“The benefits of having a mentor [are so valuable]… asking questions, not feeling shy about asking questions,” Torres-Baez said to more than 20 local middle school, high school, and college-age students on Jan 30. “Even at this age in my life, I struggle sometimes with asking those questions to figure out what I need to do next.”

Today, Torres-Baez is a diversity programs coordinator in Weill Cornell Medicine’s division of general internal medicine. But in the early 2000s, Torres-Baez was a program administrator with Mentoring Latinas/Club Amigas—a 16-year-old program that cultivates close relationships between teenage and college Latinas in the Bronx. It brings adolescent Latinas, who are typically the daughters of immigrant parents, onto the Rose Hill campus for tutoring and down-to-earth dialogue with Fordham Latina students every week. Over the past decade, the program has received $500,000 in grants from AT&T.

At the Wednesday afternoon event, Torres-Baez showed the club’s newest members the power of Latina women with a familiar story—her own.

The daughter of Peruvian immigrants, Torres-Baez graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a concentration in Latino studies. During her college years, she and her classmates supported undocumented students who lacked access to higher education in the U.S. and conducted workshops to explain their cause. Now she is applying to Ph.D. programs, with the goal of researching educational equity and inclusion of undocumented students in medical school, she said.

At Weill Cornell, Torres-Baez is working on a grant to increase underrepresented students at the medical college. Recently, she said, she also helped initiate a mentoring program for minority medical students, faculty, and residents.

“Last night, there was a room of 77 doctors of color: black, Latinx, Asian,” Torres-Baez recalled to the room of young women—including one who said she wanted to become a doctor. “And you don’t see that often.”

The most moving part of Wednesday’s mentoring session was when the young mentees and mentors revealed their dream careers in a round-robin fashion, said Sandra Turner, Ph.D., director of the Mentoring Latinas program and associate professor in the Graduate School of Social Service. The jobs were as eclectic as they were ambitious: a professional soccer player, a neonatal nurse, a marine biologist.

In spite of a sudden snow squall that afternoon, the event at Dealy Hall had served its purpose: to unite Latina women from different generations. As the event reached its end, Torres-Baez recalled the year she left Mentoring Latinas—and in particular, the girls in the program from many years ago.

“I think most of those students … just graduated from college, or they’re in their senior year of college. That will be all of you in a couple of years,” Torres-Baez said, looking at the young Latinas in the room. “I hope we all keep in touch.”

“I was persecuted for my sexual orientation, so I came here for a chance at a better life,” said Rosario, wearing a suit and tie. “I could never dress this way or be who I am. I was shamed, couldn’t live my life, and could never sleep. One thing that is ignored is the mental health of asylum seekers and the mental stress they have experienced before [coming here]. It puts you in a shell.”

Rosario was among the asylum seekers who shared their personal stories at Fordham’s “Women and Girls on the Move,” a March 16 event sponsored by the Graduate School of Social Service (GSS) and held in conjunction with the United Nations 63rd Commission on the Status of Women.

The conference, which brought together educators, politicians, social workers, health care providers, lawyers, and students, came at a time when nearly 80 percent of the 68.5 million refugees, asylum seekers, and stateless and displaced persons documented in the last fiscal year are women and young people; 52 percent are children under 18.

Held at Fordham Law School, the conference aimed to shine a light on the intensifying struggles of women and girls who are fleeing their homes in the midst of violence, persecution, and disaster. The organizers hope to use this knowledge to better help others who are also seeking new lives.

And the time for new solutions is now, presenters said. One person is displaced from their home every two seconds, noted Sandy Turner, Ph.D., director of the GSS Institute for Women and Girls, which presented the conference with the International Health Awareness Network (IHAN).

In addressing the U.N. event’s theme—social protections and public services—the conference also highlighted displaced women and girls’ limited access to health care, education, justice, and humanitarian protections throughout the process of migration and resettlement.

“This is about finding solutions to the global migration crisis,” said Sorosh Roshan, M.D., IHAN founder and president.

A panel discussion featured several women, including Rosario, who represented different communities of asylum seekers.

Mahnaz Sarachi, Ph.D., Executive Director of IHAN, said it’s important to understand the different kinds of people in crisis. “Why are they moving?” she said. “They are in search of a better life… they have left their homes to seek safety.”

A Hard Adjustment

Anna Elvira Brodskaya, an LGBTQ and asylum-seeker rights activist, left Russia, where there is a homophobic culture and the LGBTQ community is often victims of violence. In New York, job opportunities were few.

“Women are not perceived as good enough for decent jobs like ones requiring strength,” she said. “You face harassment and you can do nothing about it, because you are undocumented and you have no rights.”

Rosario spoke of how her life here was initially weighed down by locating affordable health insurance, housing, and health care. “Living in New York is expensive, so you might have to live on the street,” she said. “Yes, there are shelters, but they are not always safe.” Now, thankfully, life has improved for Rosario; she has a wife and is writing a book.

Julia Gagliardi, FCRH ’19, of the Social Innovation Collaboratory at Rose Hill, delivered a moving narrative that was created from a collection of stories from resettled students attending colleges and universities in New York City. “On my own, I had to apply for health insurance outside of my university, because I was not eligible, and pay for it at a higher cost,” shared Gagliardi, quoting a student. “On my own, I had to look for ways to finance my tuition, because I was not eligible for financial aid or scholarships. On my own, I had to meet with a lawyer several times a week to apply for a work permit. On my own, I was connected to an independent donor who heard my story and helped fund part of my tuition.”

Ideas and Suggestions

Discussion led to ideas about how universities can create safe spaces.

Brodskaya suggested schools could offer free courses to women new to the U.S. about career options. “They need to be enlightened about the possibilities … they can be employed not just as nannies and cleaners,” she remarked.

Panelists suggested college campuses would be a safe space to learn about U.S. procedures impacting migrants. “Many are now afraid to apply for asylum,” said one.

They also agreed that universities might help the public understand migrants’ lives.

“We could incubate goodwill on campuses,” said Gagliardi, an English and sociology major.

New Challenges

The conference also featured dialogue about what migrants entering the U.S. are facing, including word that the accepted number of refugees entering the country has been lowered.

Frank Kearl, J.D., LAW ’18, spoke of a “walled prison facility” in Dilley, Texas, where migrants are being held in poor conditions.

Although there are lawyers and advocates helping women and children in Dilley, more volunteers are needed, he said.

“These people are sick, they are scared, and they have no idea what is going to happen to them until a volunteer sits down with them and tells them,” said Kearl, a Workplace Justice Legal Advocate at Make the Road New York. “It’s disgusting what is happening now.”

–Meg McCaffrey

The many manifestations and consequences of violence—and potential measures to address these pressing issues—were the topic of an Oct. 27 conference titled the Impact of Violence on Health and Education, presented by the Fordham Graduate School of Social Service, the Fordham Institute for Women & Girls, and the International Health Awareness Network. The conference placed special emphasis on gun violence, school violence, and sexual and gender-based violence.

“We’re living in a violent time,” said Sandy Turner, Ph.D., associate professor at the Graduate School of Social Service and director of the Institute for Women & Girls. “All we have to do is turn on the news for five minutes and we know that. I think it affects all of us in one way or another just about every day.”

Global perspectives

The event, held at Fordham University School of Law, brought together a roster of experts from a wide array of disciplines—ranging from academic researchers to medical doctors to political leaders—who gave attendees a range of perspectives on how violence impacts societies around the world and what can be done to mitigate the tragic outcomes.

Ambassador Modest Jonathan Mero, the permanent representative of Tanzania to the United Nations, described the Tanzanian government’s efforts to combat domestic violence and promote gender equality. Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal, who represents the Upper West Side in the New York City Council, described municipal legislators’ efforts to allocate more police resources toward investigating instances of sexual assault.

Protecting human rights at every stage of life

Individuals can suffer lifelong effects from violence suffered before they are even born, said Dr. Melody Behnam, an obstetrician-gynecologist in private practice. Physical or emotional abuse of pregnant women can result in lasting complications for both mother and child, she explained, ranging from maternal depression to deficits in cognitive function for children. Clinicians must be trained to recognize domestic violence and implement early intervention techniques, Behnam said.

“This is not just a women’s question—it’s humanity’s question,” she said. “We have to take responsibility to end it.”

Janna C. Heyman, Ph.D., holder of the Endowed Chair of the Henry C. Ravazzin Center on Aging and Intergenerational Studies at the  Graduate School of Social Service, described how older adults can be susceptible to physical, sexual, and emotional abuse because they often suffer from isolation and have no one to turn to for support.

Living a life of dignity, free of abuse, is a human right that we must ensure is protected throughout an individual’s lifespan, Heyman said, “from pregnancy all the way though to older adults and even in death and dying.”

Finding solutions

The Graduate School of Social Service held a contest for students, who submitted papers presenting policy solutions addressing the impact of violence on health and education. Elaine Congress, D.S.W., a founding member of the Institute for Women & Girls and professor and associate dean for continuing education and extra-mural programs at the Graduate School of Social Service, presented awards to the winners at the conference.

Yingying Zhu, an MSW student, won an award for her proposal on improving safety in schools. Among other policies, Zhu advocated for providing additional training to teachers and staff on conflict resolution and classroom management and hosting educational workshops and support groups for parents.

“I’m so glad that policy courses are part of the MSW curriculum,” she said. “Learning about policy has changed my perception about what we can do to advocate.”

– Michael Garofalo

As the group was making its way back to the Rose Hill campus across the street for a mentoring session, Turner noticed that one of the girls who was walking alongside her had a temporary tattoo with the word “Pink” on her cheek.

“I said, “Hey, what’s that about?” Turner recalled. “She was very shy and hesitant at first and then she told me that it was in memory of her grandmother, who had recently died and loved the color pink.”

The young Latina would go on to share some of her personal worries—from the absence of her father who was incarcerated to a younger sister living in another country who she longed to see.

“She just kept talking,” said Turner. “All of these things had been bottled up inside of her. It made be realize how much young people need someone to show interest in their lives, whether it’s someone my age or a mentor who is closer in age to them.”

Founded in 2003 by Ellen S. Silber, Ph.D., Mentoring Latinas provides support and mentorship to Latinas in middle school and high school at the Rose Hill campus in the Bronx, the New York City borough with the largest Hispanic majority.

The program was created to address the educational challenges that young Latinas face. Graduation rates for Latinas have decreased over the last decade, and Latinas hold 7.4 percent of the degrees earned by women—even though they constituted 16 percent of the female population in 2012, according to the Center for American Progress.

Over the years, Mentoring Latinas has attracted generous support from corporate and private foundations and the state and federal government, including the Colgate-Palmolive Inner-City Fund, AT&T, Walmart Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education.

With the help of AT&T, which has contributed over $350,000 to-date to the program, Mentoring Latinas is positioning Bronx adolescents for success inside and outside of the classroom. To boost educational achievement and social growth among high school Latinas, the program pairs each student from local schools in the community with a Latina college student from Fordham University. The goal is to build relationships, promote a healthy bicultural identity in mentees, and prepare them for high school and college, said Miriam Quilan, ACSW, who took over as director after Silber retired in 2015.

Most recently, the Mentoring Latinas program was chosen to participate in a state-of-the-art survey with AT&T, Travelers and several leading practitioner organizations to create the College and Career Readiness Genome, an evidence base of research literature to identify best practices in programming that can increase high school graduation rates, college and career access and readiness, along with college persistence and completion.

According to Quilan, Latina adolescents face many barriers to education. She noted that many of the mentees are daughters of non-English-speaking immigrants who often struggle to navigate the American educational system. It’s something that rings true for Mexican-born mentor Roberta Munoz, a Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) junior.

“I have an older sister who graduated with a master’s in engineering from an Ivy League school,” said Munoz. “No one helped her with the college application process but she helped me so much. She inspired me to do the same for another Latina.”

For Graduate School of Social Service student Marisol Chaparro, Mentoring Latinas allows her to share the mistakes she made as a teenager and the lessons she learned along the way.

“When I was young, I didn’t have someone to mentor me,” said Chaparro, who dropped out of high school but went back to school and received her bachelor’s in sociology before enrolling in Fordham’s graduate program for social work. “I took different routes that weren’t the best and eventually had to find my own path.”

“The more I worked with Hispanic families in the field of education, the more I realized my community needed support. So I looked into more ways of getting involved, ” said Davila.

Mentors said that, like their mentees, they’re gaining knowledge and developing a sense of belonging through the program, which has served more than 400 adolescent Latinas since it was established.

“It may sound cliché, but it’s really a sisterhood,” said Fordham College at Rose Hill senior Kathryn Madigan, a Guatemalan who hails from Wisconsin, where she said her interactions with Latinas were limited. “We’re empowering students in a way I wish I [had been]. ‘If they can do it, I can too’— that’s the kind of community we’re building and the results are amazing.”

Madigan said that two years ago, one of her mentees was struggling in global history and was nervous about an upcoming test, but her anxieties subsided once Madigan gave her a pep talk.

“I think just having me there helped,” said Madigan. “I told her to get a good night’s sleep and eat breakfast the next morning. I also told her about my love of history. I said, ‘sometimes when you’re studying history, you have to think of it as stories and not just facts.’ She embraced this mindset and she actually did really well on her test.”

One of the things that makes the program a success is that the mentors recognize the importance of leading by example.

“I always emphasize that education is a priority in my own life, and I encourage them to do the same,” said FCLC senior Magdalena Valenti, who mentors middle school students in the program. “I think when they see a person who is older than them succeeding at a school that is close by and reputable, it breaks the ice. They say, ‘well if my mentors come to Fordham, there is obviously a place for me there.’”

At a holiday party in December, the mentees seemed right at home. In one room, middle school mentees and their mentors each spoke about special talents they possess.

One mentee, described by mentors as shy and quiet, unveiled a plaque she had just received for being the best debater on the school team. Another girl read a statement about how she used to be bullied in school but has learned to stand up for herself with help from her mentor.

Two rooms away, a group of high school mentees and their mentors sat in a circle and took turns sharing what they were thankful for as they prepared for a new year.

When it was one mentee’s turn to express gratitude, she looked around the room and paused.

“I’m thankful for everybody in this room at this time,” she said. “You guys have all taught me something in your own way, whether you know it or not.”

(Mary Awad contributed to this article.)

And smiles could be seen all around during a tour of the agency given by its deputy executive director, David Vincent, PhD. To even the critical observer, it would seem that the people who work at The Door like their jobs.

The job satisfaction at The Door exemplifies the findings in Vincent’s dissertation, “Commitment to Social Justice and its Influence on Job Satisfaction and Retention of Nonprofit Middle Managers.” He is graduating with a doctorate in social work from the Graduate School of Social Service(GSS).

In a survey of 38 New York-area nonprofit settlement houses, Vincent asked middle managers to rate their awareness of social justice issues and examined how that awareness affected job satisfaction. He found that when managers’ social justice sensitivity aligned with the mission of the organization, their job satisfaction was high, as was job retention.

“When the baby boomers begin to retire, there’s going to be a big gap in the managerial pipeline at nonprofits, so we need to understand what makes employees happy,” said Vincent, who teaches in the leadership track at Fordham as an adjunct professor of social work. “Middle managers are future leaders, so we need to ask how we can help them be better leaders, and what kind of professional development do they need.”

Vincent’s journey into nonprofit work began during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, when many of his friends were dying. He volunteered and worked with HIV-positive youth, and felt like he was making a difference. Vincent later moved to Boston and began working with homeless youth, for which authenticity was essential. “They have to trust you, and you have to meet them where they’re at.”

After returning to New York to work as associate executive director at Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, Vincent met Sandra Turner, PhD, a GSS professor and board member at Callen-Lorde who encouraged him to pursue his doctoral degree at Fordham.

“I came here because I could go to school and still work a full-time job,” he said.

Vincent pursued his doctorate taking one or two classes at a time, motivated mainly by ideas of social justice.

Empathy has been key to his work, his research, and his life, he said. Vincent is a white man who helps lead an organization in which most employees are black or Hispanic and most clients are young people of color, so he strives to understand the challenges they face.

“When you work with underserved communities and you want to do your job well, you need to understand racism, and that it is systemic, and that those are the issues that many of your clients and many of your co-workers are dealing with,” he said. “To lead an organization, you have to ‘get’ social justice. You need to understand equity.”

His own upbringing was far from the American mainstream. He grew up in a working-class Portuguese community outside Boston, raised by first generation parents.

“We were very marginalized, so I knew what it was like to come from the lower end of the totem pole and not the dominant part that ruled society,” he said. “It’s just by the grace of God that I had wonderful, supportive parents.”