For Venezuela native Elisa Thompson, moving to Tulsa 28 years ago presented an unexpected hurdle.
“I’ve never been afraid because I’m Latina,” she said in Spanish. “I’m afraid to communicate in a language that isn’t mine, and I don’t do it well.”
Thompson joined more than 200 Latinas Thursday at the fourth annual Tulsa Latina Leadership Conference, an all-Spanish event designed to turn that fear into authority and teach local Latinas to unapologetically own their space.
“Each one of these Latina women have inspiration and energy that injects you,” Thompson said.
This year’s conference, “Tu Voz es Tu Poder: Atrévete a Ocupar Tu Espacio” — “Your Voice is Your Power: Dare to Take Up Space” — provided leadership development focused on the experiences Latina women face in their careers, businesses and communities.
Organizers Elian Hurtado and Yadira McCoy launched the conference in 2023. McCoy said they wanted Latina women to see themselves reflected in every story and experience they brought to the stage.
Regina Carrot, an influential online Mexican life coach, spoke to the group about the importance of finding their voice. Carrot started off as a marketing coordinator and learned more about how to build her brand over time.
This was the lesson she wanted attendees to take with them. The end of the conference is only the opening of a door for Latina women to take authority of their voice, she said.
Metzli Bravo, a Hispanic services consultant for Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness, said she feels more confident to lead workshops and meetings at her workplace. There are not a lot of Hispanic people who do work like hers, she said.
Bravo is tasked with supporting families with young children, preparing them for school. She’s planning to take the lessons she learned at the conference and apply them to her job and share them with the families she serves.
“For me, it’s important to come here and learn how these organizations and women can support Hispanic or bilingual promotoras (promoters),” Bravo said. “So they can provide quality childcare and benefit to the second generation and forth.”
Sitting inside the Discovery Lab, participants were asked to close their eyes and speak to their younger selves. It was emotional and motivational for Graciela Solano.
“It made me think about what I imagined for the future and see how much I’ve accomplished of what I dreamed and what have been surprises of life,” she said.
Solano says she enjoyed learning there were more Latinas in the community who share her goals for growth, personally and professionally.
Meanwhile, Thompson says she will apply the lessons to her daily life. She recommends other Latinas take advantage of free resources and growth opportunities in town.
“This is my personal growth,” she said. “If I grow, my fruits will grow.”
This article was produced as part of a partnership between the Tulsa Flyer and La Semana, a Tulsa-based bilingual Spanish-English newspaper serving Latino communities in Oklahoma.
News decisions at the Tulsa Flyer are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
