Latin American and
Native American (LANA) ERG
Mission
The purpose of the LANA ERG is to:
Advance a diverse and inclusive work environment for Latin American and Native American employees
Develop a community of employees to celebrate the diverse cultures and unique gifts that Latin American and Native Americans bring to Berkeley Lab
Increase visibility and awareness of the LANA community through internal and external activities
Attract, retain, empower, and inspire Latin American and Native American employees to achieve their fullest potential across the spectrum of employment opportunities at Berkeley Lab
Bring awareness to Latin American and Native American students to STEM and Operations fields
Activities
Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month and Indigenous Peoples Day
Speakers
Movies
LANA's recommendations for Latinx restaurant list (the list keeps growing)
2022
Accomplishments
Accomplishments
Dia de Los Muertos Cafecito Ofrenda Virtual sharing: We provided a virtual space for people to share things that connected them to our culture and share pictures of their ofrendas.
Co-hosted an event with the LAMBDA ERG, Screening of film, Acuitzeramo
Used LANA ERG videos highlighting what LANA is doing at the Lab at various talks and cafecitos
Hosted the Groove Lounge.
Hosted speakers Beatriz Cuartas and Edward Rios from Community for the Advancement of Latinos at DOE (CALDOE)
Hosted speaker Dr. Juan Meza from UC Merced
Membership Meetings: met quarterly, setting goals and dividing tasks.
Highlighted LANA members in the "Elements" 3Q4 series.
Continued hosting Cafecito Social Hours with loteria and all-member meetings.
Co-hosted an event with WSEC poetry by Kim Shuck and Georgina Marie Guardado speaking about Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women
Organized Native American Month storytelling events Andrea Delgado Olson Native American Women in STEAM and Computing
Raised LANA banner during Latin American Heritage Month and Native American Heritage Month.
Met with Director Witherell to discuss invisibility of community issues and a lack of voice from the Lab of issues that impact LANA community.
Met with our Executive Sponsor, Blake Simmons, for a general discussion on LANA.
Steering Committee
Blanca Bocobo, Human Resources - BABocobo@lbl.gov - Co-Chair
William Plasencia, Strategic Communications - WPlasencia@lbl.gov - Co-Chair
Rosa Rodriguez-Flores, OCFO/ETA - RRodriguez-Flores@lbl.gov
Elina Rios, Office of Government and Community Relations - erios@lbl.gov
Jessica Puente Castro, EHS- jpuentecastro@lbl.gov
Kryshna (Krys) Avina, IT - KAvina@lbl.gov
Kelliane Parker, Cyclotron Road - KParkerLam@lbl.gov
Executive Sponsor
Blake Simmons, Division Director, Biological Systems and Engineering