Engaging Ethnic Groups in Your Community
Track: Business Administration

Friday, May 1st | 3:15 - 4:30pm
Speakers: Terena Joubert, Metro Parks Tacoma and Laura Rodriguez, Summit Public Schools
Room: 317

Description: 

"So I translated the flyer into Spanish but no Spanish-speaking people came to my event? Why not?" Sometimes recreation professionals struggle to attract Spanish-speaking participants or other groups to register for programs, attend community events or respond to park surveys.  This session will provide participants with facts about Latino population in the USA; provide tips for learning more about Latinos in their own communities, provide a list of suggested methods of outreach, and suggest solutions to some challenges in connecting with Spanish-speaking people living in their community.

Learning Objectives

• Participants will be provided facts about Latino population in the USA, focus on recreation
• List suggested methods of outreach
• Identify challenges and suggested solutions. Identify challenges and suggested solutions 

Tareena Joubert has spent the last thirteen years in Tacoma working collaboratively with community-based organizations, neighborhood groups, government entities and residents to improve services and opportunities in underserved communities.  She currently serves as the Community and Youth Services Manager for Metro Parks Tacoma and oversees recreational programs for people with disabilities, seniors and youth.  She was instrumental in opening the new STAR Center in Tacoma’s South Tacoma community and over the years has managed different recreation programs and facilities.  Tareena has worked for both non-profit and government in several community development positions, including with the City of Tacoma and the Northwest Leadership Foundation.  Diversity and cross-cultural understanding have long been a passion of hers and she served as a founding member of WRPA Cultural Competency Team from 2008-2013.  Tareena earned a master’s degree in International Studies and Development from Florida International University and studied and lived abroad in several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Co-Presenter Bio: Laura Rodriguez, Summit Public Schools

Laura Rodriguez was born and raised in Los Angeles, California and moved to Tacoma, Washington nineteen years ago.  She is currently completing an undergraduate degree from The Evergreen State College, scheduled to be completed in June 2015.Laura has worked sixteen years in Tacoma with youth and their families. She developed twenty tutoring sites throughout the city serving over 300 children yearly from the Tacoma School District.  She successfully developed programs specifically geared towards English as a Second Language learners.  She also implemented these programs into small migrant communities in Eastern Washington. Laura spent three and a half years working for Metro Parks as the Southeast Quadrant/Portland Ave Community Center Supervisor and during this time brought the center to a vibrant, functioning and welcoming place for residents on the Eastside of Tacoma.  She was instrumental in connecting Metro Parks with local non-profit organizations, centers of worship, prominent leaders in ethnic communities, and Tacoma schools.  Laura is now working for Summit Public Schools as a Community Engagement Manager and will help with the startup of the first charter high school in Tacoma.