Topic: The Church’s Role in Addressing Immigration & Women Empowerment
Guest Speaker: Monica Tornoe, Project Associate for Education Beyond the Walls at the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
About Monica Tornoe:
Monica Tornoe was born and raised in Guatemala, Central America, where she graduated as an Attorney at Law from the Francisco Marroquin University. She moved to Austin, Texas, following a career opportunity for her family. As a result, Monica started working at the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, developing a community of learners among the Latino communities. Monica is committed to theological education as a pathway for bringing understanding in the white communities and empowerment of the Latino communities. She accomplishes this goal in many ways.
For example, Monica leads Instituto Maria y Marta, a two-year certificate program designed to empower Latina women through practical theological education. She also collaborates in the Certificado en Ministerio Program (CEM), an online program in theology, Bible and the arts of ministry taught in Spanish. In addition, she serves as a member of the 787 Collective, an initiative to reconnect young adults and communities of faith.
In addition, as part of her strong desire to unite the church and activism through education, she developed at the Seminary an educational outreach program called “Undocumented Stories” to educate communities, congregations and church bodies on the issue of immigration by sharing individual immigrants’ stories told in their own words.
Date & Time: Friday, November 1, 2019, 9:00am-10:00am
Building Bridges Friday Community Dialogues are free weekly gatherings that bring together culturally diverse community members to learn about local community groups, build new relationships and seek collaborative solutions to address community issues. The following groups participate in these conversations.
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Leadership Austin, Every First Friday
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Austin Community College, Every Second Friday
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University of Texas Division of Diversity & Community Engagement, Every Third Friday
To participate in First Friday as a speaker, please email Courtney Bailey (Director of Issues & Engagement) at cbailey@leadershipaustin.org.
