Quinebaug Valley Community College will host a panel discussion, “International Women’s Day 2022: #BreaktheBias” from 5:00 to 6:20 pm on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, in the Fireside Lounge on QVCC’s Danielson campus, located at 742 Upper Maple Street, Danielson, CT. The event will also be livestreamed to our Willimantic Center at 729 Main Street, Willimantic, CT. The event, organized by the QVCC Cultural Programming Committee, will feature three guest speakers: New London City Councilwoman Reona Dyess, singer-songwriter Lara Herscovitch, and QVCC student Yasmin García-Juárez. Student Government Association President Dana Normandie will facilitate.
Reona Dyess, Councilwoman and President Pro Tempore of New London City Council is a member of the National Association for the Advance of Color People, The National Council of Negros Woman, the League of Women Voters, the Lion Club and the Kiwanis Club of New London. Dyess also serves as executive director of The Center: A Drop-In Community Learning and Resource Center Inc., as a member of the Board of Directors of Connecticut Storytelling, Expressiones, and St. Francis House, and as a youth advisor for the New London Linwood Bland NAACP Youth Council. Dyess is a founding member of the Steering Community of the Community Land Trust. Known as “Ms. D,” she enjoys being a grandmother to Rishad and a voice for families and children in her community.
Lara Herscovitch is a singer-songwriter-poet-performer gem, leading with authenticity, integrity, humor, and heart. As The Boston Globe describes, she brings “a luminous voice and a buoyant stage presence… big-hearted lyrics embrace the sum of life…” Former Connecticut State Troubadour, Sound Waves Magazine called her work “expertly written prose… songwriting at its best… good for your ears AND your soul.” Find out more about Lara at www.LaraHerscovitch.com.
Yasmin García-Juárez came from Mexico when she was 15 years old. She is a mother of three, a full-time worker, and a part-time college student. She began taking classes at QVCC in 2016 and earned her ESL( English as Second Language) Proficiency Certificate in 2020. She is now focusing on completing her medical assisting degree and expects to graduate in 2023.
International Women’s Day (March 8) has been observed annually across the globe for over a century to “celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women” and to “accelerate women’s equality.” The theme for this year’s day is #BreaktheBias. More information can be found at www.internationalwomensday.com.
The panel discussion is sponsored by the Quinebaug Valley Community College Cultural Programming Committee.
For more information contact Jon Andersen at jandersen@qvcc.edu or Norly Germain at ngermain@qvcc.edu.