GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — Latino Professionals Association of Northeast Wisconsin (LPA) is a participant in this year's Give Big Green Bay for the first time in the group's history.
- LPA was established in January 2021 as a way for Latino professionals (students, workers, etc.) to connect and inspire career development.
- Cafecitos (the group's coffee meetings) are a simple, but common way LPA members network.
- Maria Lara, Juan Corpus are two of three co-founders of the organization. They come from different backgrounds, but have the same goal to promote Latino fellowship across the region.
- Hear the story of Duda Costa Lima and what has inspired her to be a leader in the workplace.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Connecting over coffee or un cafecito.
"It's just creating a space for folks to get together," Juan Corpus, LPA co-founder and vice president, said.
For Corpus and LPA president Maria Lara, cafecitos help unite Latino professionals across the region.
"It's a two-way street for us, certainly, being able to find both personal and professional gratification in a group like ours has been exactly what we envisioned," Lara said. "Providing a venue or a platform where people can meet each other has been, always, a motivation for us."
Corpus and Lara said their journeys impacted their decision to create LPA in January 2021. Eddie Noriega is the third co-founder of the association.
Corpus grew up in Green Bay.
"I feel like I'm kind of walking in the footsteps my parents," Corpus said. "I've seen the community change quite a bit, seen the population grow from a Latino perspective."
Lara was born in Mexico and grew up Los Angeles.
"Even if a corporation is very welcoming, when you don't see people you can enjoy a language with, a culture with, it does start to feel that you're somewhat isolated, even in a room full of people," Lara said.
Today, the group has reached close to 100 members and hosts a number of professional development events, including cafecitos, which are morning networking sessions over coffee and pastries.
Video shows the inside of Schneider National's The Grove, which is one of many places the group has used for its gatherings.
"We have the opportunity of learning so much," Duda Costa Lima, an LPA member, said. "Even the cafecitos are a way of just connecting and having that light-heartened time to just be able to speak to people and connect."
Duda Costa Lima is from Brazil and works at Schneider National.
She said being part of LPA inspires her to be a leader in the workplace.
"It's the work I want to continue to do as well because I'm very passionate about my culture and I'm very passionate about my community," Costa Lima said.
Gearing up for Give Big Green Bay, Corpus and Lara said the day of giving opens a new chapter for the association.
"We should continue to support each other in terms of finding groups that make us excited about living here in northeast Wisconsin and wanting to make it a fantastic place for everyone," Lara said.
Lara and Corpus tell me there are four areas of focus for funding:
- Pay for college students' LPA memberships
- Support for professional development
- Sponsor cafecitos
- Contribute to an executive director role
