Join us in celebrating our Comadres Accomplishments, Community Service and Book News.
We are proud our Comadres are Leading the Way!
ACCOMPLISHMENTS & COMMUNITY SERVICE
Three of our Comadres were recognized by Hispanic Lifestyle magazine with a Milestone Award:
Jazmin Diaz (San Jose, CA) – Founder and CEO of Flourish Learning & Development LLC is being recognized as an executive leader, entrepreneur, and advocate for personal and professional growth by Hispanic Lifestyle. Her Milestone Award will be presented on June 17 in California.
Michelle Herrera Mulligan (Brooklyn, NY) – was honored for shaping the future of storytelling and expanding the marketplace of ideas. Associate Publisher and Vice President of Primero Sueño Press, Michelle is helping redefine how stories are told and who gets to tell them. She received her Milestone Award in New York City on May 20th.
Rhina Valentin (New York, NY) – was recognized for “elevating culture, community, and creative expression in New York.” Rhina is a powerful creative force whose work continues to shape New York’s cultural and media landscape. She too received her Milestone Award on May 20th.
Julie Anna Alvarez Rivera (New York, NY) – With
20 years of career advising experience in higher education career services and
in the private sector, Julie Anna has launched her own career consultant
practice "Career Journey Now" to help individuals navigate their job
search or career transition. More details are available at www.careerjourneynow.wixsite.
PLUS! This Spring marks her 11th year of volunteering alongside her sister and fellow Comadre, Clara Galvano Rivera, with the National Puerto Rican Day Parade Inc.'s annual Education Scholarship Committee, participating in the review of aspiring students' written applications and interviewing applicants who make the initial cut. We are impressed each year by the intelligent and talented students we get to see through this process! We can't wait to hear the news of which students are ultimately selected to receive these $2000 scholarships.
Aurora Anaya (Los Angeles, CA) – is celebrating the first year of her mobile bookstore! She launched Bloom Wild Bookshop in June 2025 to bring books and CA native plants to communities. Since then, her bookmobile has popped up in 25 cities, had 52 activations and driven over 1,000 miles. Some amazing milestones have included being a part of events in six prominent cultural institutions and a month-long residency at the LA County Fair. Aurora is happy to be back in bookselling and promoting diversity in books and plants!
Andrea Arroyo (New York, NY) – is thrilled to share that her exhibition “Imagination and Activism” in Barcelona, generated a really positive response from audience and the media.
Egli Colón-Stephens (New York, NY) – will
be teaching a writing workshop for the Festival Del Libro y Cultura Dominicana
on July 11 entitled ‘El Vuelo Migratorio: Writing Between Languages, Loss and
Belonging.’ It’s open to all writers.
Register at www.DomincanWriters.org/
Dora Herrera (Los Angeles, CA) – is proud to be included in the Pasadena City College 100 Women: Bold Enough To Bloom inaugural awards luncheon - celebrating business leaders achievements, tenacity, and community impact of extraordinary businesswomen, entrepreneurs, and advocates across the region.
Rachel “Rachel” Moran Nevarez (Pharr, TX) – is proud to announce that she is a part-time Adjunct Instructor teaching South Texas Community College- Administrative Office Procedures and Legal Office Procedures. She’s held the position since January.
Monica Trasandes (Los Angeles, CA) – was
interviewed by Pam Covarrubias of Café con Pam, a podcast and YouTube channel
dedicated to “fight calladita culture by healing your inner niña,” by talking
about mental health, personal growth, and more. Pam asked insightful questions
like, “growing up, what roles did you give yourself in your family that no one
gave you?” You can watch the interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
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COMADRE AUTHORS
Dr. Melissa DuPont-Reyes (New York, NY) – is
excited to share the newly released SOCIALSVOICE e-book, which summarizes her
participatory study with Latino youth on social media’s impact on adolescent
mental health. The study recruited participants through the Comadres network,
and Dr. DuPont-Reyes is deeply grateful for the vital contributions of the
network and its members, including Comadres members who served on the Community
Advisory Board. The book is being shared
with participating families, policymakers, Community Advisory Board members,
and other key stakeholders to help put a spotlight on Latino youth voices in
the conversation about social media and adolescent mental health! Explore the SocialsVoice study e-book on our
project website: https://www.publichealth.
Elvia Gonzalez (Leander, TX) – self-published her motivational book, Imbloqueable: De la sobrecarga a la Paz con Poder, sin dejar de ser exitosa y amada. The book is available in Spanish at www.ElviaGonzalez.com. The best writing advice Elvia ever received was: to create a clear thinking system that helps you organize your ideas and intentionally guide the reader with clarity and curiosity.
Lucinda Mayo (Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico) – has
a Photographic History book with Arcadia Publishing entitled, Images of America: Amagansett, with
co-author Carleton Kelsey. In 1998 also contributed to another 'Long Island'
book, this one re women's lives, which can be viewed at https://www.amazon.com/Long-
The best writing advice Lucinda ever received she garnered from books by Marilynne Robinson, the generous-spirited novelist, and from writing professor/author John Maguire. His insistence on concrete language, ie. his useful if tongue-in-cheek question re heavy use of objects/images: 'Can you drop it on your foot?'
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Congratulations to all and Thank You for your service!
NOTE: This list is for promotional purposes only and
not intended as an endorsement of any kind.
