Counselor.
Consultant.
Trainer.

Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates the contributions, diverse culture, and history of Hispanic and Latinx people. It showcases the diversity within our community and the many influences of Hispanic and Latinx Americans on the United States. This celebration also emphasizes the importance of keeping our culture, customs, and beliefs alive.

I am proud of my Puerto Rican culture and grateful for the many sacrifices of my grandparents, ancestors, and my mother, Brenda Rivera. My family has shown great pride in our culture and the many contributions we have made to the United States. Below are a few that I hope you enjoy.

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• Olga Albizu was an abstract expressionist painter and a leading figure in the New York arts scene.
• Maria Teresa Babín was a writer and educator who edited one of the most important anthologies of Puerto Rican literature.
• Herman Badillo was the first congressman of Puerto Rican heritage.

• Frank Bonilla was a leading figure in academic studies of Puerto Rico, and served as the director of the City University of New York’s Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños.
• Roberto Clemente was a Hall of Fame baseball star and a humanitarian.
• Jesús Colón was the first Puerto Rican writer to achieve literary success on the mainland.

• Victor Hernández Cruz was named one of the best American poets by Life Magazine in 1981.
• Rita Moreno is one of few performers to have won all four of the major entertainment awards: the Oscar, the Tony, the Emmy, and the Grammy.
• Antonia Novello served as Surgeon General of the United States, the first Hispanic woman to do so.

• Sonia Sotomayor is a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. She is the first woman of color, first Latina to serve on the Supreme Court.