dropped out of school. Entering its sixth year, PTC has served over 480 participants--matriculating 120 students into degree programs; empowering 55 students to earn their GED; helping 36 students earn their Certified Nurse’s Aide, placing 56% of these graduates into the workforce.

Jacqueline Zayas Carves A Pathway to Her Future
December 28, 2010

“After not being in school for over 20 years, going to college has been a wonderful experience said Jacqueline Zayas, a Villa Victoria resident and participant in IBA’s Pathway Technology Campus, a partnership with Bunker Hill Community College that offers college classes right in the neighborhood. Working as a BPS Paraprofessional for many years, Jacqueline decided it was time for her to go onto college in order to move up the employment ladder in the education field. She credits the PTC staff for being “nurturing and supportive with the transition of going to and staying in college” as a key reason “for sticking through it” even when it was not easy. As a mother of three, two of whom have participated in IBA’s Cacique Youth Learning Center as Peer Leaders; Jacqueline is showing her children by example the importance of education and working hard to achieve your dreams. In January 2011, Jacqueline will graduate from Bunker Hill Community College with an Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education!

Photo: Elizabeth Pabon, PTC Project Manager; Jezenia Warmsley, PTC/BHCC Student; Jacqueline Zayas, PTC/BHCC Student; Keyse Angelo, PTC Case Manager/Dept. of Education

Community Elders Dance Group Featured in Aetna Latino Calendar
December 28, 2010

“Las Pleneras de La Villa,” a folkloric singing and dance troupe composed of elderly women from the Villa Victoria affordable housing community were recently featured in the Aetna Latino Calendar which showcases and celebrates Latino life, culture and heritage. Their feature is a testament to how IBA’s Community Empowerment Programs uses the arts to foster self-esteem, community pride and engagement. Las Pleneras perform at important community events, such as our annual Festival Betances, Three Kings and our Hispanic Heritage celebrations, as well as at other events throughout Boston. They sing traditional Puerto Rican songs and choreograph routines and dance to Bomba and Plena and other folkloric music. “It is very inspiring to see these women dance. They have such passion!” said Vanessa Calderón-Rosado, IBA’s CEO. “They are a group that exemplifies IBA’s objectives as they use dance as a tool to strengthen the community, reaffirm cultural identity and foster pride in being Latina.”

Click here to view the Aetna Latino Calendar

Photo by Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo

To view upcoming performances and exhibits visit www.VillaVictoriaArts.org

In 2010, Social Impact Research (SIR) recommended IBA and its Escuelita Borikén as a High Performing School Readiness Organization. We were one of just 21 Massachusetts organizations selected for this mark of high-performance among more than 100 studied. IBA earned the honor based upon our ability to provide “a comprehensive academic and socio-emotional curriculum, services to support parents as educators, and community partnerships to provide families with access to complementary services.” Research demonstrates that these are some of the most effective strategies for preparing at-risk young children for the rigors of school. Social Impact Research specifically pointed out that we are “poised to be a leader in public policy dialogue on bilingual education in early childhood.”

Click here to read their detailed report