Let Us Introduce You.
By Hannah Lee, Director of Community Engagement
In celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8th, all month long we are celebrating strong women in our community. Throughout March, we are highlighting the amazing stories and work of some incredible women right here in Northwest Arkansas. Not only are these women Arkansans for Refugees, they are also powerful community leaders who are making a difference.
At Canopy, we believe that working alongside vulnerable communities takes a holistic, transformative framework; we want to equip our clients and our community with the tools necessary to build a community of welcome and opportunity. We don’t aim to be a voice for the voiceless; we believe that our clients – and other vulnerable populations – are not voiceless, but rather, face systemic challenges that make it difficult to be heard.
“The problem here is that the people we call voiceless oftentimes are not actually voiceless. Many of the voiceless are actually talking all the time. They are loud, if you get close enough to hear them, if you are capable of listening, if you are aware of what you cannot hear. True justice is creating a world of social, economic, cultural, and political opportunities that would allow all these voiceless to tell their stories and be heard.”
— VIET THANH NGUYEN
Throughout the month of March, we want to introduce you to a few strong women who are working tirelessly to create these social, economic, cultural, and political opportunities for vulnerable communities right here in Northwest Arkansas.
Meet Diana Dominguez, one such community leader.
Diana recently stepped into the role of Multicultural Community Liaison at the Fayetteville Public Library, where she works to create opportunities for culturally and linguistically diverse communities to access community resources. Her current inclusive initiatives include multilingual tutoring at the library, multicultural community connection fairs, and pop-up libraries.
Diana contends that addressing existing community needs is a multilayered and multifaceted task, which is why she believes that holistic development is so important.
“Community partnerships are so important to me, especially in my role at the library, because many of our partners come from the communities that they are reaching and understand better the needs.”
Diana’s support for refugee resettlement is rooted in personal experiences. As a college student, she moved to Denver, Colorado to intern for a non-profit that collaborated with Lutheran Family and Children Services, where she matched community members with recently resettled refugee families to help provide community guidance to the families. She was also on a co-sponsor team herself and was matched with a Somali family —
“In this role, I learned about the extensive screening that happens prior to a refugee family’s arrival to the United States. I also witnessed the positive impact that sponsors had in the lives of refugee families.”
In addition to her work as a multicultural liaison for diverse communities, providing essential community resources, and being a supporter of refugee resettlement, Diana is also a strong advocate for women of color. She believes that the community needs more leadership opportunities for women of color, as well as more spaces for women of color to access development and mentorship resources – and she is working to create these opportunities.
Her advice to other women who are working toward change is to approach everything from an advocacy coalition framework; in other words, partner with other strong women! Diana finds it important to communicate that the deeply personal and political nature of cultural advocacy looks and feels very different for women of color, and there is great benefit for women of all types to work together when doing social transformation work.
Diana is a #ProfessionalForRefugees, an #ArkansanForRefugees, and a #WomanForRefugees – and a powerful voice creating dynamic change in our community.
Want to know more about Diana’s work and how you can access these resources or partner with Fayetteville Public Library? Connect with Diana here.
Want to know more about Canopy’s work and mission? Connect with us here!
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