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Black Tie International:
Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture
Without Borders
Announces Juan Carlos Aguirre as New
Executive Director |
Mano a Mano :
Mexican Culture
Without Borders
Announces New
Executive Director
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Juan Carlos
Aguirre
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Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture Without Borders,
an arts and culture organization promoting
Mexican traditions in New York, announced today that
Emily Socolov, Ph. D., is leaving her position as
Executive Director in order to pursue other opportunities,
effective December 31, 2010. She will continue to serve the
organization as a member of its Executive Board.
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Juan Carlos Aguirre,
currently serving as Program Director
at Mano a Mano will assume the duties of
Executive Director
in 2011.
Mr. Aguirre brings an extensive range of experience in the public sector
and the nonprofit world to his new position.
Born in Mexico and raised in Michoacán and the State of
Mexico, he arrived in New York at the age of 10. A resident
of Jackson Heights, Queens, he served in the US Navy and
received a Bachelor of Science at St. John’s University. His
advanced training includes the Leadership Development Course
for Mexican community leaders, presented by the General
Consulate of Mexico in New York with the City University of
New York (CUNY), and the School of Public Affairs at Baruch
College.
He also received a Non-Profit Management Certificate (Baruch
College, Hispanic Leadership Institute) and attended
the Summer Institute in Latino Studies (Fordham University,
Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education). |
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Mr. Aguirre has worked at the
Asociación Tepeyac of New York for four years in various
positions. As Caseworker in the after school program he
built strategic relationships with other community-based
organizations, schools and agencies citywide. He worked
closely with individual clients to develop personal recovery
plans after the 9/11 tragedy and presented cases before the
9/11 Unmet Needs Roundtable to advocate for economic
assistance for Mexicans who were affected by those tragic
events. Aguirre also served as ESL coordinator at Tepeyac.
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Aguirre has been
instrumental in brokering relationships between the Mexican
immigrant community and the Catholic Church. He
coordinates the annual mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in
honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe on December 12th.
At Mano a Mano, he has headed the Faith Based Initiative and
is coordinating the upcoming Conference: Mexican
Catholics in New York: Faith and Community to be held in
March of 2011, in coordination with the Archdiocese of New
York. |
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Emily Socolov received her
Ph.D. in Mexican Folklore and Folklife at the University of
Pennsylvania and a Licentiate in Museum Studies from the
National Institute of Anthropology and History in Mexico.
She has researched, written and taught on traditional
Mexican culture for over thirty years. She has collaborated
extensively with the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for
Folklife and Cultural Heritage in fieldwork, teacher
training and festival presentation. Socolov has worked with
Mano a Mano for eight years, joining the initiative as
Project Director at the Center for Traditional Music and
Dance. In 2006, she led the organization to become an
independent non-profit 501(c)3. |
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Mano a Mano has since become the leading arts and culture
organization serving the Mexican immigrant community in
New York through cultural presentations, educational programs and artist
development. The organization has an eight-year history of
producing annual events, including
Day of the Dead
(St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery), Posadas y Pastorelas
(Museum of the City of New York) and Immigrant Heritage Week
(various locations). Establishing partnerships with the
major cultural institutions in New York City, Mano a
Mano has presented at the Museum of the City of New York,
the American Museum of Natural History, Central Park
Conservancy, The National Museum of the American
Indian (Smithsonian), El Museo del Barrio, The American Folk
Art Museum, Lincoln Center Out-Of- Doors, the American
Indian Community House, the Taller Boricua and many others.
The Mexicanidadprogram, based at the Brooklyn Music
School, has introduced scores of students – children,
teens and adults, Mexican and non-Mexican alike – to the
richness of Mexican music, dance and visual arts. The
immigrant artist initiative at Mano a Mano, funded by the
National Endowment for the Arts, is in the final phase of
redesigning the website and launching an Immigrant Artists
Portal in Spring 2011.
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Socolov remains
deeply committed to Mano a Mano and will continue as an
active Board Member. She is confident that Juan Carlos
Aguirre will take Mano a Mano to new heights.
“Juan Carlos is rightly acclaimed for his commitment and
advocacy on behalf of the Mexican immigrant community,
and for his passion for education as the key to building
strong community, as well as his composed and focused
personality.
He is an ideal leader for Mano a Mano and for the Mexican
community. I will support him and the organization
in every way possible going forward,” says Socolov. |
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