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Latinos in the Deep South
Staff Bios
Yanira Arias
Director of Community Organizing
Yanira Arias was born in San Salvador, El Salvador. She graduated from the University of El Salvador in 1996 with a focus in journalism. In 1991, while pursuing her studies, she enrolled in one of the students association at the Journalism Department, known as “Student Projection”, where she learned of strategies to promote students mobilization to ask the government for greater funds for alumni projects, institutional development, and for better salaries for College staff. In 1993 as the General Secretary of “Student Projection” she met and worked with community organizers, rural leaders from El Salvador, and organizers form the United States to discuss the agenda for a new political and democratic culture and structure to help El Salvador transition from the past civil war and become a democratic nation. The efforts were geared to developing a nation that promotes social justice and equal opportunities for all social strata, especially for the poor who had been historically marginalized from decision making.
Yanira is the president of the Salvadoran American National Network (SANN), and an active member since 2004. SANN is an organization that since 1992 is dedicated to advocating for the rights of immigrant Salvadorians, and other immigrant groups in the United States. Since 2003, Ms. Arias has worked for the Latino Commission on AIDS, providing HIV prevention education to Latinas and Latinos in faith communities in New York City. In 2007 she started a new program, "My Healthy Home" (Mi Casa Sana), an initiative that promotes smoking cessation and the reduction of exposure to secondary smoke among Spanish speaking Latinas. She enjoys photography, cycling, and spending time outdoors.
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