Youth Advocate to Speak at Fresno State's 31St Chicano Youth Conference

EDITORS: The Chicano Youth Conference program schedule is attached. Day-of-event contacts: Maria Aguilera at 259-2482 or Lucia Aguilar at 289-2409.

Claudia Soria Delgado, a leader in the field of youth empowerment and community service and a Fresno State alumnus, will speak at the 31st Chicano Youth Conference on Saturday, Jan. 17, at California State University, Fresno.

Soria-Delgado, 32 will deliver the keynote address at 10 a.m. in the Satellite Student Union (2485 E. San Ramon Ave.), where nearly 1,000 high school students are expected for the event sponsored by the Fresno State Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA).

This year’s theme is “Educate to Empower Your Community.”

A 1994 graduate of Fresno State, Soria-Delgado is the program manager for the Fresno Regional Offices of Latino Issue Forum, a statewide public policy institute.

She has won numerous accolades and awards for her work with youth and the community such as the Crystal Award in Education from the Clovis Unified School District for serving on the Inter-Culture Diversity Awareness Council, or IDAC.

She was the only Central California board member on The Women’s Foundation Board of Directors. She chaired the Foundation’s Programs Committee and conceptualized the development of the youth grantmaking program, known today as the Sisterhood Fund.

At Fresno State, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Chicano/ Latino Studies, Soria-Delgado also received the Graduate Dean’s Award and was on the Dean’s List that commends excelling students.

After college, Soria-Delgado began her career as a social worker for Fresno County and was actively involved with teen parents, helping establish the county’s teen pregnancy program.

She was also instrumental in developing a youth-relationship violence-prevention program for the county.

Soria-Delgado’s community involvement extends to the non-profit arena where she helped develop youth services and community-building programs in eight Central Valley Counties.

She has worked to minimize violence amongst youth through her efforts as a board member for the Fresno Barrios Unidos and as a trainer for the Fresno County “kNOw More,” a youth relationship violence-prevention peer education project.

Soria-Delgado has also served as a board member for Youth in Focus, a statewide non-profit organization promoting youth empowerment, organizational learning and community change.

A national Kiwanis Scholar, she has been recognized as a Student of Note at Reedley College and the Board Member of the Year for Barrios Unidos.

Saturday’s Chicano Youth Conference — featuring career and general interest workshops along with a college resource fair, a student panel and lunch — ends at 4 p.m. and is followed by a dance until 7 p.m.

The conference fee is $1 per student. Onsite registration begins at 8 a.m. in the Satellite Student Union.

For more information, contact Maria Aguilera at (559) 259-2482 or Lucia Aguilar at 289-2409.

Copy prepared by University Relations student intern Ravneet Padda.

EDITORS and NEWS/PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIRECTORS: Press releases can be downloaded at www.fresnostatenews.com. University Relations also provides releases for news media companies via e-mail. To be added to the distribution list, send your e-mail address to tomu@csufresno.edu.