What is Empower LATAM UK?
Empower LATAM UK is a registered charity (registered charity number 1202303) that exists to support young Latin Americans living in the UK between the ages of 14 and 30.​​​
Why do we exist?
​Academic research and our own personal experience has shown that young Latin Americans in the UK face many barrier. This includes, but is not limited to, lack of access to resources/information, discrimination (both conscious and unconscious), lack of role models, lack of professional network, and issues around visibility. These barriers can create low confidence and a lack of opportunity for young people in the Latin American community. For example, did you know that Latin Americans in London are 2.5 times more likely to work in elementary jobs than the average Londoner? (McIlwaine and Bunge, [2016], Towards visibility: the Latin American community in London).
At Empower LATAM UK, our mission is to remove these barriers to young Latin Americans in the UK so that they have an equal chance for success and happiness. We do this by creating excellent programs and events that try to aim to inform and empower young Latin Americans across the UK. That is why we are called 'Empower LATAM UK' - our mission is to empower the next generation of Latin Americans in the UK to break the cycle. ​
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The History
Empower LATAM UK was born when four young Latin Americans, César, Elizabeth, Andy, and Pablo, met at university. Through their involvement in leading a student-run society representing the Latin American community at the university, they tried to address some of the issues facing other young Latin Americans like them. This included providing a hub were Latin Americans students could share information and advice, events where they could celebrate their culture, and a safe spaces where we people could discuss topics relevant to their experience. The student-run group also collaborated with other groups to lead a campaign to increase the visibility of Latin Americans (students and staff) at their university, including successfully pushing for their university to include a 'Latin American' category to their forms.
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The group's experience in their society taught them several key things. Through research and discussions with others like them, the group realised that many young Latin Americans struggled with the same barriers that did not affect many other young people as much. For example, them and many of their peers were finding it hard to gain work experience or even job interviews. In contrast, they saw how other young people could rely on their parent's connections or experiences to secure internships, as well as how they knew many more resources that could help them. The group decided that, as there was no existing organisation that could effectively provide the help that they and other young Latin Americans needed, they needed to create it themselves to help future generations of young people in their community.
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After several months of further research and many meetings in between classes, Empower LATAM UK officially became a registered charity on a mission to support young Latin Americans in the UK.
The four co-founders of Empower LATAM UK at one of their first meetings to discuss how they could help other young Latin Americans in the UK.​
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From left to right: Pablo (Mexico), César (Cuba), Andy (Ecuador), and Elizabeth (Ecuador)