Karen Menendez Coller
When Karen Menendez Coller was 14 years old, her family immigrated to the United States from El Salvador. Her extended family already lived in California, and Los Angeles, with its large Latino population and strong sense of community, was a natural fit. She adjusted to life in the U.S. with relative ease.
But many Latinos settling in Dane County have a much different experience, Coller says.
"It's a lot more challenging here than it is in California," says Coller. "You really need an agency that's going to figure out how to bring them out of the shadows."
That's exactly what Coller is trying to do as executive director of Centro Hispano, a position she took in August 2013. Since then, she has made a long list of goals for Centro's future and secured a $100,000 grant from CUNA Mutual.
In her short tenure, Coller has earned praise from Centro's board of directors and active members. As Centro Hispano celebrates its 25th anniversary on Nov. 21 with a fundraiser at Monona Terrace, the organization is looking to Coller to lead the way in tackling the major challenges facing the Latino community in Madison and Dane County.
El Salvador to Madison
As a child, Coller made frequent trips between El Salvador and the San Francisco Bay area, where she had relatives. When her family settled permanently in the U.S. in 1989, they chose Los Angeles, where other relatives lived. But even with a wide support network, the transition was difficult for her parents.
"I was always very conscious of the sacrifices my family was making," Coller recalls. "After we immigrated, my family made the decision that my dad would work in El Salvador and my mom would work in the States because that was easier for him than finding a job here."
Those sacrifices enabled and inspired Coller's drive for an education. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California at Berkeley, a master's from the University of Michigan and a doctorate from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Later, she gravitated towards work that combined hard science with community involvement.
"Every single project I've been involved with has had community at the table," Coller explains. "I was always intrigued about how to make action happen, and all too often programs in the minority community aren't grounded in evidence."
The disconnect between research and implementation led Coller to seek work focused on serving a community. She found what she was looking for at Centro Hispano.
"Coming to Centro has been the perfect next step," Coller says. "I'm really proud of the programs that we do, and I want to make sure that they reflect the evidence and have strong outcomes."
Where leaders are made
Centro Hispano was founded in 1983 by community volunteers. Originally headed by Ilda Thomas Contreras, Centro focused solely on language and cultural needs.
"You will find the history of Centro Hispano in many of our current leaders in Dane County; they started their careers here," says current board president Gloria Reyes, who was also just named an aide to Mayor Paul Soglin. "Centro Hispano has become a place where leaders are made, a place where our youth can dream and a place many of us call home."
Yet as the Latino population and Centro's membership continued to grow, Reyes saw a need to take the organization to the next level.
"We needed a leader who could share a clear vision and help others experience the same passion and motivation," Reyes says. "Karen Menendez was the transformational leader that we needed."
"Karen continues to inspire our staff, community and our board to follow her direction in bringing us back to why we do what we do at Centro Hispano," Reyes adds
In 2013, the center had a budget of roughly $1.2 million. With 17 paid staff members -- many of whom have worked their way through Centro's programs -- the organization is poised to continue to grow.
Creating thriving families
After a year as executive director, Coller is eager to deepen and expand Centro's programs, focusing on creating thriving families.
To do this, Coller says, Latino families need to feel comfortable using services already available in Dane County from government agencies and nonprofits. Unfortunately, issues of legality often deter families from seeking help.
"I'd say the majority [of Madison's Latino community] is undocumented," says Coller. "If you don't have that set up, you're always going to be in the shadows, with a fear of 'How can they help me here -- what are they going to think if they find out I'm undocumented?' It creates a really tough barrier."
Struggling with undocumented status poses enormous health risks, she says. "It leads to a lot of mental health problems and anxieties, and that only fosters that sense of fear."
To help families cope, Centro provides a range of services, from adult programs that help with case management, legal advocacy and employment, to youth programs that start in middle school and follow children through high school, teaching leadership skills, self-esteem and career exploration.
While there has always been an emphasis on youth at Centro Hispano, Coller stresses the importance of going beyond the classroom to foster aspiration.
"Youth are more than just in the schools. There's a community around them, there's neighborhoods, there's parents, and so to really strengthen them -- which has always been the goal of Centro -- we need to go back to what Ilda started and focus on networks of support," Coller says.
Coller is engaging parents more than ever before. If parents have kids involved in one of Centro's programs, they're encouraged to participate in Centro's adult programming. Coller is also connecting parents with other parents.
"Just having groups of parents here interact creates those networks and support systems, so when they go out into the community they're not alone; they know people."
For Coller, these connections will ultimately bring Latino families out of the shadows. "Our community is really resilient," Coller says. "How can we facilitate them keeping that hope and advancement going?"
Coller says the wider community can help foster hope and support for Latinos.
"Give us some independence, trust in the direction that we're going, but hold us accountable for the change that you want to see," says Coller. "Provide not only programmatic support, but infrastructure support -- it's got to be a long-term investment. Invest in our future, and trust that we know how to get us there."
Centro Hispano Turns 25
Nov. 21, 6-11 pm, Monona Terrace Convention Center
This celebration and fundraiser will highlight the achievements of Centro Hispano's Latino youth while honoring those who have supported Centro through the years. Tickets are $75.
