Event Date
Monday, April 18 2011 : 6:30pm – 8:00pmLocation
The CenterDescription
Monday, April 18, 2011
Program 6:30PM
Center Speakers present Immigrations Impact on the Political Agenda
Join Iván Espinoza-Madrigal as he discusses the significant impact of immigration on our political process. At a time when federal, state, and local elections are often decided by small voting margins and with candidates frequently locked in ferocious competition for the ballots of “voting blocs” that might turn the electoral tide in their favor, one growing bloc of voters are immigrants.
Panelists include Juan David Gastolomendo, Council Member Rosie Mendez and Council Member Daniel Dromm.
This conversation is moderated by Ivan Espinoza Madrigal, an attorney with Lambda Legal.
About Juan David Gastolomendo
Juan David Gastolomendo is the director of Para Ayudar, a substance abuse pre-treatment and prevention program he developed and currently implements at the Latino Commission on AIDS. The program aims to reduce alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse, as well as HIV transmission among Latino immigrants, specifically men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender women (TGW) and men who have sex with transgender women (MSTGW). The pre-treatment program model was derived from evidence-based practices to decrease underlying factors and increase protective factors related to high-risk behavior among Latino immigrant MSM, TGW, and MSTGW. The program consists of community-based outreach, case management, and behavioral-change counseling. Mr. Gastolomendo holds a Master of Public Health degree from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, a Master of Science in Social Work degree from the Columbia University School of Social Work, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy with a concentration in Social Work from D’Youville College. An avid photographer, he seeks out images and events which reflect social and public health issues. He is originally from Peru and was raised in Queens.
About Council Member Rosie Mendez
Rosie Mendez has demonstrated a life-long commitment to her community through her activism, legal advocacy, and government service.
Rosie began her professional career as a tenant organizer and then became a housing specialist at the Parodneck Foundation. Her work with tenants inspired her to enter law school. Upon graduation and being admitted to the Bar, she received an IOLA Legal Services Fellowship and began work at Brooklyn Legal Services representing tenants in housing and welfare matters and counseling community-based organizations. She joined the Legal Services Staff Association and became a member of the United Auto Workers.
Through her professional and volunteer positions at many non-profit organizations, Rosie gained first-hand experience dealing with issues that affect all New Yorkers. She was the director of the People's Economic Opportunities Project of the Lower East Side, where she developed a loan program to assist small business and property owners. She has held internships with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Legal Action Center, and a judicial internship with Civil Court Judge Richard Rivera. Rosie served as the Public Interest Career Counselor at Rutgers Law School-Newark, where she was responsible for assisting a record number of students in obtaining fellowships in non-profits and public interest law firms.
Rosie served as Democratic District Leader for four terms, and served as Chief of Staff and Legislative Aide to the prior Councilwoman of District 2, Margarita Lopez.
Rosie received her B.A. in Metropolitan Studies and Political Science from New York University, and received her law degree from Rutgers School of Law in Newark. She was a 2003-04 Fellow in the Charles H. Revson Program for the Future of the City of New York at Columbia University. Rosie was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to Puerto Rican parents, where she lived in public housing and attended New York City public schools.
In November 2005 Rosie was elected to serve as a member of the New York City Council in the Second District and took office in January 2006 serving the neighborhoods of the Lower East Side, the East Village, Gramercy, and Murray Hill. Rosie serves as the Chair of the Council Committee on Public Housing and is a member of the Landmarks Sub-Committee and the Housing, Land Use, Health, and Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Committees.
About Council Member Daniel Dromm
Daniel Dromm is an educator, community organizer, union leader, and political activist. His experience and dedication to the community has led to Daniel Dromm being overwhelmingly elected as the New York City Council Member for the 25th District (representing Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, LeFrak City, Corona, Rego Park, and Woodside) with over 75% of the vote on November 3rd, 2009.
Daniel Dromm is an award-winning New York City public school teacher. Since 1984, he has instructed and inspired thousands of students at PS 199Q in Queens. In 2006, Dromm was chosen as "Outstanding Teacher of the Year" by his school's principal and in 2009, he was chosen as "Educator of the Year" by the Kiwanis Club of Sunnyside.
In 1992, Dromm courageously came out as an openly gay teacher. The story became front-page news in daily newspapers throughout the city. The ensuing battle tested Dromm's resolve as a fighter who is unafraid to take on the powers that be. Dromm defeated several unsuccessful attempts to remove him from his job and became a role model for equality in the workplace. This episode in Dromm's life illustrated to him how important tenure is as a protection for teachers. Dromm attended St. Mary's Elementary and Boys' High School in Manhasset, NY and graduated from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. He earned his master's degree from City College. Prior to working for the NYC Department of Education, Dromm was Educational Director of the Grant Day Care Center in Harlem. It was there, while fighting for the rights of the poor to affordable childcare, social services and education, that he acquired his effective organizing skills.
Deeply committed to civil rights and social justice, Dromm has established himself a fighter against prejudice, discrimination and violence as the founder and former co-chairperson of the Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee. Fifteen years ago, he organized the first Queens LGBT Pride Parade and Festival which he still puts on the first Sunday in June in Jackson Heights. Dromm co-founded the Queens Chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (P-FLAG). He helped found Queens Pride House. Dromm also co-founded the Generation Q Youth Services Program in Astoria.
Dromm is fluent in Spanish and has been honored by the Sociedad Puertorriquena de Queens for his commitment to the Latino community. He is a member of the NAACP - Corona/East Elmhurst branch and has also been honored by the Korean-American Association of Central Queens. In October of 2006, Dromm received a Community Leadership Award from the Times/Ledger newspapers. He received the Marsh-Raimo Award from the UFT, which recognizes an individual who has shown continued commitment to the teacher's union through political action.
Daniel Dromm strongly believes that in order to bring about change, one must affect the political structure. To that end, Dromm's latest initiative is creating the New Visions Democratic Club, a progressive local party club dedicated to serve our diverse community. Dromm has presided over an incredible expansion in membership of New Visions since 2007. It is creating change that motivates Daniel Dromm to serve the public on the City Council.
About the Moderator, Iván Espinoza-Madrigal
Iván Espinoza-Madrigal is a Staff Attorney for Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest national legal organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and people with HIV.
Espinoza joined Lambda Legal in March 2010, and brings significant experience in civil rights litigation and advocacy. At Lambda Legal, he is coordinating an initiative on behalf of LGBT people of color, LGBT immigrants, and low-income LGBT communities. In this capacity, he is addressing the legal needs of LGBT and HIV-affected people who identify across intersecting lines of race, ethnicity and socio-economic class through litigation, public education, and policy advocacy. He also works to increase and integrate diversity and multiculturalism in LGBT advocacy efforts.
Prior to joining Lambda Legal, Espinoza-Madrigal was a Staff Attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) in San Antonio, Texas. At MALDEF, he litigated numerous complex civil rights cases involving issues of first impression in federal district and circuit courts, focusing primarily on the constitutional rights of immigrants. He handled MALDEF's immigrants rights docket in Texas and eight other states in the Southwest. Notably, he served as counsel in Friendly House v. Whiting, a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Arizona's immigration law, SB 1070.
At MALDEF, Espinoza-Madrigal was a member of the legal team that successfully litigated Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder, 129 S. Ct. 2504 (2009), a U.S. Supreme Court case concerning the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. He also worked on numerous voting rights cases, including major constitutional challenges to Arizona’s and Georgia’s voter registration laws in federal district and circuit courts.
Before joining MALDEF, Espinoza-Madrigal worked with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, an international corporate law firm in New York, primarily representing financial institutions and individuals in investigations and enforcement actions conducted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. At the firm, he had an extensive pro bono practice in civil rights, including the successful defense of the municipal identification card of New Haven, Connecticut, against an attempt to dismantle the program. His work in New Haven had a direct impact on the implementation of similar programs in cities across the country, including Trenton, New Jersey, and San Francisco, California.
Prior to joining Fried Frank, Espinoza-Madrigal served as a law clerk for Judge Eric Clay in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and for Judge Ronald Ellis in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Espinoza-Madrigal is actively involved with several community organizations and serves on the Board of Directors of the HIV Law Project, a non-profit organization that provides free legal services to low-income people living with HIV/AIDS.
He received his JD from New York University School of Law, where he was a Root-Tilden-Kern Sinsheimer Public Interest Scholar. In law school, he served on the board of OUTLaw and the Latino Law Student Association (LaLSA). He graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a BA in Political Science and Latin American Studies.
Price
$10Register
Tickets can be purchased at the door!
For More Information
Yojani Hernandez, 212-620-7310, yhernandez@gaycenter.org
