2020 John H. Chafee Lifetime Service Award to Tomás Ávila

[2021] John H. Chafee Lifetime Service Award

Tomas Avila Milenio Latino Institute

01/14/21

© 2021 by Tomás Alberto Ávila. All Rights Reserved. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed or by any means or stored in a database or retrieval system without the prior written of the publisher.

First Printing January 2021

Published by Milenio Latino Institute, Inc. Providence, Rhode Island tavila@mileniolatinoinstitute.org

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: Pending

ISBN ----1--------14-8

Printed in the United Stated of America.

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United Way of RI Presented Tomás Avila the 2020 John H. Chafee Life Achievement Service Award at the 94th Annual Celebration.

Providence - The United Way of RI Presented Tomás Ávila the 2020 John H. Chafee Life Achievement Service Award at the 94th Annual Virtual Celebration, January 14, 2021. The celebration recognizes four community champions who are committed to changing lives and working in the community and kick off our new strategic plan LIVE UNITED 2025. The award winners are as follows: Corporate Partnership Brown University, Young Leader Spark!

Award Chris Hardy, UNFI, Women United Award, Lisa Guillette, Foster Forward, Dante Mollo Labor Award Phil Fogarty, UWUA Local 310, John H. Chafee Lifetime Service Award | Tomás Ávila, Tomás Ávila Consulting, Milenio Latino Institute Back in 1996, according to Ávila he responded to God’s calling and decided involved himself into a political movement evolving in Rhode Island, and joined many women and men leading such movement. I found that most of the individuals leading such movement, were young GenX Latinos recently graduated from local colleges and universities, eager to put their educational facts and theories into practice challenging the status quo.

Amongst the GenX youth, were members of the Baby Boom Generation some of whom understood what was going on the youth and joined them while others did not and instead antagonized these new breeds of movers and shakers. At that time, I decided to put my strategic corporate and Boston Community Activist experience to their avail and mentored them while documenting such movement through my expert note taking developed throughout the years.

At the same time Tomás decided to get involved in this movement, he came across a one week series in the local newspaper the Providence Journal titled “Coming into Their Own: In politics, business, music and the arts, Rhode Island Latinos are making their presence felt” chronicling the fast growth of the Latino community during the 1980’s and how such community was becoming a political force throughout the 90s. I also read an add about the “Community 3

Leadership Development Initiative (CLDI) being offered by the Center for Hispanic Policy & Advocacy (CHisPA) to trained newly arrived immigrants and professionals new to Rhode Island, and decided to joined the program and learned about the Latino and general community’s needs, political structure, and the diverse members of the community.

That was the beginning of Tomás injecting integration in the empowerment of the fast growing Latino community, and his success coalescing with the Generation X college graduates and local boomers he met across Rhode Island and successfully changing the state’s socio political scene while growing into power by successfully addressing the diversity of Latino population in terms of national groups and immigration became an important component of our political success, along with the strategies devised in response to the social and political environment that greeted us, rose to electoral success the swiftness of which was unparalleled in New England.

Tomás has a long history of community service committed to Rhode Island and Rhode Island citizens advancement for about 40 years and has worked in both economic realms and political realms.

According to Mr. Zechariah Chaffee, a role that certainly would have appealed to the late US senator John H. Chafee, Tomás has for many years, engaged in hands-on action in the election victories of Latino political candidates. Tomás well understands that the path to power goes through the ballot box to ensure that the path is open to his people. In recognition of Tomas' commitment to free and fair elections, former Providence Mayor Angel Taveras, appointed him a commissioner on and chairman of the Providence Board of canvassers, the first Latino to lead the board in the city's 378-year history. Tomas is a force for good in our state.”

Tomás pitched in the wellbeing of Latinos, as executive director of Progreso Latino, the largest and oldest Latino human services state nonprofit responsible for managing and implementing policies and programs that lead to the success of the agency’s diverse clientele and stakeholders located in Central Falls, deputy director and Policy Analyst at the Center for Hispanic policy and advocacy (CHisPA), responsible of identifying and tracking legislative issues that impact 4

the Latino and minority communities. in Providence, Policy Analyst at the Governor's Advisory Commission on Hispanic Affairs, and cofounder and president of the Rhode Island Latino Political Action Committee (RILPAC), among many other positions.

Tomás played a key role in the 2002 redistricting as a member of both the Rhode Island Latino Political Action Committee, the Common Cause board, host of the founding meeting of the Fair Redistricting, responsible of developing clear, legally defensible standards those were written into the enabling legislation, developed a highly public process for 2002 redistricting, and successfully advocated to keep Providence districts entirely within the city to avoid diluting minority districts, and the Latino Voting Right Project, that promoted the participation of the Latino community in the 2002 redistricting process critical to determining the nature of Latino political representation at the Congressional, state and local levels of government for the next decade.

Former Providence Mayor David Ciciline appointed Tomás to the city's equity Task Force with the objective to strengthen Providence minority contracting procedures, its equal opportunity compliance, and its affirmative action efforts. Tomas’ work in research and analysis led to the restructuring of the city's first source ordinance, so beneficial for up-and-coming Minority Business creators seeking a fair share of city procurement. was a role it certainly would have appealed to the late US senator John H. Chafee.

Economically, Tomás is a real locomotive for Latino business and entrepreneur serving as the administrator of the Rhode Island Small Business Development Center’s Primer Paso FasTrac businessfeasibility planning program, at Johnson & Wales University, where his hard work and dedication was an asset to his community, colleagues and the entire Rhode Island SBDC network effectively helping countless entrepreneurs in managing their small businesses, starting new businesses, increasing sales and creating new jobs for Rhode Island earning him the State Star Award presented annually to one employee in the SBDC network by the Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC) annually awards a State Star to outstanding SBDC employees who are exemplary performers, 5

make significant contributions to their state or region and show a strong commitment to small business.

Tomås was instrumental in founding the Rhode Island Latino Political Action Committee, with the purpose of raising funds to support the races of Latinos and non-Latinos that advance a platform compatible with Latino interests. Here Latino interests are defined broadly and include education, immigration policy, employment, and small business and economic development, bridging the common gap between the interests of immigrants and those with longer tenure in the United States. RILPAC became an umbrella organization that, united that allowed the diverse communities to come to an agreement on the issues confronting the Latino Community, New York Latina PAC, Delaware Latino PAC, Democracy Compact, Non-partisan organization charge with the objective of reversing a decade’s long slide in voting participation in Rhode Island. Worked to build ground operations from the bottom and assisted grass root organizations by providing polling data and research materials, provide voter contact materials, and hold state base vote training for campaign staff, specifically targeting high performance precincts, Providence Civic Entrepreneur Initiative, the RI Latina Leadership Institute, the Sunset Summer Cookout, open to everyone across his socio economic, political network and started the process of social integration and community building. The event became a 15 year tradition attended by members of the community at large, political candidates and elected officials, in a nonpartisan harmonious fashion.

Similarly back in 2009 after a conversation with four friends about the need for a unifying voice for Latino-Owned businesses, professionals, and community leaders to advocate for opportunities that uplifted the community, while fostering an environment for personal and professional growth, Ă vila cofounded the Rhode Island Latino Professional Business Network to provide a harmonious space for diverse professionals, entrepreneurs, business owners and Community Leaders to network while exchanging success stories and incubating commercial and Professional relationships one person at the time. The network has played a key role in the inclusion of Latino-owned businesses in the 2015-2035 Rhode Island Economic Development Plan, the Rhode Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Milenio 6

Latino Institute, He currently serves on the board of the UWRI Advisory Board Tomás is the founder and president of the Milenio Latino Institute, a tax-exempt, non-profit, non-partisan public policy analysis organization chartered in 2008 with the purpose to: conduct basic research aimed at improving the level of political and economic participation in Latino and other underrepresented communities.

Diversity and Inclusion As a descendant of a multi-racial, cultural, ethnic and diverse, family genealogy Ávila has dedicated a great portion of his life advocating for inclusion, diversity and respect for all human being.

According to the Providence En Español, Rhode Island largest, and second oldest Spanish newspaper, July 2011 article, “Ávila’s advocacy for inclusiveness and diversity, has served as a bridge to the socio-economic and-political inclusion of Latinos in Rhode Island.”

Tomás is an alumna of Leadership Rhode Island Upsilon class of 2000, AFL-CIO Leadership for a Future Class of 2000, the Pew Foundation Providence Civic Entrepreneurship Initiative class of 1998, the RISBDC Entrepreneurship Training Program (ETP) class of 1997.

Tomás has been the recipient of multiple awards for his volunteer services such as: Center for Hispanic Policy & Advocacy (CHisPA) Outstanding Leadership (2002), Quisqueya In Action Outstanding Latino Professional (2003), Delaware PAC, Leadership Award (2003), Imagen Hispana Magazine Influential Hispanic of New England (2004), John Hope Settlement House Outstanding Community Leader (2004), ASBDC State Star Award (2007), Cesar Chavez Exceptional Leadership Award (2011), Quetzal Award (2013), NAACP Thurgood Marshall diversity empowerment Award (2014), HUDO Excellence in Civic Engagement Award (2015), RILPBN Exceptional Leadership in growth and development of Future Leaders (2015), Mujeres Emprendedoras Leadership Award (2015), Dominican Independence and Heritage Award (2016), RIPLA Outstanding Community Involvement Award (2016), Honduras 7

General Consulate in New York, Outstanding Community Leadership Award (2016), Telemundo Providence Héroe de La Humanidad Award (2016), The Rhode Island Professional Latino Association (RIPLA) spotlight, (2020), Grand Marshal, in The Dominican Festival and Parade of Rhode Island, in recognition of his dedication as a community servant, his commitment to economic development on all levels and helping to empower the :Latino community (2017), United Way of Rhode Island, John H. Chafee Lifetime Service Award (2020).

Published: Boston Globe, Providence Journal, Providence American, Providence Business News, Pawtucket Times, Providence En Español, Siglo 21, Latino Express, Acontecer Latinoto to name a few. ### Thank you, United way of Rhode Island, for this honor.

I accept this award on behalf of all the partners I have been blessed to work with; throughout the years advocating for improvements in our communities, and my beloved wife Eva, who has always supported my volunteering.

I was raised by parents who instilled in me, to leave every person and place better than I found it, which became second nature to me, and I have enjoyed contributing in the betterment of humanity, and Rhode Island; In different ways To receive this award named after such a great public servant whom I respect and admire, during the COVID-19 pandemic public health emergency, that’s testing humanity like never before in our lifetime makes this award that much more significant, and I dedicate it to the memories of those that have gone before us, and their families while reminding us that we are in this together.

Thank you again.

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