Alfie Scholar Ernesto Chacón Serves as Student Ambassador at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute

Nov 5

Alfie Scholar Ernesto Chacón (Political Science ‘21) at the CHCI 2019 Leadership Conference.

***Alfie Scholar Ernesto Chacón (Political Science ‘21) at the CHCI 2019 Conference.***

Alfie Scholar Ernesto Chacón (Political Science ’21) was one of 33 Student Ambassadors and the only representative from Washington state and the Pacific Northwest at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) 2019 Summer Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. The conference was organized by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization dedicated to “Developing the Next Generation of Latino Leaders.”

This two-day conference took place between September 10–11, 2019 and featured over 1,000 thought leaders and civic professionals from diverse fields, including members of Congress, community champions, nonprofit leaders, CHCI alumni, and participants, to “examine critical issues affecting the Latino community and our nation.”

This year’s theme was ¡Tu Cuentas! You Count! to recognize and celebrate the power of the Latinx communities. Discussion topics ranged from access to healthcare, human trafficking, and housing equity for minorities to educational opportunities, Hispanic representations in media, and voting rights. Both young and influential Latinx leaders alike engaged in civil discourse and were exposed to new innovative ideas and workshops to foster growth and professional development so that they can use those tools to create a positive change in their community.

Ernesto, whose passion for protecting and helping people stems from helping raise his younger brothers, is a first-generation college student who transferred to SU from South Seattle College. He dreams of becoming a constitutional lawyer and one day becoming a justice on the Supreme Court. He wants to use his skills to help, protect, and inform the people in his community. He wants them to understand their “rights and liberties and to give them the tools they need to advocate for themselves, so that we may represent ourselves on a national level.” When he learned of the opportunity to have his expenses paid to attend this CHCI Leadership Conference, Ernesto jumped at the chance and was awarded one of the slots. The conference “solidified my purpose in life. Knowing that I have a whole network of people that are just like me and that I can rely on really made me want to keep fighting for our people. That’s me being straight up. I felt a renewed purpose when I came back,” said Chacón.

Learn more:

http://bit.ly/2VFDlLH
https://chci.org/
https://www.chcileadershipconference.org/highlights/
https://www.alfiescholars.org/2019-cohort-bios/ernesto-chacon-jyz37-zxs48