| Contact |
Dustin Luca
|
|---|
SALEM, MASS. – A campus leader in Salem State University’s work toward becoming a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) has been named the recipient of a prestigious award honoring Latino American leaders in Massachusetts.
Elisa Castillo, assistant vice president of HSI-MSI Initiatives at Salem State, is being honored by We Are ALX, a non-partisan, collaborative non-profit organization with the mission of advancing Latino American leadership representation. The organization’s ALX100 Awards and their recipients were announced in the Boston Sunday Globe’s Boston Magazine on Sunday, Sept. 14, the day before the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month.
The ALX100 Awards, now in their third year, celebrate 100 of the brightest Latino American changemakers from across the Commonwealth. Identifying Castillo as standing at the forefront of the HSI movement in Massachusetts, ALX highlighted her work to lead the development of a Roadmap to Servingness at Salem State, amid other efforts that “focus on intentionally welcoming students and families from multilingual communities and ensuring that all students have access to resources and high-impact practices that help them thrive,” a profile on Castillo from the award program read. ALX also pointed to Castillo’s leadership off-campus, “working with colleagues across Massachusetts and the nation to strengthen HSIs and increase college access and completion rates for all students, including Latino students.”
“It is a true honor to be recognized and included in the ALX100,” Castillo said. “There are so many amazing leaders here in Massachusetts, and it is humbling to be included in this cohort.”
The list was published in the Globe Magazine “to highlight the impact of people of Hispanic and Latin American heritage across the Commonwealth,” the article read. The awards will be further celebrated at an event Friday, Oct. 17 at the JFK Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.
“Being an intentional HSI-MSI means more than just enrolling or graduating students. It means we are mindful of the needs, strengths, and cultural wealth of our students, and we continue to evolve as an institution to meet those needs,” Castillo said. “I am proud of the work we are doing here at Salem State, and it is lovely to see that our work goes beyond the borders of our campus. It is a pleasure to work with colleagues across the state and the country to improve our educational systems and close opportunity gaps for our communities.”