Washington, DC, January 29, 2009 -- The ALPFA Annual Scholarship Program runs from December 15, 2008 through March 15, 2009 and many scholarship opportunities are still available. While membership is not required, please note that preference is given to those applicants who are current ALPFA student members.
ALPFA offers scholarships to students, in the US or Puerto Rico, who are pursuing studies in Accounting, Finance, or Business related fields. The purpose of these scholarships is to encourage those students who have demonstrated academic excellence to continue pursuing their professional careers. Over the past 3 years, ALPFA has awarded students over $457,000 in scholarship money.
Freshman through senior students are eligible. However, please note that freshmen who apply need to be already enrolled in college and have college curriculum (transcript-verifiable GPA) under their belts. This program is not open to students who are currently in high school and will be entering college next Fall. Community college students that plan to transfer to a 4 yr. college/university for Fall ‘09 are also eligible.
Please note that the top 50 students selected will be invited to attend ALPFA’s National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts (August 8-12, 2009) with convention registration, airfare, and lodging expenses paid for by ALPFA.
For more information go to http://www.alpfa.org/, http://www.alpfawashingtondc.org/, or email Communications@washingtondc.alpfa.org.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
2009 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program
KPMG Building, Washington, DC, Jan 28, 2009 -- The roads were icy and in typical DC-fashion the TV News had hyped the “emergency” enough. Still, a hardy, group of ALPFA-DC members and guests gathered at the Dupont Circle offices of KPMG to network over sandwiches and cookies and hear a VITA presentation. Elsa Luis from Fairfax County spoke to the group to introduce the VITA Program.
Through a coalition of libraries, faith and community-based groups, public agencies, and businesses, the VITA Program is dedicated to helping low-income individuals and families prepare their tax returns at no cost. VITA evolved from a program run by Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees to a volunteer-based program. Like most of us would, a significant number of people that qualify for this program (currently for incomes under $42,000) do not feel at ease speaking directly to an IRS employee for tax assistance. Using volunteers has proven to be a better way to reach out to the community.
Tax centers at multiple locations need volunteers to welcome and screen tax filers and for tax preparation. Bi-lingual volunteers, in particular, are in great need. Tax preparers must be certified by the IRS. Certification materials are available on the IRS website (http://www.irs.gov/; search for “Link and Learn”) along with program overview and study materials. As an incentive, Ms. Luis is willing to work with companies and groups, such as ALPFA, to bring the training to them. Less experienced tax preparation volunteers are paired with others that are more experienced and there is always a second review to verify the accuracy of the tax forms prior to filing. IRS-certified VITA volunteers receive liability protection and, if needed, the program provides follow-up assistance.
In the past, ALPFA has worked with Fairfax County and CentroNia in Washington, DC. Among those attending this event, Carlos Probus and Valerie Green had been VITA volunteers in the past and spoke of their experience. Carlos, a member of the ALPFA-DC Board of Directors, participated last year in Northern Virginia. Valerie, will be participating for the second year at the Martin Luther King Library in Washington, DC. Valerie strongly encouraged everyone to participate and added that she is not a tax professional and if she could pass the certification exam, everyone else could too.
Thanks go to Edgar Jimenez for coordinating, Ms. Elsa Luis for her presentation and her efforts in the community, and KPMG for hosting this event. For more information, please visit the IRS website or the Fairfax County VITA website (http://nvacash.org/vita/). To request training at your work place, please contact Ms. Luis at elsa.luis@fairfaxcounty.gov. ALPFA is planning to host a certification event and participation days, if you are interested, please send email to Communications@washingtondc.alpfa.org.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Thank you!
The generous donations collected among the attendees to last Friday's ALPFA-DC Post Holiday event at Freddie Mac totaled $157.00! This collection will benefit La Clinica del Pueblo in Washington, DC.
ALPFA-DC Post Holiday Event
The traditional winter holidays a came and went. The Nation installed a new President and celebrated it grandly. Last Friday was ALPFA-DC’s turn and we had a fantastic post-holiday celebration. The event was hosted by Freddie Mac at its McLean, VA facilities and over 50 ALPFA-DC members and friends participated. This was a lively event with live music, warm appetizers, and cold beverages.
Attendees included several University of Maryland students and a good number of faces I had not seen in a while. It was a great opportunity to introduce our Chapter to potential new members and catch-up with old friends. A number of attendees also had the opportunity to meet with Freddie Mac recruiters to discuss job opportunities. Best of luck to all of them!
Thank you to Kia Silver, John Stickeler, and the rest of the Freddie Mac recruiting team for the hard work and for helping us make this event a successful one. Also special thanks to ALPFA-DC Board members Marie Ruiz, Gabriela Silva, and Camila Lorca for planning the event and coordinating with Freddie Mac.
Next-up: 2009 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program Presentation, January 28, 2009. Location: KPMG Building (room 6000), 2001 M St. NW, Washington, DC 20036 (Dupont Circle Metro). Please RSVP by January 26, 2009 to Events@washingtondc.alpfa.org
The traditional winter holidays a came and went. The Nation installed a new President and celebrated it grandly. Last Friday was ALPFA-DC’s turn and we had a fantastic post-holiday celebration. The event was hosted by Freddie Mac at its McLean, VA facilities and over 50 ALPFA-DC members and friends participated. This was a lively event with live music, warm appetizers, and cold beverages.
Attendees included several University of Maryland students and a good number of faces I had not seen in a while. It was a great opportunity to introduce our Chapter to potential new members and catch-up with old friends. A number of attendees also had the opportunity to meet with Freddie Mac recruiters to discuss job opportunities. Best of luck to all of them!
Thank you to Kia Silver, John Stickeler, and the rest of the Freddie Mac recruiting team for the hard work and for helping us make this event a successful one. Also special thanks to ALPFA-DC Board members Marie Ruiz, Gabriela Silva, and Camila Lorca for planning the event and coordinating with Freddie Mac.
Next-up: 2009 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program Presentation, January 28, 2009. Location: KPMG Building (room 6000), 2001 M St. NW, Washington, DC 20036 (Dupont Circle Metro). Please RSVP by January 26, 2009 to Events@washingtondc.alpfa.org
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Presidential Inauguration Week
This has already been a very eventful week and it is just the beginning! On Sunday, January 18, 2009, several members of your ALPFA-DC Board of Directors (BoD) attended the 2009 Latino Inaugural Gala at beautiful Union Station in Washington, DC. ALPFA was one of the co-hosts of this star-studded event, which was a who’s who of Latino leadership in the United States. Politicians, celebrities, leaders in government, industry, and civil rights, and many other hard-working Latinos that call America their country came together to celebrate the success of their on-going efforts.
In addition to important messages from some of the leaders participating, there was plenty of excitement over the presence of celebrities and performers including Edward James Olmos, Rosario Dawson, Wilmer Valderrama, Rosie Perez, David Archuleta, Paulina Rubio, Alejandro Sanz, Marc Anthony, and Jennifer Lopez. (See the video clip courtesy of ALPFA-DC Friend Mary Sanderson. Latino Inaugural Gala)
The 2009 Latino Inaugural Gala was co-hosted by: the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA), Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), Democratic National Committee (DNC) Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI), League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO), National Council of La Raza (NCLR), and Voto Latino. The event was made possible through the support of twenty-four corporate sponsors led by AT&T and Western Union and twenty-four other Latino organizations.
While celebrating President Obama’s historic achievement, Edward James Olmos reminded us that our community’s renewed sense of hope arose from our own efforts and was not given to us. This event went a long way to re-energize our commitment on a week that celebrates America’s political and social change. On Tuesday, January 20, 2009, we witnessed with millions of Americans and many foreign visitors, people of all races, backgrounds, and creeds, the historic inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America, Barak Obama. The feeling of being surrounded by so many and feeling excited and humbled by the significance of this event was extraordinary. The President’s call to action rings in our ears and motivates us to keep striving to achieve our common goals and help make America a better place.After these great events, one more stop for celebration comes along the way. On Friday, January 23, 2009, Freddie Mac is hosting the ALPFA-DC Post Holiday Party. There will be live music and refreshments; check our website (http://www.alpfawashingtondc.org/) for details. If “change” is in your mind, do not miss this opportunity. Freddie Mac is now hiring experienced professionals seeking opportunities in Internal Audit, Accounting & Finance, Internal Controls, IT Risk Management, Six Sigma, and other areas. If qualified, submit your resume now to Kia_Silver@freddiemac.com for consideration!We are on our way to a great year! The challenges are many, but Latinos have the talent and energy it will take to move the Country forward. Let’s continue to work hard to strengthen our voice.
In addition to important messages from some of the leaders participating, there was plenty of excitement over the presence of celebrities and performers including Edward James Olmos, Rosario Dawson, Wilmer Valderrama, Rosie Perez, David Archuleta, Paulina Rubio, Alejandro Sanz, Marc Anthony, and Jennifer Lopez. (See the video clip courtesy of ALPFA-DC Friend Mary Sanderson. Latino Inaugural Gala)
The 2009 Latino Inaugural Gala was co-hosted by: the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA), Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), Democratic National Committee (DNC) Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI), League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO), National Council of La Raza (NCLR), and Voto Latino. The event was made possible through the support of twenty-four corporate sponsors led by AT&T and Western Union and twenty-four other Latino organizations.
While celebrating President Obama’s historic achievement, Edward James Olmos reminded us that our community’s renewed sense of hope arose from our own efforts and was not given to us. This event went a long way to re-energize our commitment on a week that celebrates America’s political and social change. On Tuesday, January 20, 2009, we witnessed with millions of Americans and many foreign visitors, people of all races, backgrounds, and creeds, the historic inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America, Barak Obama. The feeling of being surrounded by so many and feeling excited and humbled by the significance of this event was extraordinary. The President’s call to action rings in our ears and motivates us to keep striving to achieve our common goals and help make America a better place.After these great events, one more stop for celebration comes along the way. On Friday, January 23, 2009, Freddie Mac is hosting the ALPFA-DC Post Holiday Party. There will be live music and refreshments; check our website (http://www.alpfawashingtondc.org/) for details. If “change” is in your mind, do not miss this opportunity. Freddie Mac is now hiring experienced professionals seeking opportunities in Internal Audit, Accounting & Finance, Internal Controls, IT Risk Management, Six Sigma, and other areas. If qualified, submit your resume now to Kia_Silver@freddiemac.com for consideration!We are on our way to a great year! The challenges are many, but Latinos have the talent and energy it will take to move the Country forward. Let’s continue to work hard to strengthen our voice.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Welcome to The ALPFA-DC Informer!
We are new at this so please bear with us while we learn the ropes. Our goal is to open up a new communications channel to maintain you, our members, current on what’s happening with our Chapter. 2008 was a remarkable year in many respects, not all of them positive. Happily, our Chapter had some great successes in 2008. These included supporting the greater community through participation in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program and making donations to Centro NIA and La Clinica del Pueblo, providing personal and professional growth opportunities through our outstanding Women of ALPFA leadership program, hosting guest speakers and providing continued professional education (CPE) credits, co-hosting Career Night events with our corporate sponsors to bring job opportunities to our members, hosting social events to facilitate networking among our members, and representing the Chapter in national ALPFA events such as the ALPFA National Convention in Phoenix, AZ.
The Chapter’s new Board of Directors (BoD) closed 2008 with three important events: our participation in the ALPFA Leadership Conference in Las Vegas, a meeting with Chris Simmons, Managing Director for PricewaterhouseCoopers, and a meeting with Manny Espinoza, ALPFA CEO. The Leadership Conference helped the new BoD come up to speed with the responsibilities of our new roles, establish personal contacts with other ALPFA Chapters, and learn from other Chapters and recognized Hispanic leaders. Our meeting with Chris Simmons, who also sits on the ALPFA Advisory Board, included several ALPFA DC BoD members and ALPFA co-founder Frances Garcia. The meeting was held at the Simmons’ elegant residence in McLean, VA. This was a unique opportunity to brainstorm and learn from these important business and Government leaders, which left us energized and challenged to put into action several initiatives in 2009, stay tuned! Finally, our meeting with Manny Espinoza helped us establish a stronger connection with the ALPFA National leader, which we hope will help us improve relations with our sponsors and give our Chapter more visibility in National initiatives.
2009 Outlook
The BoD has three main goals for 2009: to increase representation of the membership in our events, expand leadership opportunities for members at every academic and professional level, and increase our membership numbers. The desired membership increase includes attracting area students and helping sponsor student chapters. We can only achieve this with your active participation. Please contact the Events Committee if you are interested in volunteering. Some of the events planned for the next four months include:
January - Post-holiday celebration co-hosted by Freddie Mac. In addition to music, food, and drink, at this event you will have the opportunity to meet with Freddie Mac representatives to discuss job opportunities in Audit, Accounting & Finance, Internal Control, IT Risk Management, Six Sigma, etc. We are also planning a Financial Education event presented by Prudential.
February – ALPFA DC members will be helping community members needing help with tax preparation and filing through the 2009 VITA program in various locations. ALPFA members interested in volunteering should contact Edgar Jimenez (ejimenez@kpmg.com)
March – A second opportunity to participate in the 2009 VITA program.
April – Community service event at Bell Multicultural School in Washington DC. ALPFA members interested in volunteering should contact Edgar Jimenez (ejimenez@kpmg.com).
Details on these events will be provided on our ALPFA DC website (http://www.alpfawashingtondc.org/) and Evites will be sent to everyone on our members list and our Friends of ALPFA list as appropriate. Additional events will be announced soon!
Get Involved
We invite you to visit our DC Chapter website periodically. We will feature stories on ALPFA’s impact in the personal and professional lives of our members. We will initiate this series with stories by BoD members and we hope to soon expand this feature with stories by other members. Please submit your short (half page) narratives to the Communications Committee. Tell us why you joined ALPFA and/or what impact ALPFA made in your personal and/or professional life.
We are continuously looking for other ideas for new events and new volunteers interested in expanding their leadership skills and impact in the greater community. Please contact us at Communications@WashingtonDC.alpfa.org. Volunteers are needed in various committees at the Chapter-level.
Going Forward
Make a new resolution for 2009 to get involved and stay involved with ALPFA. Your DC ALPFA Chapter is open to all who share our goals and values and not limited to Latinos or to professionals directly involved in finance and accounting. Introduce us to your friends and colleagues, we want to meet them. Stay tuned for upcoming postings.
We wish everyone a great 2009!
The Chapter’s new Board of Directors (BoD) closed 2008 with three important events: our participation in the ALPFA Leadership Conference in Las Vegas, a meeting with Chris Simmons, Managing Director for PricewaterhouseCoopers, and a meeting with Manny Espinoza, ALPFA CEO. The Leadership Conference helped the new BoD come up to speed with the responsibilities of our new roles, establish personal contacts with other ALPFA Chapters, and learn from other Chapters and recognized Hispanic leaders. Our meeting with Chris Simmons, who also sits on the ALPFA Advisory Board, included several ALPFA DC BoD members and ALPFA co-founder Frances Garcia. The meeting was held at the Simmons’ elegant residence in McLean, VA. This was a unique opportunity to brainstorm and learn from these important business and Government leaders, which left us energized and challenged to put into action several initiatives in 2009, stay tuned! Finally, our meeting with Manny Espinoza helped us establish a stronger connection with the ALPFA National leader, which we hope will help us improve relations with our sponsors and give our Chapter more visibility in National initiatives.
2009 Outlook
The BoD has three main goals for 2009: to increase representation of the membership in our events, expand leadership opportunities for members at every academic and professional level, and increase our membership numbers. The desired membership increase includes attracting area students and helping sponsor student chapters. We can only achieve this with your active participation. Please contact the Events Committee if you are interested in volunteering. Some of the events planned for the next four months include:
January - Post-holiday celebration co-hosted by Freddie Mac. In addition to music, food, and drink, at this event you will have the opportunity to meet with Freddie Mac representatives to discuss job opportunities in Audit, Accounting & Finance, Internal Control, IT Risk Management, Six Sigma, etc. We are also planning a Financial Education event presented by Prudential.
February – ALPFA DC members will be helping community members needing help with tax preparation and filing through the 2009 VITA program in various locations. ALPFA members interested in volunteering should contact Edgar Jimenez (ejimenez@kpmg.com)
March – A second opportunity to participate in the 2009 VITA program.
April – Community service event at Bell Multicultural School in Washington DC. ALPFA members interested in volunteering should contact Edgar Jimenez (ejimenez@kpmg.com).
Details on these events will be provided on our ALPFA DC website (http://www.alpfawashingtondc.org/) and Evites will be sent to everyone on our members list and our Friends of ALPFA list as appropriate. Additional events will be announced soon!
Get Involved
We invite you to visit our DC Chapter website periodically. We will feature stories on ALPFA’s impact in the personal and professional lives of our members. We will initiate this series with stories by BoD members and we hope to soon expand this feature with stories by other members. Please submit your short (half page) narratives to the Communications Committee. Tell us why you joined ALPFA and/or what impact ALPFA made in your personal and/or professional life.
We are continuously looking for other ideas for new events and new volunteers interested in expanding their leadership skills and impact in the greater community. Please contact us at Communications@WashingtonDC.alpfa.org. Volunteers are needed in various committees at the Chapter-level.
Going Forward
Make a new resolution for 2009 to get involved and stay involved with ALPFA. Your DC ALPFA Chapter is open to all who share our goals and values and not limited to Latinos or to professionals directly involved in finance and accounting. Introduce us to your friends and colleagues, we want to meet them. Stay tuned for upcoming postings.
We wish everyone a great 2009!
Welcome to The ALPFA-DC Informer!
We are new at this so please bear with us while we learn the ropes. Our goal is to open up a new communications channel to maintain you, our members, current on what’s happening with our Chapter. 2008 was a remarkable year in many respects, not all of them positive. Happily, our Chapter had some great successes in 2008. These included supporting the greater community through participation in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program and contributions to Centro NIA and La Clinica del Pueblo, providing personal and professional growth opportunities through our outstanding Women of ALPFA leadership program, hosting guest speakers and providing continued professional education (CPE) credits, co-hosting Career Night events with our corporate sponsors to bring job opportunities to our members, hosting social events to facilitate networking among our members, and representing the Chapter in national ALPFA events such as the ALPFA National Convention in Phoenix, AZ.
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