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Latino and Hispanic Faculty & Staff Affinity Group

Our mission

The Latino and Hispanic Faculty & Staff Affinity Group (LHFSA) serves to organize, develop, and elevate our community on campus through advocacy, support, and education. We aim to create safe spaces for faculty, staff, and students within the Latino, Hispanic, and Latinx communities at AU.

  • Support: Be the voice of the Latino/Hispanic/Latinx community, including those who may feel like they don’t have a voice or the opportunities.
  • Advocate: Engage in dialogues with other groups across campus.
  • Inform: Provide insight about the Latino/Hispanic/Latinx community to the rest of the AU community.
  • Build-Up/Development: Build skills to help with upward mobility, professional development, and more.
  • Visibility: Create a community/support network that demonstrates Latinos/Hispanics/Latinx as a visible part in leadership and the AU community.

Claudia Blount - Chair of LHFSA

Elmer Yglesias - Co-Chair of the AU Latino & Hispanic Mentorship Program

Gustavo Abbott - Co-Chair of the AU Latino & Hispanic Mentorship Program

Luis Alvarado - Contributing Leader

Brooke Sandoval - Contributing Leader

Kelli Frias - Faculty Representative

Previous Board Members

Christian Maisch - Faculty Representative, Mentor in AU Latino & Hispanic Mentorship Program

Mentorship represents a collaborative approach to professional and personal advancement, for both mentors and mentees. As the first faculty & staff affinity group to develop a mentorship program, we strive to bridge the gap and partner Hispanic, Latino, and Latinx students with similarly identified faculty and staff.

First launched as a 3-month pilot mentorship program in Spring 2019, the AU Latino & Hispanic Mentorship Program has evolved into a year-long initiative with the support of an Inclusive Excellence Mini-Grant (2019 & 2020). The purpose of this mentorship program is to build a community of connection that promotes personal growth and career development.

Cohorts:

  • Cohort 1: February 2019 - April 2019
  • Cohort 2: September 2019 - March 2020
  • Cohort 3: October 2021 - April 2022
  • Cohort 4: October 2022 - April 2023
  • Cohort 5: October 2023-April 2024
  • Cohort 6: Application will open at the end of the Fall 2024 semester.

To learn more, visit the AU Latino & Hispanic Mentorship Program website.

American University SIS Building

Get Involved

Join our email list to receive information on LHFSA upcoming events, news, and more!

Sign-Up

SUPPORTING OUR COMMUNITY

As a group, we aim to support our community on and off-campus. With that in mind, our events are catered by local, Latino-owned restaurants and businesses such as:

We have also raised donations for organizations helping the Latino community including:

Contact Information

Inclusive ExcellenceLook for the IE logo for Inclusive Excellence resources and materials.

Events and Highlights

AU Mosaic Community Event (East Campus)

AU Latino & Hispanic Mentorship Program

AU Latino & Hispanic Mentorship Program

We are in Cohort 4 of our AU Latino & Hispanic Mentorship Program! Learn more about the program.

More on Mentorship Program

Latino and Hispanic Faculty & Staff Affinity Group Inclusive Excellence Award

Winner of the 2022 Inclusive Excellence Award

Our LHFSA leadership team won the 2022 Inclusive Excellence Award!

View Award Announcement

Read our feature

Mentorship Program Provides Vital Connections for Latino and Hispanic Students

By Jonathan Heeter

The third cohort of the AU Latino and Hispanic Mentorship Program —which will include graduate students for the first time—will launch in October and run through April 2022.

Read Full Mentorship Article

Partner with LHFSA

As a group we aim to host a variety of events that our community would like to see or have a need for on campus.

Want to share an idea or partner for an event? Reach out to us! Email lhfsa@american.edu.

Email LHFSA Group