Latina author and activist Juana Bordas coming to WWU Oct. 12

Western Washington University’s Leadership Advantage program, Associated Students, Karen W. Morse Institute for Leadership Studies, WWU Ethnic Student Center, WWU Center for Education, Equity and Diversity, and The Flow Project will host award winning Latina author and activist Juana Bordas at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 12 in the Viking Union Multipurpose Room.

Tickets are free, but because of limited seating, they must be obtained from the WWU Performing Arts Center box office prior to the event: Go to http://www.tickets.wwu.edu or call (360) 650-6146.

Juana Bordas literally stepped off a banana boat when she arrived in the United States from Nicaragua. She was only three years old, but remembers the trip vividly. Her hard-working parents dreamed that she would have a better life than they did.

“My life is a testimony of the hope and vision of my parents. They instilled in me a desire to get an education and to contribute to the lives of others,” she said.

She would work her way through the University of Florida, did a stint in the Peace Corps in the barrios of Santiago, Chile, and then settled in Denver where she founded Mi Casa Women’s Center. In the 1980s she served as the first president of the National Hispana Leadership Institute. Along the way she remained mindful of the lessons imparted by her parents when she was a little girl – to be thankful, give back, and stay attuned to her cultural roots.

Today, Bordas is an award-winning author and travels across the country encouraging students and communities to embrace diversity and to prepare for the mosaic future that is dawning. Her book, “Salsa, Soul, and Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age,” invites people to share in the generosity, sense of community, and leadership that has inspired communities of color for generations.

Bordas was named the 2009 Unique Woman of Colorado by the Denver Post and was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame, and she has been honored with Denver’s Martin Luther King Jr. Social Responsibility award.

For more information on the Bordas lecture, contact Joanne DeMark, Western Washington University Leadership Advantage program, at (360) 733-3706 or joanne.demark@wwu.edu.