English IYEC Invitation Letter

8th Annual Immigrant Youth Empowerment Conference
“Isang Bagsak: Cultivating Unity-- Even the Greatest
Creations Begin with Small IDEAS”
Katia Diaz
Community College Project
Director
Yadira Hernandez
Community College Project
Director
Alondra Fabian
Mentoring Project Director
Jeylee Quiroz
Mentoring Project Director
Angelica Esquivel
Workshop Project Director
Josefina Flores
Workshop Project Director
Yael Pineda
Administrative Project
Director
Dear students, parents, educators, and allies,
Improving Dreams, Equality, Access and Success (IDEAS) at UCLA is the
primary undocumented student support and advocacy network at UCLA. As
the Community Service Component of IDEAS, the AB540 Project works to
increase awareness of the struggles of the undocumented immigrant community
and provide resources to undocumented youth throughout California.
Every year, about 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high schools in the
United States, with more than 25,000 graduating from California alone.
Unfortunately, only 5-10% pursue higher education due to financial and legal
obstacles. With the passage of Assembly Bill 540 in California in 2001 and the CA
Dream Act (Assembly Bill 130 and Assembly Bill 131) in 2011, many more
students have been able to attend college. However, undocumented students are
often discouraged from applying to college out of fear of deportation, uncertainty
on how to pay, being unable to use their degree after graduating, and/or general
lack of information and community support.
The AB540 wants to emphasize the importance of unity within our communities to
continue improving the lives of immigrants in the U.S. Evidently, there is much
work to be done, but even the smallest efforts contribute to this huge movement.
Thus, we cordially invite you to attend our:
8th Annual Immigrant Youth Empowerment Conference (IYEC)
“Isang Bagsak: Cultivating Unity—
Even the Greatest Creations Begin with Small IDEAS”
Hosted at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in
The UCLA Ackerman Grand Ballroom 2nd Floor
Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles 90024
Saturday, May 23rd, 2015
Conference: 9:30am – 4:30pm
Registration: 8am – 9:30am
Optional Breakfast: 8am – 8:45am
RSVP at http://bit.ly/1GR1kcn by May 11th
This free daylong event consists of various workshops
that will educate, empower, and provide attendees with
important information on how undocumented youth can
pursue higher education and create change to better their
communities. The conference will also provide immigrant
8th Annual Immigrant Youth Empowerment Conference
“Isang Bagsak: Cultivating Unity-- Even the Greatest
Creations Begin with Small IDEAS”
youth the opportunity to become part of a nationwide network of undocumented students
and allies.
By attending this conference, attendees will:
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Learn about different resources available for undocumented youth such as the
Assembly Bill540, the CA Dream Act, and Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA), among others.
Attend a wide array of workshops pertaining to education, financial resources,
and activism.
Network with different organizations that support undocumented students
Hear our guest speakers talk about how the undocumented movement has
impacted them.
Become eligible for the annual IYEC Scholarship funded by IDEAS.
*For school groups, transportation may be requested for groups over 25 – attendees
must all register under same school name prior to consideration by April 20th.
Transportation must be requested upon registration and it is not guaranteed. There is
a 25miles from UCLA limit.
If you have any questions, please email us at iyec.ab540project.ideas@gmail.comor visit
http://ideasla.org.
Please forward this invitation to other educators, students, and community members
who would benefit from the event. Parents are encouraged to bring their young children
and toddlers as we will be providing day care throughout the event.
We look forward to seeing you at the conference.
Sincerely,
The AB540 Project