“We are advocates and we are educating our own family, our own peers and friends. We’re the future and we’re the people who will one day be representing you. We want to become professionals as well and be a change for this community. We want to make our society better by accepting everyone who is a part of this nation.”


—Maria de Leon, CICF community ambassador





Sept. 15 kicked-off Hispanic Heritage month with a celebration and turning the Downtown Canal orange. More than 50 percent of Spanish-speaking people living in Indianapolis are under the age of 24, so this month’s episode of For Good, is all about Latino youth. Maria de Leon, a CICF community ambassador, talks about what she learned from her peers and shares her own story, while an undocumented college student shares his plans to give back to the community. The episode also features Miriam Acevedo Davis, president and CEO at La Plaza, and Yecenia Tostado, former senior program director at Indiana Latino Institute.

If you enjoy this episode, subscribe to For Good through your favorite podcast app and leave us a review!

Transcription of episode available below.



WHO YOU’RE LISTENING TO



* Angela Cain – Angela Cain Communications

* Maria de Leon – CICF community ambassador and student at Butler University

* Yecenia Tostado – senior program director at the Indiana Latino Institute

* Miriam Acevedo Davis – executive director of La Plaza

* Leo – undocumented college sophomore in Indianapolis



DISCOVER MORE


Learn more about our community ambassadors – CICF podcast episode



Welcome to For Good, Central Indiana Community Foundation’s podcast highlighting stories about passion, purpose, and progress in central Indiana. At CICF, we believe in opportunity and equity. We believe that our communities and neighborhoods are stronger because of our diversity. And we believe that with innovation and boldness, central Indiana can be a place where everyone can reach their full potential, no matter their place, race, or identity.

This is our community. And these are your stories.

September 15th kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month. It’s a celebration of the rich culture, heritage, diversity, and achievements of descendants of Spanish speaking cultures, including some one hundred thousand living in Indianapolis.

More than 50 percent of those residents are under the age of 24 and they are charting a path of possibilities and promise in America.

I’m Angela Cain with a special episode of “For Good.” What is life like here for Latino and Hispanic youth? Especially at a time when the nation is facing cultural and political change.

MARIA DE LEON: I feel like there are a lot of opportunities here for the Hispanic and the Latino community. I think that it’s a city where people can just grow from anything.

This is the hope of youth. Encapsulated in the word of Maria de Leon, a CICF community ambassador for Latino youth and she has words of wisdom beyond her 18 years, urging us to embrace the diversity of Indianapolis, the city in which she was born and raised.

MARIA: We’re just like everyone else. I always questioned why some people have to view society within color, within race and ethnicity. Sometimes I just don’t really understand. We should just accept how everyone is. Just find a way for all of us to come together and celebrate our diversity.

Maria’s parents immigrated here from Guatemala to build a m...