Boston Area Latiné Communities: Advocacy, Social Services, and Volunteer Opportunities (11/13/25) | Latin American Studies

Boston Area Latiné Communities: Advocacy, Social Services, and Volunteer Opportunities (11/13/25)

Join us for a panel discussion about advocacy, social services, and volunteer opportunities with the Boston area Latiné communities. Sierra Held, economic mobility specialist at Chelsea-based non-profit organizations La Colaborativa, and Alexa Arena, former director of employment services at the New American Association of MA (NAAM), will share their experiences in the field and ways to get involved.

La Colaborativa is a trusted resource for Massachusetts’ immigrant population; they provide linguistically and culturally appropriate resources to some of the state’s most vulnerable people, including immigrant families, non-English speakers, and low-income renters and workers.

NAAM provides critical support to refugees and immigrants across Massachusetts. NAAM offers English language training, employment and legal services, youth programs, vocational training, and trauma-informed care — all designed to help refugees and immigrants build stable, fulfilling lives in the United States.

Statement on Diversity and Inclusion

The Center for Latin American Studies at Boston University is proud of BU’s history of diversity and inclusion. BU’s founders opened the University’s doors to all students without regard to religion, race, or gender, and building and sustaining a vibrant community of scholars, students, and staff remains essential to its mission of contributing to and preparing students to thrive in, an increasingly interconnected world.

Success in a competitive, global milieu depends upon our ongoing commitment to welcome and engage the wisdom, creativity, and aspirations of all peoples and the Center for Latin American Studies is vital to the University’s mission of preparing global citizens. We forge concrete initiatives to integrate faculty and students across the university in the promotion of antiracism, diversity, and inclusion from a Latin American Studies perspective. Through our in-depth and interdisciplinary academic programs, as well as through a rich array of talks, lectures, round-table discussions, conferences, and other educational and cultural events, we assist the University in its efforts to create environments for learning, working, and living that are enriched by racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity.

At the Center for Latin American Studies, we believe in and practice respect for individual differences in life experience, sexual orientation, and religious belief, and we aspire to be free of intellectual parochialism, barriers to access, and ethnocentrism. We appreciate and deeply value the contributions and talents of every member of the Boston University community and invite you to learn more about us.