Luz Corcuera, executive director of Sarasota-Manatee UnidosNow and an advocate for Latino education and equity, has been named a recipient of the inaugural Bank of America Neighborhood Builders: Racial Equality Award.
Corcuera is one of five people nationally who will receive a $200,000 grant along with the honor from Bank of America to advance racial equality in their local community. The banking institution, which committed $1.25 billion to be paid out over four years to advance racial equality and economic opportunity, designated the funds to be used as catalysts for racial equity causes in neighborhoods.
Working to close the disparities in the Latino community is second nature to Corcuera, a Peruvian American whose record of community-building, education, and integration continues to provide opportunities and resources that assist the region’s Latino population in “achieving the American dream,” a news release stated.
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Once a new immigrant herself, Corcuera uses her experience and background in family therapy and civic engagement to connect community members to the organization to empower them to advance their education and lives.
“When this award was announced I immediately thought of Luz, I didn’t even think twice,” said Jamie Kahns, market executive for Bank of America Sarasota/Manatee.
The inaugural award is given to individuals who represent a marginalized community and are taking action with equitable programs and resources in their communities. After a nomination and judging process, awardees are chosen from any of the bank’s 92 markets nationwide — Corcuera is the only awardee from a small market.
“It came as a complete surprise,” Corcuera said. “Jamie called a meeting and I learned that I was one of these five (awardees), which was extremely exciting but also very humbling.”
Corcuera says the funding will help in a big way.
The $200,000 in unrestricted grant funds will assist with creating long-term sustainable programs, staffing and expansion of initiatives. In addition to the grant, Corcuera will receive leadership training and development opportunities with other leaders across the country.
“It’s a big deal for us, we are a small nonprofit … this will give us key elements that we didn’t have before. We have been wearing multiple hats for so many years, so this will give us a little breather to train and promote people within the organization, but also the impact and expansion of our programs that will be felt across the region,” Corcuera said.
The funding will also help with empowering college students and clients to be better prepared for serving their local community through the Future Leaders Academy and continuing to serve the needs of community members in terms of health guidance for pandemic and vaccination efforts.
“When you think about someone that can make an impact in the community, it’s Luz. I love that she says that we’re the ones giving that platform to the community, but we’re just a really proud partner to stand behind Luz and all the incredible work that she’s doing,” Kahns said. “This is going to amplify the work that she’s doing because we know it’s not done.”
“She has become a friend. Finding out that the honor of being able to honor her with this following all the work that she’s done, it’s probably the biggest highlight in my career,” Kahns said.
Samantha Gholar covers social justice news for the Herald-Tribune and USA TODAY Network. Connect with her at sgholar@gannett.com or on Twitter: @samanthagweires
Source: heraldtribune.com
