'La Voz Chicana y Latina': An empowerment and outreach project for Chicana and Latina students

La Voz Chicana y Latina is a college outreach model designed to encourage Latinas/Chicanas to pursue higher education. The project was developed as a response to the underrepresentation of Latinas in institutions of higher education. It recognizes that, Chicanas/Latinas must confront familial issues which may impedes their pursuit of higher education.;This non-traditional mentor and role model program, developed by practitioners in the field of education is based upon the principles of social justice, bicultural affirmation and empowerment.;The project addresses these questions for Latina/Chicana students: (1) How can we ensure greater access to higher education? (2) How can we develop leadership skills in these young women? (3) How can we facilitate the development of relationships, voice, and bicultural affirmation in Latinas so they can negotiate both the dominant (Euroamerican) and the primary culture (Latino/Chicano) in high school, college and in their chosen profession? (4) What process can be developed from this inquiry that can assist educators in the promotion of Chicana empowerment?;Our goal is to construct a recursive pumpline that nurtures Latinas as they complete a K-12 education, circumnavigate a course towards higher education, and serve the community throughout their professional lives. To accomplish our outcomes, La Voz Chicana y Latina sponsors biweekly forums or tertulias for fourteen college students who comprise the leadership core. In the tertulias, the women engage in critical dialogue, deepen relationships, and design pathways to work with high school students. The leadership core replicates the empowerment and social action training with forty young women at Lincoln High School in Los Angeles. Later, the high school students will work with middle and elementary school students.;The content and process for La Voz Chicana y Latina emanates from critical pedagogy and cultural historical theory and the writings of Rogoff, Freire, Darder, and Tatum. La Voz Chicana y Latina fosters cultural/gender identity, promotes the attainment of higher education, and encourages social action. The empowerment project works at developing a collective voice for educated Chicanas. The women involved in the project will ultimately negotiate both the dominant and primary culture on their own terms, as educated Latinas.