Team

Meet the team of mujeres that make Proyecto Latina happen weekly and monthly, year-round.

Irasema Gonzalez is a writer and merchant.  She is a founding member of Proyecto Latina an initiative, that includes a reading series and a website, dedicated to featuring and documenting the work of Latina women.  Her poems have appeared in the chapbook, Afternoon Wine: Vicios, Sueños y Confesiones,  Ariel XXVIII, and in Between the Heart and the Land: An Anthology of Midwestern Latina Poets by March Abrazo Press.  She is the owner of Tianguis.biz, an online bookshop that focuses on Latino titles by indie presses and is the exclusive distributor for Momotombo Press.  She is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago where she earned a B.A. in journalism and creative writing.  She resides in Little Village with her husband and two cats. Contact: Irasema@info@proyectolatina.org

Diana Pando is a multi-genre writer from the south side of Chicago. Diana likes to flex her writing and advocacy skills to support Latinos in the arts and nonprofits impacting Latina women and girls in under served communities. She is a founder of the Proyecto Latina Reading Series and webzine. “When I first got the idea I knew it would be a collaborative effort with other dynamic women like Coya and Irasema”. Together we bring Latinas in the arts together once a month to tell their stories and support their creative efforts by providing a safe space where they can share and express their creativity while building community. Diana’s kryptonite includes: Writing Cupcakes, military history, coffee, and cumbias. Contact: Diana@proyectolatina.org or @dianapando

Coya Paz is a poet, director, and lip gloss connoisseur who was raised in Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil before moving permanently to the United States in 1987. Coya is a proud co-founder of Proyecto Latina and the director in residence for the Poetry Performance Incubator at the Guild Complex. She cofounded Teatro Luna in 2000, and served as co-Artistic Director until 2009. Recent projects include: Nation of Cowards, a multi-sited performance piece about interracial dialogue; Tour Guides;  and Machos.  Coya teaches in The Theater School at DePaul University, and is finishing a PhD in Performance Studies at Northwestern University, where she also holds her MA. Above all, she believes in the power of performance and poetry to build community towards social change. For a full manifesto, visit her on the web at www.coyapaz.com.

Yolanda Cardenas lives in a city known as a mecca of arctic cold, bizarre weather and medicine, where she emerges as a modern day Dr. Zhivago. Currently, Dr. Cardenas is a Proyecto Latina correspondent and contributes  interviews and audio essays to our website.  She previously served as the music director of Proyecto Latina Radio on 90.5FM WRTE Radio Arte, but her radio debut was on NPR’s “848″ which aired a poem in a segment about the Proyecto Latina Open Mic series. In 2007, Yolanda participated in “Niki Nights: Literature and Music in the Garden” at the Garfield Park Conservatory as well as in the National Museum of Mexican Art’s “Sor Juana Festival.” In 2006 she was a semi-finalist in the 13th Annual Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Award and her work appeared in “Afternoon Wine: Vicios, Sueños y Confesiones” a compilation of poems in a chapbook featuring her writing group. In 2004, Yolanda Cardenas completed her family medicine training, while fine tuning the art of medicine, this Chicago native also honed her writing. Although there’s no Russian revolution in her future, she’s primed for social change and a medical revolution.

Ericka Sanchez is currently a Proyecto Latina Correspondent and the the one who masterminded the Chisme Box.  A transplant from Mexico, raised in one of the cultural meccas for Mexicanos in Chicago–Little Village. Her current incarnation as a school teacher by day allows her to run rampant for her love of photography, writing and crafting, music and movie obsessions as well as supporting fellow Latinas and their creative endeavors!

Thelma Uranga is a photographer interested in the tensions inherent when looking at cultural identity within contemporary American society. Thelma received a BA in Studio Art/Photography from Illinois State University in 2008. During her time in Bloomington-Normal, her photographic work focused on the area’s youth and their cultural duality as children of immigrant parents living in America. In 2008, Thelma was recognized by the Center for Visual Arts at Illinois State University when she received the University Galleries Award in Photography at the Student Annual. In 2007, she participated in the Pilsen Open Studio and in the summer of 2009, Thelma served on the teaching staff at Yollocalli Arts Reach, a youth initiative of the National Museum of Mexican Art. Thelma is also an avid knitter; she is the co-founder and main organizer of El Stitch y Bitch: a multi-cultural knitting circle that collectively creates large-scale projects and public works. Currently, Thelma is exploring cultural identity on a personal level through fiber-based installation works and is also interested in documenting the current state of her hometown Cicero, IL, a bustling Latino community.

The Chisme Box is a regular at our monthly readings and she loves to interact with everyone.  She loves the buzz of a crowded room and has the bad habit of eavesdropping on everyone, but rest assured she can keep a secret.  Despite her name she prefers funny confessionals to mean-spirited gossip and is unapologetic about spitting out deposits that don’t sit well with her.  She’s proud to be made from 100% upcycled/recycled materials, but thinks she’s overdue for a make-over.