Our 3rd NYC Young Women Immigrants Meetup: Learning about our rights in the US workplace, pitching, and networking

Written by Jahaida Hernández Jesurum

On Thursday, May 26, New Women New Yorkers hosted its third Meetup for young women immigrants in New York City, with a focus on discussing issues of protection and anti- discrimination laws in the US workplace.

Vanessa Ramos, who joined the gathering as a guest speaker on behalf of the NYC Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), explained the importance of staying current with changing New York employment anti-discrimination laws — including regarding fair housing, domestic violence, stalking, gender identity and expression, religious beliefs, pregnancy, and caregiving —  to avoid becoming a victim of workplace discrimination and to know how to respond to such situations.

The attendants — more than twenty women from diverse backgrounds, including some LEAD Program graduates but also young women immigrants new to NWNY — had the opportunity to share their New York City stories and experiences and were given first-hand answers on how to judge a variety of discriminatory situations and how to report discrimination and obtain legal advice from the CCHR.

NWNY’s founder Arielle Kandel and LEAD Program Facilitator Mia Olesen also used the event as an opportunity to help participants hone public speaking skills taught in the LEAD Program: Two graduates delivered a 1-minute pitch about themselves and received feedback from the rest of the group.

Finally, there was some time left for participants to get to know each other, and to ask further questions about NWNY’s activities, including in particular the LEAD Program.