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When you Decide to Make a Change

The impact can be powerful. As heads of non-profits, leaders and fundraisers, these five women are each taking on one big issue, and are improving the lives of people everywhere.

If there were one thing you could help change about the world, what would it be? Would you help to reduce CO2 emissions, revamp school lunch programs or simply make more time to take care of yourself and the people who love you? No matter what the answer, the results of making one change can have a far-reaching effect. However big or small the challenge, the act of changing one thing can set into motion a positive chain of events.
These five women from different parts of the country have decided to help make a change. From assisting immigrant women to work without fear, to halting the increase in childhood obesity, to educating Hispanic women about the importance of voting, these fearless five have taken it upon themselves to chip away at some of the modern world’s toughest problems.

Who: Magdalena Beltran-del Olmo,
Communications Expert and Autism Awareness Advocate
What: In addition to her role as vice president of communications for The California Wellness Foundation, Beltran-del Olmo works tirelessly to raise awareness about autism. A parent of a son with autism, she serves on California’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Autism. “It’s the first blue ribbon commission on autism in the whole 50 states. We recognize that there are about 1 of 150 kids being diagnosed with this. It is the most common developmental disability that is diagnosed,” she says. “We have a tsunami of kids that are hitting the educational and social services [systems], and we are not ready.” With the commission, Beltran-del Olmo works to find ways to prepare autistic young people for the world and to obtain services for their needs. Along with her late husband Frank del Olmo, a journalist for the Los Angeles Times who wrote about the disorder and their son’s experiences, Beltran-del Olmo is a pioneer in raising awareness and understanding of autism in the whole of the country, and especially in the Latino community. A communications expert and former journalist, she has parlayed her expertise into developing strategies for getting the word out on the realities of the disorder and into dispelling incorrect and harmful beliefs about autism.

Why it Matters: Some experts estimate as many as six children out of 1,000 have autism, a communication and developmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction. Children diagnosed with the disorder have trouble comprehending social clues and the world around them. As autism is very complex, it can be hard to diagnose. Among Hispanic children, autism rates tend to be lower, but is under diagnosed. Also, these children tend to be underserved.

the effect: Helping to dispell myths and get the truth out, lays the foundation for understanding and reform.

Who: Lydia Camarillo, Voting Advocate and Educator
What: As vice president of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, Camarillo helps lead a national organization to instill in the Hispanic and other minority communities the importance of voting. Unlike other groups, Latinos think of themselves as united, and they understand that what affects them, affects the rest of the community, she says. Latinos and Latinas generally value the same issues: jobs, immigration, education, health, the economy and bringing the troops home. In studying voting trends, Camarillo began noticing that young men and women were going to the polls at the behest of their mothers. “Latinas might not be the cook at home, but they bring the family together with tradition of voting.” With this in mind, the Southwest Voter Registration Education Campaign began cooking up a plan to target women voters, generating the Latina Vote Campaign: Vota Una Latina, Vota Una Familia—or in English, when a Latina votes, the family votes. Up until the election, the non-partisan campaign, along with its partner organizations, aims to educate, register and mobilize more than 100,000 Latinas
to vote.
Why it Matters: Hispanics’ political voice is heard far and wide in the democratic process, especially in this election season. “When you change the voters, you [can] change the outcome,” Camarillo says. “When you have more Latinos, families and more young people voting, then the outcome [of the election] reflects the diversity of the country.”

the effect: When Hispanic women vote, they act as catalysts for other members of the family to do the same.

Who: Georgina Miranda, Fundraiser and Mountain Climber
What: Founder of Climb Take Action, Miranda is intent on raising $2.2 million by climbing the highest peaks on each of the seven continents while creating awareness for the women of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, in Africa. She first came across the problem in a magazine article, which detailed the horrors of living in conflict-torn Congo and Uganda. “I could not just sit back and not just do anything about it,” she says. “Then I formulated a plan. It had to be impactful.” Miranda had always wanted to climb the seven summits and she drafted a plan to achieve her dream and raise money for women who are in such dire need. This July, Miranda begins her journey up the first of the summits, Mt. Elbus, and plans to get pledges for $50 per meter of all seven the climbs. That should put the dollar figure at $2.2 million at the end of her campaign. In addition, she wants to assist others to pitch in as well, and has started Hike2Empower.org, an organization designed to help people raise funds for the women of the Congo and Uganda by hiking as a fundraiser during a one-day national event.
Why it Matters: For the last two decades these countries have been mired in conflict in which violence toward women has been a defining characteristic. Tens of thousands of women have suffered torture, rape, abuse and murder. Aid aimed at women in particular has a significant ripple effect. “Starting their road to empowerment allows women to pass the help and assistance onto other women, [for] mothers to care for their children and children to have a better future,” Miranda says. “Women and children are the future for these communities.”

the effect: When you help empower women in conflict-torn areas, you help empower their children.

Who: Amelie G. Ramirez, Professor, Researcher and Network Director
What: Ramirez and her colleagues at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio are working on research and intervention programs aimed at reducing the impact of health disparities on racial, ethnic and medically underserved populations. The newest program she is working on is Salud America!, a five-year $5.2 million national network aimed at growing the number of researchers studying Latino childhood obesity in order to develop strategies to attack the problem. The way to combat this in Latino communities, which tend to show love with food, she says, is to address five different arenas—the individual, family, school, community and society—in order to make an impact and reach people at all the most relevant levels. “This is what we are trying to do with Salud America! We want to make a united effort to develop culturally relevant and appropriate research, programs, and interventions that address the issue at all levels so that we can have a better chance at making real changes in Latino childhood obesity, in Latino families, and communities across the U.S.,” she says.
Why it Matters: The obesity epidemic has hit Hispanics especially hard. “Many don’t realize how much more overweight and obese Hispanic kids are,” she says. “In fact, some have said that if we leave the situation as is, this may be the first generation of parents who outlive their children,” she says. But Ramirez is ready for the fight: “We are trying to find the best, most culturally appropriate ways to advocate exercise, healthy eating, etc., and we know that getting parents, schools, the food industry, and TV marketing campaigns and other key players is vital to this equation.”

the effect: Preventing obesity also helps prevent a myriad of weight-related health problems now and in the future.

Who: Monica Ramirez, Advocate and Project Leader
What: Ramirez is project director of Esperanza: The Immigrant Women’s Legal Initiative. Its goals include informing the public about workplace gender discrimination, educating immigrant women on their rights and battling companies that have broken the law. When Ramirez wrote the proposal to start the Esperanza project, she was essentially drafting her dream job. She had just completed college, and farmworker rights had always been important to her. Both her parents had been farmworker advocates, and she knew that sexual harassment, discrimination and poor treatment of workers were common, though unspoken, in the fields. “These women are picking the food we eat and in exchange they are being exploited in the workplace,” she says. The way to combat this, she says, is with education and advocacy, so that women know they have support and are armed with the tools to help them advocate for themselves. And once women are empowered, they spread their knowledge through the community. The legal assistance helps not only the woman, but also put policies in place that protect workers.
why it matters: Many immigrant women suffer mistreatment in the workplace because they fear being fired, deported, retaliated against or scorned by their coworkers. And, many women who have complained have gone unheard. One university study estimates the number of female farmworkers who see sexual harassment as a major problem in their workplace at 90 percent. Its so widespread, some media organizations have called it the agriculture industry’s dirty little secret.

the effect: Attacking sexual harassment helps put policies in place to protect low-wage workers across industries.

GET INVOLVED

ENTERPRISING WOMEN LIKE THESE NEED ALL THE SUPPORT THEY CAN GET. THERE ARE SOME EXCELLENT RESOURCES FOR PEOPLE INTERESTED IN contributing, HELPING OUT or just learning more about any OF THESE issues.

ISSUE: AUTISM AWARENESS
RESOURCE: The Help Group, the largest and most comprehensive non-profit organization in the country devoted to serving children with special needs related to autism and other disorders.
ONLINE: www.thehelpgroup.org
PHONE: 877-943-5747
OTHERS: Autism Society of America, www.autism-society.org; Autism Speaks, www.autismspeaks.org; Autism Research Institute, www.autism.com; The California Wellness Foundation, www.tcwf.org

ISSUE: VOTER EDUCATION
RESOURCE: Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, a project empowering Hispanics and other minorities through their participation in the democratic process.
ONLINE: www.svrep.org
PHONE: 800-404-VOTE
OTHERS: Project Vote Smart, www.votesmart.org; Ya Es Hora!, www.yaeshora.info; Voto Latino, www.votolatino.org; Declare Yourself, www.declareyourself.com
ISSUE: WOMEN’S WELFARE IN THE
CONGO AND UGANDA
RESOURCE: International Medical Corps, a global organization established by volunteer doctors and nurses with the goal of relieving suffering all over the world.
ONLINE: www.imcworldwide.org
PHONE: 310-826-7800
OTHERS: Doctors Without Borders, www.doctorswithoutborders.org

RESOURCE: Climb Take Action, Georgina Miranda’s own web initiative helps explain her mission, how visitors can help and how people can start a climb of their own.
ONLINE: www.climbtakeaction.com
E-MAIL: info@climbtakeaction.com
OTHERS: Run for Congo Women, www.runforcongowomen.org; Women for Women, www.womenforwomen.org/congo; Bead for Life, www.beadforlife.org

ISSUE: CHILDHOOD OBESITY IN THE HISPANIC COMMUNITY
RESOURCE: Salud America!, The National Latino Childhood Obesity Prevention Research Network, a research network of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
ONLINE: www.salud-america.org
E-MAIL: saludamerica@uthscsa.edu
OTHERS: American Heart Association, www.americanheart.org; YMCA, www.ymca.net; Institute for Health Promotion Research, http://ihpr.uthscsa.edu; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, www.rwjf.org

ISSUE: FAIR WORKING CONDITIONS FOR IMMIGRANT WOMEN
RESOURCE: Esperanza: The Immigrant Women’s Legal Initiative, a project providing free legal representation to immigrant women who have experienced discrimination in 10 states.
ONLINE: www.splcenter.org
PHONE: 343-956-8255, 800-591-3656
OTHERS: The Equal Justice Center, www.equaljusticecenter.org; AFL-CIO, www.aflcio.org/issues/civilrights/immigration/; Workers World, www.workers.org; American Civil Liberties Union, www.aclu.org