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MAFO held its annual National Farmworker Conference and Convention this week in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The MAFO Conference is an opportunity for advocates and service providers for the farmworker community to come together to discuss current issues affecting America’s farmworkers and to share innovative tools and best practices. The theme of this year’s conference was Building Stronger Rural Communities and ECMHSP’s strong presence made significant contributions in support of it.
Rudy Beserra, Vice President of Latin Affairs at Coca-Cola with ECMSHP COO Javier Gonzalez.
Members from the ECMHSP Board of Directors and staff attended the conference townhalls on Sunday, as well as the workshops and plenaries on the following two days. ECMHSP leadership also had the opportunity to share strategies on how to effectively provide services to the farmworker community through workshop presentations.
In a session titled, “Using Technology to Connect Programs,” Dr. José Villa, ECMHSP Chief Executive Officer, and Andy Pederson, IT Manager, presented ECMHSP’s efforts to utilize technology to improve data collection and effectively deliver high quality services. They also discussed the organization’s work with partner organizations to increase collaboration and improve services delivered to the farmworker families.
In addition, Dr. Villa presented in the workshop, “Giving Migrant Children a Head Start,” accompanied by Christine Alvarado, ECMHSP Chief Innovations Officer; Javier Gonzalez, Chief Operations Officer; and Governance and Norma Flores López, Collaboration/Development Manager. The session provided an operational view of the comprehensive Head Start services provided by ECMHSP to successfully meet the unique needs of the preschool children of farmworkers, and the program outcomes and successes achieved through collaborative partnerships.
Dr. Jose Villa, ECMHSP CEO, presents the LUPE Award at the MAFO Awards Gala.
On Tuesday night, MAFO held its Leadership Award Banquet and Gala, where MAFO honors the excellence and dedication of individuals, particularly those who do outreach, perform hard work and whose efforts many times go unrecognized or unrewarded. The evening included the conference participants, leaders in the farmworker community, and community leaders representing the Albuquerque area. A mariachi band initiated the evening’s celebration, and a young troupe of flamenco dancers provided entertainment during dinner. Dr. Villa, as a member of the MAFO Board of Directors, participated in the awards ceremony by introducing the recipient of this year’s LUPE Award at the gala. To close out the evening, the night’s keynote speaker, Arturo Rodriguez, President of the United Farm Workers, gave a motivating speech, reminding advocates that as a community, we have overcome larger obstacles than today’s political climate. He shared, as examples, the personal victories of farmworker advocates in the room, including ECMHSP’s Dr. Villa and Javier Gonzalez.
The MAFO Conference provided ECMHSP access to relevant and emerging information for service providers and advocates of the farmworker community, as well as an opportunity to reconnect and network with diverse and multicultural rural community leaders and organizations. We look forward to more opportunities to represent our community at next year’s conference in San Antonio, Texas!
Norma Flores Lopez, ECMHSP staff, with UFW President Arturo Rodriguez and UFW Foundation Executive Director Diana Tellefson Torres.