A Special Announcement!

Dear TLA Friends, Supporters, and Partners -
 
Together for Latinas is undergoing a metamorphosis, much like the mariposa (butterfly), as part of a strategic approach to offering La Mariposa to Latina girls throughout the country. It is with great pride and excitement that we share a new partnership with the One Circle Foundation (OCF), a leader in research-based, gender- responsive circle program models and best practices, to deliver our groundbreaking curriculum, La Mariposa: A Personal Empowerment Program for Adolescent Latinas, nationally as part of their Girls Circle curricula.
 
This is great news because our mission has always been to inspire and empower one million young Latinas in the US, and our partnership with OCF will make it possible for Latina girls throughout the nation to experience the transformative power of La Mariposa!
 
While we are officially closing our doors as a nonprofit entity, we are opening new doors and creating new opportunities for La Mariposa to reach Latina girls who can greatly benefit from it.
 
Our decision to partner with the One Circle Foundation came through careful consideration and after a year of strategic planning with our board of directors and planning committee, which included community leaders, stakeholders and consultants.

OCF has the experience and resources needed to promote and deliver La Mariposa, which is in direct alignment with all the foundational principles and approaches of OCF’s Girls Circle curricula.
 
OCF has served communities throughout the US and Canada for over 17 years. They train and equip providers who serve children, youth, and families in education; child services; public health; mental health; juvenile justice; and community-based programs. Their gender-responsive, trauma-informed, and culturally relevant trainings and curricula integrate evidence-based principles and practices, strengthen relationships and promote social-emotional development and healthy behavioral skills and capacities that are foundational to success.
 
Learn more about La Mariposa and other OCF Girls Circle Curricula here!
  
Young Latinas need us now more than ever! A recent CDC study dated July 5, 2016 finds that 15% of Latina teenagers have attempted suicide and 25% have thought about it. Especially during these uncertain times, it is important to offer Latina girls validation through meaningful connection and effective culturally-relevant programming, which are proven ways to help girls who often feel isolated and misunderstood.
 
While it saddens us to know TLA will no longer exist, we know this partnership is in the best interest of the girls we existed to serve. We hope you continue to follow La Mariposa and our partnership with OCF! Receive their newsletters and support their efforts as you have ours. This is a continuation of our work, and we need your ongoing support.
 
Please join me in thanking our devoted board of directors, both present and past, for their contributions. Without their unyielding belief and support in our mission, La Mariposa would not exist. Their determination to make sure that we had a strategic and sustainable way to deliver La Mariposa made it possible for this important work to continue. 
 
My heartfelt thank you goes to our current Board of Directors:
 
Eliana Nuñez – Board Chair
Jennifer Medina –Treasurer
Anitress Rivera – Secretary
Alba Singh – Board Member
 
 
Past Board Members:
 
Yolanda Caldera-Durant
Deborah Sabia
Cynthia Toscano-Lopez
David Vargas
 
Co-founders:
 
Carmen Marcano-Davis, PhD.
Sandra Rodriguez Barron
  
A most special thank you to Giovanna Taormina and Beth Hossfeld, cofounders of the One Circle Foundation, for accepting La Mariposa into the OCF family and doing everything they can to honor the work and get it out to the world through their distribution channels. We know La Mariposa is in excellent hands. 
 
Last but not least, thank you, our dear friends, for sharing this incredible journey with us! Your support and belief in us have propelled us forward. Where we began this work more than eight years ago with a one-session program for all girls, we’ve created a groundbreaking curriculum that has been written specifically for adolescent Latina girls.
 
We should all be proud!

Sinceramente, 
 
Nancy Roldán Johnson
Eliana Nuñez, Board Chair and
the Together for Latinas, Inc. Board of Directors