A partnership with Futuro Media Group and area youth.

Kids beside water
In The Thick taping at ECSU, left to right: Panelists Charles Venator-Santiago and Kica Matos, CFECT President Maryam Elahi, FMG co-hosts Julio Ricardo Varela and Maria Hinojosa, CFECT Trustee David Schulz, and ECSU President Elsa Núñez.

In 2019, the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, along with the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund and the Perrin Family Foundation, co-funded a unique opportunity through a grant to Futuro Media Group to offer student workshops on podcasting and to produce a public live taping of In The Thick, a political podcast. Two of these workshops and tapings took place in October 2019, one at Three Rivers Community College and the other at Eastern Connecticut State University. The third will take place on March 25, 2020 at STEM High School in New London.

This grant was given to advance equity and youth civic engagement in our community and to provide a learning experience for students who wouldn’t otherwise have access to it. “The Community Foundation is deeply committed to empowering youth and addressing inequities in our region. We are proud to partner with the Graustein Memorial Fund, The Perrin Family Foundation, Three Rivers Community College, Eastern Connecticut State University, and the New London Public Schools to provide this exceptional opportunity for students to learn from one of the leading journalists in this country, Maria Hinojosa,” stated Maryam Elahi, President and CEO of the Community Foundation.

As a reporter who was the first Latina in many newsrooms, Maria Hinojosa has had a nearly 30-year career as an award-winning journalist that includes reporting for PBS, CBS, WNBC, CNN, NPR, and anchoring the Emmy Award winning talk show Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One. Maria is also the Anchor and Executive Producer of the Peabody Award-winning show Latino USA, distributed by NPR.

Kids beside waterAddiction and Mental Health Podcast Taping at Three Rivers Community College

Panelists for this taping of In The Thick include Kelvin Young, sound healer and certified recovery coach; Kenyatta Thompson, senior community organizer at Katal Center for Health, Equity and Justice; and Taylor Ford, statewide youth and family coordinator with FAVOR, Inc. Hosted by Maria Hinojosa and Julio Ricardo Varela.

podcast: Addiction/Mental Health

Immigration and the Invisibility of Latinos Podcast Taping at Eastern Connecticut State University

Panelists for this taping of In The Thick include Charles Venator-Santiago, associate professor with the Department of Political Science and El Instituto at University of Connecticut and director of the Puerto Rico Citizenship Archives Project and the Puerto Rico Status Archives Project; Kica Matos, attorney and director of the Center on Immigration and Justice at the Vera Institute of Justice; and Lucas Codognolla, executive director of Connecticut Students for a Dream. Hosted by Maria Hinojosa and Julio Ricardo Varela.

Podcast: Immigration