IVETTE ARAGON TO DISCUSS “LEGISLATION AFFECTING WOMEN” AT THE SIERRA MAR DISTRICT BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Ivette Aragon, Congressmember Jimmy Gomez’ Field Deputy, will discuss issues affecting women and families at the Annual Conference of the Sierra Mar District Business and Professional Women on Saturday, April 15, 2023 at the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 2009 S. Garfield Avenue, Monterey Park. Registration is at 8:45 a.m. with the meeting starting at 9:00 a.m. Aragon will be speaking at about 1:00 p.m. The conference and luncheon is open to all interested people. There is no registration cost for guests, but the cost of the box lunch is $10. Call Marie Clifton (626) 287-5306 or E-mail her at MarieClifton40@gmail.com to make a reservation or for questions.
Chief Kindness Officer (CKO) Josué Arias Arias will be giving a brief presentation on the Boys and Girls Club of the West San Gabriel Valley and the Eastside’s “Kindness

Program” at about 10:00 a.m. The Kindness Program was designed to teach students
and others to look inward, to show respect, to treat everybody equally, and to be considerate of others. The program provides youth and others with tools to empower them and to create a better understanding of kindness through mindfulness and other activities that drastically improve social and emotional behavior and create safer clubs and communities. Arias will invite all in attendance to take the kindness pledge!

Besides being Chief Kindness Officer, Arias is a member of Monterey Park Rotary, Arias received his Masters in Public Administration with an emphasis on Non-Profit Management from California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and has more than a decade of experience working with non-profit organizations in youth development and leadership in after school environments. He is excited to bring this dynamic and cutting edge kindness program to schools, businesses, clubs, churches and anywhere else the message of kindness is welcomed.

The luncheon speaker will be Monique Rodriguez, who in January was honored as East Los Angeles-Montebello BPW’s Young Careerist for 2023. She implemented and oversees the Cal VIP, a program designed to provide intensive case management to at  risk youth ages 10-18 in order to reduce the cycle of generational violence for the Boys and Girls Club of West San Gabriel and Eastside.

Rodriguez is a Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles native resident who has been working to serve the community for more than ten years. She received her BA in Sociology from Mount Saint Mary’s University of Los Angeles in 2014 and began her career with the Boys and Girls Club of West San Gabriel Valley from 2012-2018 where she provided management support to the opening and program implementation of the Ramona Gardens and Estrada Courts public housing sites in Boyle Heights and East

Los Angeles. In 2018 she was accepted into the University of Southern California, where she received her Master’s in Social Work in 2020. She has extensive experience in program development and management in fields of: youth services and homeless services, as well as adult and youth mental health. Rodriguez has recently rejoined the Boys and Girls Club of West San Gabriel Valley and Eastside, where she supports the oversight and implementation of Cal VIP. Sierra Mar BPW District will honor Rodriguez as its “Young Professional for 2023.”

The afternoon speaker at 1:00 p.m. will be Ivette Aragon, Field Deputy for Congressmember Jimmy Gomez, who will speak on legislation affecting women and families. Aragon is a passionate and committed first-generation organizer who has devoted her career to advocating for social justice and equity. As a feminist and mission-driven leader, she has worked tirelessly to build strong, vibrant, inclusive and empowering communities for all. Currently serving as the Field Deputy and Press Secretary for Congressman Jimmy Gomez (CA 34), she brings her expertise in community organizing to the public sector, where she helps to advance policies and initiatives that promote justice and equality. Aragon graduated from University of California, Irvine in 2014 with a BA in Political Science and minor in Criminology Law and Society. In 2018 she graduated from University of California, Irvine, School of Law with a JD.

Sierra Mar District is based in the San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys and is part of the California Federation of Business and Professional Women (CFBPW).  The organization is a member of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs (NFBPWC) and BPW International. BPW has been advocates for women’s issues for more than 103 years.

The mission of the Sierra Mar District of the California Federation of Business and Professional Women (CFBPW) is “to promote and support equity for working women in all phases of their lives and to promote personal empowerment and professional development.” Our objectives are “to advocate on state and national legislative issues of importance to women, to promote personal and professional development for women and to foster connections among women to promote BPW and its members.” Membership is open to both men and women who support this mission and these objectives. Those who are members also belong to CFBPW, NFBPWC and BPW International. For more information contact Marie Clifton at (626) 287-5306 or MarieClifton40@gmail.com.