On Thursday June 22nd, Patrizia D'Adamo and Janeth Marquez, SPO administrators, took part in a program sponsored by Princeton's Office of Human Resources’ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) team, the Vice Provost for Institutional Equity & Diversity, and the Latino Princetonians employee resource group in cooperation with Hispanics Inspiring Students’ Performance and Achievement (HISPA). HISPA’s mission is to inspire Latino students to discover their potential and to ignite their desire to embrace education and achieve success. This was the second program sponsored by the University this year and focused on college students; the first was hosting HISPA’s Youth Conference for two hundred 9th graders from Trenton’s Public Schools.
This particular event was offered by HISPA as an enrichment opportunity to this year's Hispanic Fellows from CHPRD (NJ Dept of State - Center for Hispanic Policy, Research and Development). HISPA has mobilized 3,000+ Latino professionals from the corporate, academic, and government sectors to serve as positive role models. Through HISPA’s programs, HISPA Role Models share their stories to showcase pathways to higher education and high-skill careers. HISPA Role Models have visited classrooms over 2,600 times, reaching 22,000+ Latino and other students. SPO administrators are now among those to act as positive role models for these young Latinos.
As she shared her own experiences with the Hispanic Fellows, Patrizia D'Adamo expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to meet this group of exceptional Latinos and hear about their goals and aspirations. She comments, "the glimmer in these students' eyes as they discussed their particular interests and motivations was particularly rewarding during the short time I spent with them. I was happy to share my experiences and hope that they were equally inspired by my own story".
Janeth Marquez was equally moved by the group. She comments, "from my experience, students were amazed with the warm welcome from Princetonians members at Princeton University. I had an amazing experience talking and having lunch with three talented students from NJIT . I was honored to answer their questions about their career plans, life motivation and how their Hispanic background impacts their professional vision for their future."
Both Janeth and Patrizia look forward to future opportunities to engage students both within and outside of the university community. DEI will be offering several opportunities annually for anyone interested in volunteering. The next events are expected to happen during the spring semester of 2024.