Nonprofit Provides College Scholarships to Latina Girls with Big Dreams

Photos courtesy of Joanne Davidson | Latinas First Foundation co-founders Juanita Chacon, left, and Meshach Rhoades, right, with longtime supporter Denise Snyder, owner of the Mariel boutique in Cherry Creek North.

When Juanita Chacon and Meshach Rhoades founded the nonprofit Latinas First Foundation in 2011, it was with the goal of rewriting the phrase “Girls cannot be what they cannot see.”

Almost 12 years later, Chacon (a broker associate with RE/MAX Alliance Central) and Rhoades (managing partner at Crowell & Moring law firm) take immeasurable pride in knowing that, thanks to the awarding of 200-plus college scholarships, young Latinas from the Denver area have been able to attend college and embark on careers that once were beyond their wildest dreams.

In other words, this success has changed the narrative to “Girls can be what they see.”

That is because of scholarship recipients like Erika Bailon, who used her grant to help fund her computer science major at the University of Colorado Boulder. Today, she is a systems software engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, Calif.

“The Latinas First Foundation made me believe I could be more than what I was limiting myself to believe I could,” Bailon said at a previous LFF event. “I came to the United States when I was 20 and couldn’t speak a word of English. Now, I work for one of the most important companies in the nation, allowing the world to understand the data we bring from space.”

To supplement the scholarships, the foundation matches recipients with a mentor, works with colleges to put various support systems in place, and hosts networking events where scholars gain information and advice from adults already working in the field they plan on entering.

“Our mentors pledge to be available whenever a scholar needs them. It’s a big deal to have someone in your corner like that,” Chacon says. College support systems are especially valuable, she says, because “Traditional colleges by and large haven’t recognized how much harder it is for a young Latina, especially one who is a first-generation college student, to leave her family and go out of town or out of state. She may not be able to afford to go home for the holidays or special occasions, and sometimes that loneliness or feeling of isolation is such that they decide to drop out.”

On Sept. 15, the Latinas First Foundation will host its annual Trailblazer and Unsung Heroine Luncheon at the Hilton City Center, an occasion that also recognizes the 2023 scholarship recipients. A record 61 scholarships ranging in value from $2,500 to a full ride were granted this year.

The Trailblazer awards are a tribute to Latina women who have been first in their fields, paving the way for others to follow. Previous Trailblazer recipients include Anita Padilla-Fitzgerald, founder, president and chief executive officer of MegaStar Financial Corp.; Linda Alvarado, president/CEO of Alvarado Construction and part owner of the Colorado Rockies; and Susana Cordova, former superintendent of the Denver Public Schools and the current Colorado commissioner of education.

Unsung Heroine awards go to Latina women who’ve made significant contributions to their community but have received little or no recognition. Recipients have included Judi Diaz Bonacquisti, who had served as the foundation’s first executive director before her appointment as senior diversity officer for the University of Colorado, and Marcela de la Mar, former executive director of the Mexican Cultural Center and a member of numerous nonprofit boards.

LATINAS FIRST FOUNDATION
1766 W. 46th Ave., #11489, Denver
303-834-7085

Joanne Davidson has had the pleasure of writing about the Latinas First Foundation since its inception.