About

About.

We are Latinas Unidas. We plan to help build strong relationships between mentors and mentees, uniting our current and future leaders.

Established in Bassett High School

Our team consists of students from Bassett High School. The team met together to discuss possible issues in the community. Many ideas were discussed but the one issue that seemed to be a common factor was the lack of mentors.

Reason for Mentors

Latinas Unidas came to be our name because our core group are all latinas. Our group noticed that most of us are first generation American or first generation to go to college. This common factor inspired our mentor program. With this program we are helping all female students eligible for the program regardless of their race.

Our Team

Our team, ‘Latinas Unidas’ is made up of eleven driven girls: Desiree Alvarado, Janeli Soto, Bianca Salcedo, Stephanie Lopez, Prisilla Gomez, Jennifer Curiel, Ivana Jauregui, Melissa Rojas, Arizeth Prieto, Lucia Medina, and Joanna Vasquez.

The monarcas that put all of this together.

Mentor/Mentee Relationships

My name is Melissa Rojas and I'm a junior. I joined Girls Build LA because I believe I could make a difference in our school and community. I wanted to be apart of something that would help our school. I feel like our mentor program was very much needed at Bassett because we don't really have enough resources to help us out. We may have counselors but they are busy with other students as well so by having a mentor, we can have someone to contact whenever we have questions. I feel like women empowerment is important because in our society women are always being told they can't do something or are being put down. For fun I like to play sports and hang out with my cousins. I am apart of the tennis, soccer, and swim team at my school. The clubs I am involved in are NHS, AVID, and ASB.

Finance/ Budget manager

My name is Janeli Soto I am a junior at Bassett. The reason I joined Girls Build LA was because my sophomore year i was really inspired by the girl creating the refill stations at school, they really made a difference with their challenges and helped the school out. I also feel as if my team and I can do much more to help out not just the school but the community as well. The reason we started the mentor program 'Latinas Unidas' was to help young women open a path way for a successful future with the help of a mentor who's has been through it all. What better way than to have one on one personal help with a women who is interested in what you are as well. My job in the group is being budget manager and making sure anything we spend is kept within budget and recorded. Women Empowerment is important in today and for the future because I personally believe we are capable of doing much more every single day. We are women and we are here to grow together. My personal interests are going out and dancing, dancing is a huge stress reliever and it just makes me happy. My favorite music is anything Spanish/ Mexican which is what I dance to. My happy place is Durango... they don't call me Ms. Durango for no reason lol. I am not involved in any sports this year but I will be next year hopefully.The clubs i am currently involved with are ASB i happen to be ASB treasure, I am a link crew leader, and i also am in ceramics club.

Landing big names for EXPO.

I am Yanisbell Mejia, a junior at Bassett Highschool. I am a cheerleader and I also participate in clubs, such as the national honors society, ceramics club, ASB and GBLA. I joined the Girls Build LA program this year for the first time. We created Latinas Unidas to focus on the empowerment of Latina women. We embrace our heritage to show that we can do whatever we set our mind to. I truly believe the mentor program we put in place has made a dramatic impact in the lives of young females. The mentor program is there to help with various topics ranging from schooling, family, and even relationships. Many young females don’t have no one to turn to and by assigning each young lady a mentor they are given the opportunity to develop a one to one unique bond, something like having an older sister. Its so important that every female out there knows their potential to accomplish the best. Women everywhere should have the knowledge that they have the capability to empower, aspire, and drive to a successful future. Hopefully our program can inspire many beautiful ladies out there.

4-year plan/ scholarships

Hello, my name is Desiree Alvarado, Im a junior at Bassett High School, and I am a leader of Latinas Unidas. At the start, I joined Girls Build LA because I had noticed the impact that can be made when girls work together instead of competing against each other. Our program, Latinas Unidas is unique to our school because it allows these young latinas to be guided by someone who has been in their shoes and inspire them to shoot for their goals. Latinas Unidas brings these bright women together and allows their distinct background to be their own advantage. The beauty of our program is that it illuminates the success that can come if we help each other, guide each other, and the importance of having a role model in our lives. I enjoy running, succeeding, difficult math problems,-yes I’m a nerd- and being around friends. One Wish: “I wish a life full of love for you surrounded by gladness, planted in peace peppered with laughter, and travel, some mystery lifelong that runs deeper than the roots of a tree.” I like all types of music, favorite artists are Ed Sheeran and Frank Sinatra. Finally, I am a well-rounded student involved in Cross Country and Track&Field, Girls Build LA, Band, NHS, Tri-M, Debate, Marching Band, President of the American Legion Auxiliary Juniors, and ceramics club.

Social media

Hi my name is Prisilla Gomez and I am apart of girls build la. I am in the 11th grade and currently taking multiple ap classes. One major reason I am physically involved in clubs at my school is to keep myself busy and educated. I joined girls build la to use these skills and create a mentoring program to help young ladies like myself to succeed. Women empowerment is important because I feel like the future is in the hands of women, and they should feel just as important than a male. I plan for our mentoring program in being successful because now a days, it isn’t other people’s responsibility to update you on college events or scholarships. Therefore, pairing students up with amazing women who have been successful is a guide to them, someone to look up to when they are having trouble. Counselors are most of the time busy and have no time to focus specifically on you to help get through the challenges in life.... for this we hope to create a special bond of a mentee and mentor who is an example of success to the students at Bassett. Despite making sure our mentoring program is successful, i do many curriculum activities. These include of basketball, volleyball, softball and swim. I am Chief Justice for Bassett asb and a member of link crew and national honor society. To have fun, I usually go out with my closest friends or with my sister and her future family. I’m open minded to all kinds of music except rock. Besides my characteristics, I am most definitely fond of the great mentoring program I have been apart of and greatful to be concluded in.

My name is Joanna Vasquez and I am the Latinas Unidas team project planner. As project planner I need to keep the project in check and make sure our plan is being executed as best as it can. I joined the Girls Build LA program because I find it to be of huge importance to motivate young women in our communities to strive to reach their fullest potential. With our project I believe we are doing just that. As a child of two immigrant parents, I know the struggles that come with planning for the future. My parents had little education and certainly did not go to college, and so they don’t really understand how to deal with the process of applying for financial aid and most college-related paperwork. This is where I, like many other young Latina girls, am in need of a mentor to guide me through my application process as to help me achieve the most out of it. Being apart of the experience as a mentee myself, I feel a sense of relief knowing that I am not alone in my future. Our program allows young women to expand their horizons as well as make connections with their mentors. In making connections they are also creating a network which could help their future immensely. Outside of Girls Build LA, I’m involved in varsity soccer, Link Crew, ASB, National Honors Society, Marching Band, and Tri-M Music Honor Society. My favorite subject is history and if you give me a prompt to write about World War II, I will create a novel. I plan on going to a four year university, hopefully UC Santa Barbara with history or political science as my major and Spanish as my minor. For fun I watch documentaries. Yes. That is how I came into AP US History already knowing everything that happened. My dogs are the light of my life and I believe there is nothing better than having a dog.

Mentor/Mentee Relationships

My name is Lucia Medina, and I am a sophomore at Bassett High School. I joined Girls Build La because I understand how strong women can be, I want to be apart of the women that have succeeded from our community, like our mentors. The ethnicity of our neighborhood is mostly Latino, including myself, so I can really relate to our name “Latinas Unidas” because we should work together to be recognized for our strength. The mentor program helps other girls realize that too, by talking to another woman that have accomplished great things. Coming from Bassett, girls can see that it is possible. I’m in wrestling and color guard, I believe woman could have it all and be successful, others should too. My goal is to go to a good college like Berkeley where my mentor graduated from. Now I have someone who has gone through the whole process of admissions and knows what administrators are looking for.

My name is Stephanie Lopez I am a Senior at Bassett High School. I joined the Girls Build LA program at my school because I felt that there is a lack of girl empowerment in our community. We chose to be Latinas Unidas because the majority of our group are in fact Latinas and we felt that unity is important. Our group decided to focus on mentors due to the lack of emotional and educational support. Our program is designed to pair up Bassett female students with a mentor to help guide them into adulthood. Throughout my years of High school I had 4 counselors, a new one for each school year. Due to the constant replacements I was unable to maintain a steady relationship with these mentors. With the mentor program I have someone there to help me and answer all my questions without an appointment. I hope our mentor program will allow our fellow classmates to build a relationships with their mentors and help guude them to their futures. I am currently involved in many school clubs. This year I am president of the band club, historian of NHS, editor in the school newspaper, member of the marching band and a student representative of our student government (ASB). My favorite activities include listening to music, singing and going out with friends.

My name is Jennifer Curiel, I am a junior at Bassett high school. I am currently 16 years old and will be turning 17 in November. I play Volleyball and I'm involved in Girls Build LA, Ceramics Club, link crew and ASB. I joined Girls Build LA because I wanted to be a female role model to the women at our school. We are currently working on building a mentorship program. I am enrolled in this mentor program because I would like to make a change in this school and a difference to women.

My name is Bianca Salcedo, I am a senior at Bassett. The reason I decided to join Girls Build LA was because last year when I saw how much work the girls working with their project-the water refill station-put in, i wanted to be as passionate about helping out our school and even our community and I also attended the event with the rest of the teams and that really inspired me. The fact that these girls were able to do so much made me extremely happy that the program is available for us. My team and I decided to start a mentor program, "Latinas Unidas" in order to help our young women when thinking about their future by giving them a mentor that could not only guide them but create a connection with eachother because female empowerment matters and its good seeing so many women's succeses. My job in the team is involving big names, to reach out to the inspiring women we see everyday making changes and talk to them about our program to get them involved. I belive women all around the world deserve a round of applause at all times because we are capable of doing so much even past the stereotypes and boundaries. My personal interests are dancing, watching movies, doing hands on activities, and seeing new places/things and learning a little history about them. I'm really into music especially spanish. I was involved in swim and i loved the passion and family we created. The clubs I am currently involved with are ASB (I am the class of 2018 Secretary), NHS (I am the Vice President), and I am a link crew leader as well. Being able to give back in anyway makes up a big part of who I am.